V 


\ 


i 


GIFT  OF 
Ba&croft 
LIBRARY 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES 


OF 


DISTINGUISHED  AMERICANS, 


NOW    LIVING. 


Philosophy  Teaching  by  Example. 


BY     JOHNLIVINOSTON, 


PUBLISHED  AT   157  BROADWAY, 

For  Sale  by  all  Booksellers. 

£on&  on : 

26   BELL  YARD,   LINCOLN'S   INN. 
1853. 


£33? 
L-5 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  tbe  year  1852,  by 

JOHN  LIVINGSTON, 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  Southern  District  of  New- York. 


GIFT  OF 

Bancroft 
LIBRARY 


AUTHOR'S   NOTICE. 


THIS  work  contains  the  memoirs  of  some  of  those  Americans  now 
living,  whose  talents,  energy  and  enterprise,  while  affording  an  instruc 
tive  lesson  to  mankind,  seem  worthy  of  being  held  up  as  examples 
for  emulation.  That  the  memory  of  persons  who  occupy  the  higher 
positions  of  accredited  usefulness,  besides  being  treasured  in  the  hearts 
of  relatives  and  friends,  should  also  have  its  public  record,  is  peculiarly 
proper ;  because  a  knowledge  of  those  whose  substantial  fame  rests 
upon  their  attainments,  character  and  success,  must  exert  a  wholesome 
influence  on  the  rising  generation  of  the  American  people ;  while  to 
those  who  have  arrived  at  a  period  in  life  not  to  be  benefited  by  les 
sons  designed  for  less  advanced  age,  it  cannot  fail  to  prove  interest 
ing. 

Individual  enterprise,  which  is  so  justly  the  boast  of  our  country, 
will  be  strikingly  exhibited  in  this  work.  While  transmitting  to  pos 
terity  the  memory  of  illustrious  persons  of  the  present  day,  it  will 
teach  us,  and  our  children,  that  honor  and  station  are  the  sure  reward 
of  continued  exertion — and  that,  when  compared  to  a  good  education, 
with  habits  of  honest  industry  and  economy,  the  greatest  wealth  would 
be  but  a  poor  legacy. 

If  in  these  pages  the  reader  shall  find  the  memoirs  of  many  who 
have  enjoyed  every  advantage  which  affluence  and  early  education 
can  bestow,  he  may  also  trace  the  history  of  those  who,  by  their 
own  unaided  efforts,  have  risen  from  the  obscurity  of  penniless  and 
friendless  youths,  to  the  highest  and  most  responsible  trusts  in  the 
land  ;  and  we  think  it  will  be  found  that  success  has  more  generally 
waited  upon  men  who,  in  early  life,  were  not  encumbered  with  a 
bountiful  supply  of  "  this  world's  goods." 

Pope's  lines  are  more  truly  applicable  in  our  country  than  in  any 
other : — 

"  Honor  and  fame  from  no  condition  rise  ; 
Act  well  your  part ;  there  all  the  honor  lies." 

The  record  of  life,  from  an  humble  roof  up,  through  the  arduous 
paths  of  manhood,  to  wealth  and  station,  will  kindle  honest  ambition, 


864530 


iv 

invigorate  patriotic  resolves,  and  cheer  afresh  struggling  poverty  to 
renewed  and  more  vigorous  exertion. 

The  author  begs  to  say,  this  publication  makes  no  pretensions  to 
completeness,  and  that  another  and  much  enlarged  edition,  containing 
about  nine  hundred  pages,  is  now  in  press,  and  will  soon  appear,  in 
which  each  memoir  will  be  accompanied  by  the  most  exact  and  best 
executed  portrait  of  its  subject,  engraved  on  steel,  expressly  for  the 
work,  from  daguerreotypes.  The  first  talent  in  the  country  is  em 
ployed  on  the  engravings  ;  and  as  over  twenty  thousand  dollars  have 
already  been  expended  for  the  portraits  alone,  the  work  will  be  splendid 
as  well  as  valuable — one  which  would  equally  adorn  the  library  or 
embellish,  the  parlor.  The  price  of  the  new  edition,  which  will  be 
for  sale  by  all  the  principal  booksellers,  is  to  be  ten  dollars :  it  will 
contain  about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  steel  portraits,  alone 
worth  more  than  that  price. 

It  is  needless  to  descant  on  the  extended  information  and  delight 
which  we  derive  from  the  multiplication  of  portraits  by  engraving,  or 
on  the  more  important  advantages  resulting  from  the  study  of  biogra 
phy.  Separately  considered,  the.  one  affords  an  amusement  not  less 
innocent  than  elegant,  inculcates  the  rudiments,  or  aids  the  progress  of 
taste,  and  rescues  from  the  hand  of  time  the  perishable  monuments 
raised  by  the  pencil  and  the  Daguerrean  art.  The  other,  while  it  is, 
perhaps,  the  most  agreeable  branch  of  historical  literature,  is  certainly 
the  most  useful  in  its  moral  effects ;  stating  the  known  circumstances, 
and  endeavoring  to  unfold  the  secret  motives  of  human  conduct ; 
selecting  all  that  is  worthy  of  being  recorded;  bestowing  its  lasting 
encomiums  and  chastisements ;  it  at  once  informs  and  invigorates  the 
mind,  and  warms  and  mends  the  heart.  It  is,  however,  from  the  com 
bination  of  portraits  and  biography,  that  we  reap  the  utmost  degree  of 
utility  and  pleasure  which  can  be  derived  from  them,  as,  in  contem 
plating  the  portrait  of  an  eminent  person,  we  long  to  be  instructed  in 
his  history,  so,  in  considering  his  actions  we  are  anxious  to  behold  his 
countenance.  So  earnest  is  this  desire,  that  the  imagination  is  gener 
ally  ready  to  coin  a  set  of  features,  or  to  conceive  a  character  to  supply 
the  painful  absence  of  one  or  the  other.  It  is  impossible  to  conceive  a 
work  which  ought  to  be  more  interesting  than  one  which  will  exhibit 
before  our  progenitors  their  fathers  as  they  lived,  accompanied  with 
such  memoirs  of  their  lives  and  characters  as  shall  enable  them  to 
compare  persons  and  countenances  with  sentiments  and  actions. 

New-  York,  January  1,  1853. 


CONTENTS. 


ALABAMA-- 

EZEKIEL  PICKENS,  eminent  Lawyer,  Judge,  &c.,      .  .  161 

ARKANSAS— 

'  W.  P.  GRACE,  eminent  Lawyer  and  Planter,    .  .  .295 

CHRISTOPHER  C.  SCOTT,  Associate  Justice  of  the  Supreme 

Court,    .  .  ,  .  .  .  .  .422 

CALIFORNIA- 
ALFRED  WHEELER,  United  States  Attorney,  .  .  438 

CONNECTICUT- 
LAFAYETTE  S.  FOSTER,  eminent  Lawyer,     .  .  .203 
NOAH  POMEROY,  President  of  the  Meriden  Bank,     .  .107 

DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA- 
RICHARD  S.  COXE,  Member  of  the  Washington  Bar,  .       9 

GEORGIA- 
DANIEL  S.  PRINTUP,  a  distinguished  Lawyer,  .  .     80 

INDIANA- 
HORACE    P.    BIDDLE,  eminent  Lawyer,  Statesman,  Author 

and  Judge,       .  ....  363 

SAMUEL  HALL,  Judge  of  the  U.  S.  District  Court,       .  .  494 

ALLEN  HAMILTON,  President  of  the  Fort  Wayne  Branch 

State  Bank  of  Indiana,  .....  485 

KENTUCKY- 
WILLIAM  F.  BULLOCK,  eminent  Lawyer,  &c.,  .  .  469 
JOHN  P.  DOBYNS,  President  of  the  Maysville  Branch  of  the 

Farmers'  Bank  of  Kentucky,  .....  207 
ANDREW  M.  JANUARY.  President  of  the  Maysville  Branch 

of  the  Bank  of  Kentucky,       .  .  .  .  .75 

GEORGE  W.  NORTON,  President  of  the  Southern  Bank  of  Ky.;  143 


V1  CONTENTS. 

LOUISIANA— 

ZENON  LAB AUVE,  eminent  Lawyer  and  Planter,  .  .  364 
PIERRE  A.  ROST,  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Louisiana,  461 

MAINE- 
WILLIAM  H.  MILLS,  Cashier  of  the  Eastern  Bank,     .  .  422 

MARYLAND- 
WILLIAM  B.  CLARKE,  eminent  Lawyer,        .  .  376 

MASSACHUSETTS— 

JOSIAH  BRIGHAM.  President  of  the  Quincy  Stone  Bank,  .  66 

LEONARD  CHURCH,  President  of  the  Lee  Bank,  .  .  72 

PLINY  CUTLER.  President  of  the  Boyleston  Bank.  .  .179 

DAVID  DEVENS,  President  of  the  Bunker  Hill  Bank,  &c.,  .  133 
HENRY  H.  FULLER,  eminent  Lawyer  and  Author,  (deceased 

since  the  publication  of  his  Memoir,)  .  .  .  121 

JOHN  A.  KNOWLES,  President  of  the  Appleton  Bank,  .  492 
WILLIAM  MASON,  Manufacturer,  and  President  of  the 

Machinists'  Bank,  ...  .  426 

PLINY  MERRICK,  Judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  .  134 

WILLIAM  PARKER,  President  of  the  Atlantic  Bank,  .  184 

WILLARD  PHILLIPS,  Author  and  eminent  Lawyer,  .  .  95 
THOMAS  WHITTEMORE,  President  of  the  Cambridge  Bank, 

Editor,  Minister  ofthe  Gospel,  Financier,  &c.,          .  .  300 

MICHiGAN- 

H.  H.  EMMONS,  eminent  Lawyer  and  Author.             .  .  387 

M1NNESOTA- 

B.  B.  MEEKER,  Associate  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 

Minnesota,       .              .              ...             .  .  480 

MISSISSIPPI- 

T.  COOP  WOOD,  eminent  Lawyer  and  Planter,  .  445 

GEORGE  H.  GORDON,  eminent  Lawyer  aiid  Planter,  .  499 

MISSOURI- 
JOHN  F.  DARBY,  Member  of  the  XXXIId  Congress,  .  .192 
HUGH  A.  GARLAND,  eminent  Lawyer  and  Author,    .  .  296 
R.  SEAL,  Lawyer  and  Planter,    .             .         ^ ' .    '  .  299 

NEW-HAMPSHIRE— 

RICHARD  HAZEN  AYER,  President  of  the  Amoskeag  Bank, 

of  Manchester,  .  " '  '  •.  '  '.  •  •  .49 

JOSEPH  M.  HARPER,  President  of  the  Mechanics'  Bank  at 

Concord,  .  .  /''-  .  .  .  .  56 


CONTENTS.  v[{ 

NEW-YORK— 

LUTHER  BADGER,  Lawyer,  &c.,  .  .  117 

SAMUEL  A.  BROWN,  eminent  Lawyer,  .  .  252 

JACOB  GOULD,  President  of  the  Farmer's  and  Mechanics' 

Bank  at  Rochester,  ....  45 

A.  G.  GRIDLEY,  President  of  the  Kirkland  Bank,  *  .483 

H.  J.  MINER,  President  of  H.  J.  Miner's  Bank,  .  .  314 

LOVELAND  PADDOCK,  President  of  the  Black  River  Bank,  .  211 
OLIVER  TEALL,  President  of  the  Onondaga  County  Bank,  .ill 
REUBEN  HYDE  WALWORTH,  the  last  of  the  New- York 

Chancellors,     .  ,  .  .  .  m  17 

NORTH   CAROLINA- 
CALVIN  GRAVES,  eminent  Lawyer  and  Planter,         .  .  365 

OHIO- 
JACOB  BURNET,  LL.  D.,  formerly  Judge,  U.  S.  Senator,  &c.,  .       1 
REUBEN  CULVER,  President  of  the  Logan  Branch  Bank,        .  371 
WILLIAM  LAWRENCE,  Reporter  to  the  Supreme  Court,  and 

eminent  Lawyer,         .  .  .  .  .  .218 

OREGON- 
THOMAS  NELSON,  Chief  Justice  of  Oregon  Territory,  .     69 

PENNSYLVANIA- 
JAMES  L.  BOWMAN,  President  of  the  Monongahela  Bank,    .  197 
JOHN  L  ANDES,  President  of  the  Lancaster  County  Bank,        .  365 

RHODE  ISLAND- 
ISAAC  SAUNDERS,  President  of  the  Citizens7  Union  Bank,     .  377 

SOUTH  CAROLINA— 

N.  R.  EAVES,  eminent  Lawyer  and  Planter,      .  .  .  226* 

ROBERT  H.  GOODWYN,  President  of  the  Bank^of  the  State 

of  South  Carolina,        .  .  .  .  .  .81 

BENJAMIN  F.  HUNT,  distinguished  Lawyer,  .  .  .144 

JAMES  L.  ORR,  Member  of  the  XXXIId  Congress,  &c.,  .  172 

ANGUS  PATTERSON,  eminent  Lawyer  and  Planter,  .  .138 

BENJAMIN  F.  PERRY,  eminent  Lawyer  and  Planter,  .  261 

TENNESSEE- 
AARON  V.  BROWN,  late  Governor  of  Tennessee,  and  formerly 

Member  of  Congress,  .  .62 

A.  J.  MARCHBANKS,  Judge,  &c.,        .  .  .  .170 


V  CONTENTS, 

TENNESSEE— 

A.  W.  OVERTON,  Judge,  &c.,     .  .  .  .  .277 

JOHN  POPE,  President  of  the  Memphis  Branch  of  the  Union 

Bank  of  Tennessee,  .  .  .  .  .  432 

VIRGINIA- 
JOHN  C.  CAMPBELL,  President  of  the  North-Western  Bank 

of  Virginia,       .  .  . '.        *  .  .  .  .34 

JOHN  W.  NASH,  Judge  of  the  Circuit  Court  for  the  2d  Circuit,  458 
DANIEL  A.  WILSON,  Judge  of  the  Circuit  Court  for  the  9th 

Circuit,  .  .     ,        .  .  .          *%  .  474 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES 

OF 

EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

"WITH  PORTRAITS. 

HON.  JACOB  BURNET,  LL.  D., 

OF  OHIO. 

JUDGE  BURNET  is  the  son  of  Doctor  William  Burnet,  the  elder,  of 
Newark,  New-Jersey,  who  was  a  member  of  the  second  class  that  gradu 
ated  at  the  College  of  New- Jersey,  in  1749,  before  the  institution  was 
removed  to  Princeton ;  and  who  was  elected  a  member  of  Congress 
under  the  Confederation,  in  the  fall  of  1776,  and  in  the  winter  follow 
ing  was  appointed  physician  and  surgeon-general  for  the  eastern  dis 
trict  of  the  United  States,  which  appointment  he  held  till  the  close  ot 
the  war.  Doctor  Ichabod  Burnet,  grandfather  of  the  judge,  was  born 
in  Scotland,  in  the  vicinity  of  Edinburgh,  and  was  educated  at  the 
university  in  that  city.  Soon  after  he  completed  his  collegiate  and 
professional  studies,  he  married,  and  emigrated  to  Elizabethtown,  in 
the  province  of  New-Jersey,  where  he  lived  to  a  very  advanced  age, 
in  the  practice  of  his  profession  as  a  physician  and  surgeon. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  born  on  the  22d  February,  1770.  In 
1791  he  graduated  at  Princeton  college,  during  the  presidency  of  the 
venerable  Doctor  Witherspoon.  He  studied  law  in  the  office  of  Judge 
Boudinot,  of  New-Jersey,  and  was  licensed  to  practise  his  profession, 
by  the  Supreme  Court  of  that  state,  at  the  May  term  of  1796.  Im 
mediately  after  his  admission  to  the  bar,  he  removed  to  Cincinnati, 
which  has  been  the  place  of  his  residence  ever  since.  On  his  arrival 
at  the  place  selected  as  the  field  of  his  subsequent  labors,  he  found  it 
a  small  village  of  log  cabins,  with  a  few  frame  houses  made  principally 
of  the  timber  and  plank  of  the  Kentucky  boats  on  which  they  had 
floated  to  the  place  of  their  destination.  It  contained  a  population  ot 
from  four  to  five  hundred,  of  all  ages,  exclusive  of  the  troops  at  Fort 
Washington,  then  commanded  by  Captain  Harrison,  afterwards 
President  of  the  United  States,  and  the  attaches  of  the  army,  amount 
ing  to  about  an  equal  number. 

The  court  being  in  session  when  Mr.  Burnet  arrived,  he  was  immedi 
ately  admitted  to  the  bar,  and  before  the  close  of  the  term,  was  re 
tained  in  a  large  portion  of  the  cases  then  on  the  docket.  The  popula- 

1 


2  ••;  .SKETCHES  QE  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

tion  of  the  town,  £houg]\  £nja|l,  contained  ,an  unusually  large  proportion 
of  respectable^. *4»t«ri»^iVfan-:ili;es,  ana  single  individuals,  sufficiently 
numerous  to  form  a  very  pleasant,  interesting  society.  Notwithstand 
ing  the  isolated  situation  of  the  place,  being  several  hundred  miles 
within  an  unsettled  wilderness,  which  rendered  it  difficult  to  procure 
the  necessaries,  and  much  more  so  the  conveniences  and  luxuries  of 
life,  yet  the  hospitality  of  the  inhabitants  was  general,  and  limited  only 
by  their  means  of  indulging  it. 

In  1795,  the  year  in  which  the  Indian  war  was  terminated1,,  by  the 
treaty  of  Greenville,  the  governor  and  judges  of  the  General  Court 
undertook  to  ascertain,  as  correctly  as  possible,  the  number  of  white 
inhabitants  in  the  entire  territory,  extending  from  Pennsylvania  to  the 
Mississippi  River,  and  from  the  Ohio  to  the  lakes ;  and  reported  it  to 
be  about  fifteen  thousand,  not  including  Detroit  and  the  settlement  in 
its  vicinity,  which  were  then  in  the  possession  of  Great  Britain. 

At  that  time  the  only  judicial  courts  organized  in  the  territory  were 
at  Marietta,  Cincinnati,  Vincennes,  and  Kaskaskia.  In  the  succeeding 
year,  and  about  the  time  Mr.  Burnet  arrived  at  Cincinnati,  Detroit, 
Mackinaw,  and  Fort  Simco,  at  the  foot  of  the  rapids  of  the  Maumee  River, 
with  the  settlements  in  their  vicinity,  were  surrendered  under  the  pro 
visions  of  Jay's  treaty  to  General  Wayne,  who  had  been  appointed 
by  President  Washington  to  receive  the  same.  Immediately  there 
after  Governor  St.  Clair  erected  the  territory,  thus  surrendered,  into  a 
county,  and  gave  it  the  name  of  Wayne  county,  in  honor  of  the  veter 
an  soldier  whose  victory  over  the  savages  in  1794  had  hastened  the 
measure.  Courts  of  justice  were  immediately  after  established  at 
Detroit,  which  commenced  their  sessions  in  the  succeeding  year.  At 
that  early  period  the  territory  was  without  roads,  bridges,  or  other 
facilities  for  traveling,  and  the  county  seats  were  some  hundred  miles 
apart,  separated  from  each  other  by  an  uncultivated  wilderness,  yet  the 
subject  of  this  memoir  attended  every  term  of  the  general  court  at 
Cincinnati,  Marietta,  and  Detroit,  from  his  first  arrival  in  the  territory 
till  the  establishment  of  the  state  government.  Asa  matter  of  course, 
he  and  those  who  traveled  with  him  carried  their  provisions,  slept  on 
the  ground,  and  swam  on  their  horses  all  the  water  courses  that  were 
too  deep  to  be  forded.  During  his  continuance  in  practice  he  was 
devoted  to  the  duties  of  his  profession,  and  was  justly  ranked  among 
the  most  distinguished  members  of  the  bar. 

In  1799  it  was  ascertained  that  the  territory  contained  five  thousand 
free  white  male  inhabitants,  and  consequently  was  entitled  by  the  or 
dinance  of  1787  to  enter  on  the  second  grade  of  territorial  government, 
and  to  have  a  General  Assembly  consisting  of  a  legislative  council  ap 
pointed  by  the  President,  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate, 
and  a  House  of  Representatives  chosen  by  the  people,  in  which  body 
the  legislative  power  of  the  territory  was  vested,  subject  to  the  un 
qualified  veto  of  the  governor. 

Mr.  Burnet  was  nominated  to  the  Senate,  and  with  their  advice  and 
consent  appointed,  by  President  Adams,  one  of  the  legislative  council, 
and  continued  a  member  of  that  body  till  the  territorial  government 
was  abolished,  and  a  state  government  established,  in  the  winter  of 
1802-3. 


JACOB  BURNET,  OF  OHIO.  3 

It  appears  from  the  territorial  journal,  that  Mr.  B.  was  a  very- 
active,  laborious  member  of  that  legislature,  and  that  a  large  part  of 
the  business  transacted  by  the  council  was  prepared  and  reported  by 
him. 

From  the  first  settlement  of  the  northwestern  territory  the  Com 
monwealth  of  Kentucky  claimed  exclusive  jurisdiction  on  the  Ohio 
River,  which  had  been  reluctantly  submitted  to  by  the  people  of  the 
territory,  and  from  which  very  serious  difficulties  and  embarrassments 
had  resulted. 

Persons  arrested  by  territorial  officers  for  crimes  committed -on 
board  of  boats  lying  at,  or  floating  near  the  shore  of  the  territory, 
were  released  on  habeas  corpus,  or  discharged  on  pleas  to  the  juris 
diction  of  the  territorial  courts.  Those  who  set  up  this  exclusive 
right  claimed  that  it  extended  to  high-water  mark,  and  insisted  that 
when  the  river,  at  a  high  stage,  passed  a  portion  of  its  waters  through 
a  bayou,  or  over  low  ground  into  the  main  stream  below,  the  ground 
so  separated  was  an  island  within  the  meaning  of  the  act  of  session,  the 
jurisdiction  and  soil  of  which  was  vested  in  Kentucky.  This  condition 
of  things  was  highly  embarrassing,  and  frequently  resulted  in  the 
escape  of  criminals  from  deserved  punishment. 

The  claim  was  considered  extremely  oppressive,  and  was  loudly  and 
justly  complained  of.  Many  persons  of  intelligence  expressed  the 
opinion  that  the  cession  of  the  entire  country  northwest  of  the  river, 
including  jurisdiction  as  well  as  soil,  in  connection  with  the  fact, 
that  the  river  had  been  declared  a  public  highway,  to  be  used  freely  as 
such  by  all  the  citizens  of  the  United  States,  might  be  considered  as 
giving  the  people  of  the  territory  the  jurisdiction  they  claimed. 

Mr.  Burnet,  then  a  member  of  the  legislature,  with  others,  was  dis 
posed  to  maintain  that  opinion,  and  to  assert  it  as  the  only  remedy  for 
the  embarrassments  experienced  by  their  magistrates  and  courts  of 
justice. 

Accordingly,  in  the  early  part  of  the  session  of  1799,  on  leave  granted 
for  that  purpose,  he  introduced  a  bill  in  which  the  right  of  jurisdiction 
on  the  river  was  affirmed,  and  the  service  of  process,  civil  and  criminal, 
made  on  any  river  or  water-course  within  or  bounding  the  territory, 
was  declared  legal. 

That  bill  passed  by  a  unanimous  vote  in  each  house,  and  was  ap 
proved  by  the  governor,  with  the  distinct  understanding  that  it  asserted 
the  right  of  concurrent  jurisdiction  over  the  whole  river.  From  that 
time,  the  tribunals  of  the  territory,  and  afterwards  of  the  state,  sus 
tained  the  legality  of  arrests  made  on  the  Ohio  River.  Kentucky, 
however,  continued  to  dispute  the  right,  though  no  serious  effort  was 
made  to  resist  it  for  a  number  of  years  ;  but  subsequently  the  opposi 
tion  on  the  part  of  that  state  was  revived,  and  became  so  serious,  that 
the  legislature  of  Ohio  passed  a  resolution  requesting  their  governor  to 
correspond  on  the  subject  with  the  governor  of  Kentucky.  At  a  sub 
sequent  session  the  legislature  were  informed,  that  the  governor  of 
that  state  had  declined  holding  any  correspondence  on  the  subject. 

When  that  result  was  communicated.  Mr.  B.  was  a  member  of  the 
house,  and,  having  had  something  to  do  with  that  matter  in  the  territo 
rial  legislature,  he  determined  to  give  it  a  thorough  investigation.  Ac- 


4  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

cordingly,  he  examined  the  entire  legislation  of  Virginia  in  regard  to 
it.  He  found  that  the  act  passed  in  December,  1789,  authorizing  the 
district  of  Kentucky  to  form  a  separate  government,  was  in  the  form  of 
a  compact,  and  set  forth  distinctly  the  terms  and  conditions  on  which, 
and  on  which  alone,  the  district  should  be  permitted  to  form  a  govern 
ment  for  themselves.  One  of  them  declared  in  express  terms,  that  the 
state  to  be  formed  in  the  district  should  never  claim  the  exclusive 
jurisdiction  on  the  Ohio  River,  but  that  it  should  be  forever  common 
to  them,  and  to  the  people  and  states  on  the  opposite  side. 

These  conditions  were  agreed  to  by  the  people  of  Kentucky,  and  a 
state  constitution  was  formed  in  1792,  containing  a  clause  that  the 
compact  with  the  State  of  Virginia  should  constitute  a  part  thereof. 
The  result  of  that  examination  was  communicated  to  the  legislature, 
and  produced  a  perfect  conviction  that  the  right  for  which  they  had 
been  attempting  to  negotiate  was  secured  to  them,  as  far  as  Kentucky 
was  concerned,  by  the  prudence  and  foresight  of  the  commonwealth  of 
Virginia.  Since  that  time  there  has  not  been  any  difficulty  with  the 
state  or  people  of  Kentucky.  A  similar  embarrassment,  however,  may 
arise  with  the  State  of  Virginia  as  to  our  right  on  the  river  above  the 
mouth  of  Big  Sandy.  But,  judging  from  what  she  had  done  to  secure 
the  jurisdiction  below  that  point,  it  is  not  presumed  she  will  desire  to 
restrict  it  above. 

During  the  war  of  1812  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  state  as 
sembly — was  re-elected  the  succeeding  year,  and  was  solicited  to  be 
a  candidate  again,  but  declined,  in  consequence  of  its  interference  with 
his  professional  duties. 

During  his  membership  he  took  an  active  part  in  supporting  the  va 
rious  propositions  that  were  brought  before  the  legislature  to  sustain 
the  war,  and,  as  far  as  the  means  within  their  control  would  permit, 
they  were  put  in  requisition  to  aid  the  government  in  the  accomplish 
ment  of  their  plans  to  bring  the  contest  to  a  successful  close. 

In  1821  he  was  appointed  by  the  governor  of  Ohio  one  of  the  su 
preme  judges  of  the  state,  and  was  subsequently  elected  by  the  legis 
lature  to  the  same  office,  in  which  he  continued  discharging  the  onerous 
and  responsible  duties  it  imposed  till  December,  1828,  when  he  re 
signed  his  seat  on  the  bench,  and  was  in  a  few  days  thereafter  elected 
to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  to  fill  the  vacancy  occasioned  by 
the  resignation  of  General  Harrison,  who  had  been  appointed  minister 
to  the  government  at  Bogota.  Having  previously  made  up  his  mind 
to  retire  from  public  business,  which  had  induced  him  to  leave  the 
bench,  he  at  first  declined  the  appointment,  but,  on  the  solicitation  of 
friends,  he  yielded  to  their  wishes,  on  condition  that  he  should  not  be 
considered  a  candidate  for  re-election. 

Soon  after  his  appointment  to  the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Court,  he 
was  chosen  by  the  legislature  of  the  State  of  Kentucky  one  of  the  com 
missioners  to  adjust  the  matters  in  controversy  between  that  state  and 
the  commonwealth  of  Virginia,  involving  the  objections  of  the  latter 
against  the  statute  of  limitations,  and  the  occupying  claimant  law  of 
the  former,  and  involving  also  the  validity  of  the  location  of  a  large 
amount  of  Virginia  military  land-warrants  in  the  district  of  Green 
River;  and  in  the  fall  of  1821,  he  proceeded  to  Washington  City,  in 


JACOB  BURNET,  OF  OHIO.  5 

company  with  the  Hon.  Henry  Clay,  who  had  been  designated  by  the 
legislature  to  superintend  the  investigation  on  their  part — the  Hon.  Ben 
jamin  Watkins  Leigh  having  been  appointed  by  Virginia  to  attend  to 
the  same  duty  on  their  behalf.  It  so  happened,  however,  that  the  Vir 
ginia  commissioners  failed  to  attend,  by  which  the  object  of  the  arrange 
ment  which  had  been  previously  made  by  the  two  states  was  defeated. 
About  the  same  time,  Mr.  Burnet  was  appointed  a  professor  in  the  law- 
school  connected  with  the  Transylvania  University,  at  Lexington  ;  but 
at  that  time  the  state  of  his  health,  and  the  pressure  of  official  duty  at 
home,  prevented  him  from  accepting  the  appointment.  Soon  after, 
that  institution  conferred  on  him,  unsolicited,  the  honorary  degree  of 
LL.  D. ;  and  at  a  subsequent  period  the  same  honorary  degree  was 
conferred  on  him  by  the  trustees  and  faculty  of  his  Alma  Mater,  at 
Princeton. 

Under  the  system  established  for  the  sale  of  the  public  domain  by 
the  law  of  1800,  and  the  acts  supplementary  thereto,  an  immense  debt 
was  contracted,  and  became  due  to  the  government  of  the  United  States 
from  the  people  of  the  West,  exceeding  by  estimate  the  entire  amount 
of  money  then  circulating  in  the  western  states.  That  debt  had  been 
accumulating  more  than  twenty  years,  and  was  swelling  daily  with  in 
creasing  rapidity. 

In  1821  it  far  exceeded  the  ability  of  the  debtors  to  pay.  Neither 
the  speculator,  who  had  purchased  with  a  view  of  selling  at  a  profit, 
nor  the  farmer,  who  bought  for  the  purpose  of  cultivation  and  who  ex 
pected  nothing  more  than  to  obtain  a  subsistence  for  his  family,  could 
procure  the  money  which  was  necessary  to  secure  his  title. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  first  emigrants  to  the  West,  and  the  greater 
part  of  those  who  followed  them  from  time  to  time,  were  compelled, 
by  necessity,  to  purchase  on  credit.  Some  of  them  exhausted  their 
means  to  the  last  dollar  in  raising  the  first  payment  on  their  entries, 
and  others  were  not  able  to  make  up  that  sum  without  the  aid  of  their 
friends. 

Judge  Burnet,  who  was  one  of  the  early  adventurers  to  the  West, 
was  residing  in  the  Miami  country  before  and  at  the  time  the  sales  of 
the  public  lands  commenced,  and  had  a  general  knowledge  of  the  situa 
tion  of  the  great  mass  of  purchasers  who  were  indebted  to  the  govern 
ment.  It  was  his  opinion,  repeatedly  expressed  in  conversation  and  in 
the  newspapers  of  the  day,  that  nine-tenths  of  those  debtors  would  lose 
their  lands  and  improvements  under  the  laws  then  in  force  unless  relief 
should  be  obtained  from  Congress.  That  opinion  was  founded  on  the 
general  condition  of  the  country.  It  was  manifest  that  the  pecuniary 
embarrassment  which  prevailed  was  great  and  universal — that  the 
banks  in  the  western  states  had  all  suspended  payment — that  credit 
was  at  an  end — that  money  was  not  to  be  had,  because  it  was  not  in 
the  country,  and,  of  course,  that  no  property  could  be  sold  for  cash  on 
any  terms.  This  appalling  prospect  spread  a  gloom  on  the  countenance 
of  the  community.  The  people  were  sinking  in  despair  ;  hope  had  de 
serted  them,  and  they  were  preparing  to  meet  their  fate  with  the  best 
resolution  they  could  command. 

The  debt  due  to  the  government  in  1820,  at  the  different  land  offices 
in  the  western  states,  amounted  to  twenty-two  millions  of  dollars,  a 


6  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

sum  which  more  than  tripled  the  ability  of  the  country  to  pay.  There 
was,  in  fact,  a  crisis  in  its  affairs ;  and  the  most  buoyant  spirits  could 
not  indulge  a  rational  hope  that  the  gathering  storm  could  be  scattered, 
or  its  ruinous  consequences  be  repaired. 

Thousands  of  industrious  men,  some  of  whom  had  paid  one,  some 
two,  and  others  three  instalments,  on  their  lands,  and  had  toiled  day 
and  night  in  clearing,  inclosing,  and  improving  them,  became  convinced 
that  they  would  be  forfeited,  and  their  money  and  labor  lost. 

The  amount  of  the  debt,  beyond  the  means  of  payment,  was  so 
great,  as  to  threaten  a  general  bankruptcy  throughout  the  West. 

When  this  state  of  things  became  generally  known  and  understood, 
politicians  and  patriots,  in  every  part  of  the  country,  felt  serious  fears 
that  an  attempt  to  enforce  payment,  by  a  forfeiture  of  the  land,  under 
the  laws  of  Congress,  would  produce  resistance,  and  probably  terminate 
in  a  civil  war. 

It  was  very  evident  that  more  than  half  of  the  men  northwest  of  the 
Ohio  River  were  in  debt  to  the  government ;  and  it  was  a  reasonable 
calculation,  that  all  the  residue  felt  a  warm  interest  operating  in  their 
favor. 

A  similar  state  of  things,  though  not  perhaps  to  the  same  extent,  ex 
isted  in  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Louisiana,  and  Missouri. 

An  interest  so  universal,  and  so  exciting  to  the  feelings,  pervading 
such  a  vast  extent  of  country,  might  well  create  forebodings  of  danger 
in  the  minds  of  reflecting  men. 

Portions  of  this  debt  were  due  from  individuals,  who  had  purchased 
for  the  purpose  of  selling  at  an  advance;  and  although  less  sympathy 
was  felt  for  them  than  for  the  actual  cultivators  of  the^soil,  yet,  in 
point  of  fact,  their  claims  were  equally  strong.  But  be  that  as  it  may, 
it  was  quite  evident  that  if  any  attempt  had  been  made  to  enforce  the 
penalty  of  the  land  laws,  the  influence  of  that  class  would  have  been 
much  the  most  operative  in  organizing  and  sustaining  a  plan  of  resist 
ance.  Prom  that  consideration  the  farmers  had  no  disposition  to  sepa 
rate  from  their  fellow-sufferers,  by  presenting  a  claim  on  their  own 
behalf,  founded  on  the  peculiarity  of  their  situation. 

When  the  nation  discovered  the  real  condition  of  these  debtors,  a 
feeling  of  sympathy  was  produced  in  their  behalf  throughout  the  Union ; 
and  at  the  same  time  many  anxious  fears  were  excited,  as  to  the  con 
sequences  of  an  attempt  to  enforce  payment. 

Judge  Burnet — being  one  of  the  sufferers,  and  discovering  a  disposi 
tion  manifested  everywhere  to  remove  the  difficulty — directed  his 
anxious  attention  to  the  subject,  with  a  view  of  devising  a  plan  ot 
relief.  It  was  very  manifest,  without  pausing  to  deliberate,  that 
the  debt  could  never  be  paid,  and  consequently  that  no  plan,  pre 
dicated  on  an  extension  of  time,  would  be  of  any  avail,  and  that  the 
only  effectual  method  of  removing  the  difficulty  was  to  extinguish  the 
claim  at  once. 

That  object  might  be  accomplished,  it  was  believed,  by  obtaining 
permission  to  relinquish  as  much  of  the  land  entered  as  the  purchaser 
could  not  pay  for  ;  with  the  privilege  of  applying  the  money,  which  had 
been  paid  in  on  relinquished  tracts,  to  the  credit  of  such  other  tracts  as 
might  be  retained,  in  such  manner  as  to  save  the  improvements  of  the 


JACOB  BURNET,  OF  OHIO.  7 

actual  settler.     That  privilege,  and  a  release  of  back  interest,  it  was 
believed,  would  fully  accomplish  the  object. 

This  view  of  the  subject  he  stated  to  his  friends,  Mr.  G.  A.  Worth, 
cashier  of  the  Branch  Bank  at  Cincinnati,  and  Judge  Burke,  post 
master  at  that  place,  both  of  whom  cordially  approved  of  the  plan. 
He  then  drew  up  the  form  of  a  memorial  to  Congress,  setting  forth  the 
facts,  and  praying  that  a -law  might  be  passed  granting  relief  to  the 
memorialists,  in  the  specific  manner  stated  above,  which  was  submitted 
to  the  persons  beforenamed,  and  approved  of. 

More  than  a  thousand  copies  of  it  were  then  neatly  printed,  on  letter 
paper,  by  Messrs.  Morgan  and  Lodge,  who,  being  furnished  with  the 
materials,  declined  receiving  any  compensation  for  their  labor. 

The  memorials  were  accompanied  by  a  circular  letter,  drawn  by 
Judge  Burnet,  explanatory  of  the  object,  and  were  sent  to  every  post- 
office  in  the  states  and  territories  in  which  public  lands  had  been  sold ; 
directed  to  influential  men,  who  were  earnestly  requested  to  multiply 
copies,  and  send  them  to  every  village  and  neighborhood  in  the  states 
and  territories  in  which  they  resided.  Among  others,  a  copy  was  sent 
to  Governor  Worthington,  of  Ohio,  who  approved  of  the  plan,  and 
exerted  his  influence,  w-hich  was  very  prevailing,  to  carry  it  to  a  suc 
cessful  termination. 

The  scheme  met  with  universal  approbation,  and  in  a  short  time 
copies  of  the  memorial  were  in  circulation  in  every  part  of  the  Ohio 
and  Mississippi  valley.  The  consequence  was,  that,  at  the  succeeding 
session  of  Congress,  the  tables  of  both  houses  were  literally  loaded 
with  these  memorials,  signed  by  thousands  of  the  inhabitants  of  all 
parts  of  the  western  and  southwestern  country  ;  and,  with  here  and 
there  an  exception,  they  were  in  the  precise  form  drawn  by  Judge 
Burnet,  and  printed  at  Cincinnati. 

The  subject  was  taken  up  in  Congress  with  great  earnestness,  and 
tfo  act  of  182 1  was  passed,  granting  relief  in  the  form  requested  in  the 
memorial. 

In  the  discussion  of  the  subject,  it  was  evident  that  the  leading  mem- 
bers  were  induced  to  support  the  measure,  from  an  apprehension  of 
the  consequences  to  which  the  continuance  of  the  debt  would  lead  ;  and 
ffom  a  conviction  that  it  was  necessary  to  change  the  land  system,  so 
as  to  require  all  sales  thereafter  to  be  made  in  cash.  Under  the  in- 
fhence  of  those  considerations,  the  Hon.  Rufus  King,  of  New- York, 
discussed  the  subject  in  the  Senate  with  great  talent  and  energy.  He 
advocated  the  plan,  because  it  united  the  double  object  of  extinguishing 
tie  existing  debt,  and  of  preventing  the  accumulation  of  another. 

To  reconcile  the  community  to  this  important  alteration  in  the  land 
system,  Mr.  King  proposed  to  reduce  the  price  of  the  public  land  from 
;wo  dollars  to  one  dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  ;  and  to  sub-divide  the 
surveys  into  tracts  of  eighty  acres,  so  as  to  put  it  in  the  power  of  every 
citizen,  who  was  not  a  confirmed  loafer,  to  become  an  independent 
freeholder. 

With  these  modifications,  the  plan  proposed  in  the  memorial  was 
adopted,  with  a  degree  of  unanimity  almost  unparalleled. 

By  the  success  of  that  project,  performed  and  put  in  operation  by 
Mr.  Burnet,  he  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  the  entire  West  relieved 


8  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

from  a  state  of  depression,  which,  had  it  been  continued,  must  havo 
produced  results  too  distressing  to  be  contemplated. 

In  practice,  the  plan  adopted  was  effective.  It  relieved  the  nation 
from  apprehensions,  and  the  people  of  the  West  from  embarrassment, 
and  it  strengthened  their  confidence  in  the  benignity  of  the  general  go 
vernment,  while  it  removed  a  cause  of  disquietude  and  distress  which 
threatened  the  peace  of  the  country. 

In  1828  Congress  granted  to  the  State  of  Ohio,  for  the  purpose  of 
aiding  in  the  construction  of  the  Miami  canal,  from  Dayton  to  the  lake, 
by  the  Maumee  route,  a  quantity  of  land  equal  to  one-half  of  five  sec 
tions  in  width,  on  each  side  of  the  canal,  from  Dayton  to  the  mouth  of 
the  Auglaize  River,  on  the  express  condition  that  the  work  should  be 
commenced  in  five  years,  and  completed  in  twenty  years,  or  the  state 
should  be  bound  to  pay  the  United  States  the  price  of  the  lands. 

The  state  was  also  required  to  pass  a  law  expressly  accepting  the 
condition  ;  without  which,  the  grant  should  be  inoperative. 

The  legislature  were  fearful  of  the  embarrassment  that  might  result, 
and  refused  to  pass  the  law  required,  by  which  the  law  became  inope 
rative,  and  the  grant  was  lost. 

Thus  the  matter  stood  in  1830.  Judge  Burnet  being  then  a  member 
of  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  and  feeling  a  deep  interest  in  the 
completion  of  that  work,  determined  to  make  an  effort  to  obtain  the 
passage  of  a-law  for  the  purpose  of  reviving  the  former  law,  removing 
the  penalty  it  imposed,  and  obtaining  an  additional  grant,  without 
which  it  was  evident  the  extension  of  the  Miami  canal  would  be  aban 
doned. 

He  mentioned  the  subject  to  his  colleague,  Judge  Ruggles,  and  to 
most  of  the  Ohio  members  of  the  house.  They  gave  it  as  their  opinion 
that  the  attempt  would  be  a  failure,  particularly  that  part  of  it  which 
proposed  an  additional  grant ;  but  all  expressed  their  readiness  to  aid 
in  supporting  the  measure. 

For  the  purpose  of  bringing  the  subject  before  the  Senate,  he  offered 
a  resolution,  instructing  the  committee  on  public  lands  to  investigate 
the  subject,  and  report  to  the  Senate.  At  the  request  of  the  commit 
tee,  Mr.  Burnet  appeared  before  them,  explained  the  object  of  the  reso 
lution,  and  stated  in  detail  the  claims  of  his  state  on  the  government, 
and  the  grounds  on  which  they  relied  for  relief  and  assistance. 

The  result  was,  that  they  reported  a  bill  reviving  the  former  grant ; 
revoking  the  forfeiture,  and  making  an  additional  grant  of  about  t\to 
hundred  and  fifty  sections  of  land.  That  bill  passed  both  houses  dur 
ing  the  session,  and  furnished  the  means  by  which  the  Miami  extension 
canal  was  completed. 

Judge  Burnet  was  for  many  years  actively  engaged  in  projecting  and 
sustaining  the  various  enterprises  set  on  foot  in  Cincinnati,  and  in  othet 
parts  of  the  state,  for  the  purpose  of  advancing  the  health,  intelligence, 
and  general  prosperity  of  the  community,  as  will  appear  from  the  fol 
lowing  facts : — that  he  took  a  leading  part  in  establishing  the  Lancaste- 
rian  Academy  of  Cincinnati,  at  an  early  day,  and  in  the  subsequent  es 
tablishment  of  the  Cincinnati  College,  of  vrhich  he  was  the  first  presi 
dent — that  he  had  an  agency  in  procuring  the  re-organization  of  the 
Medical  College  of  Ohio,  and  was  president  of  that  institution  a  num- 


RICHARD  S.  COXE,  OF  WASHINGTON,  D.  C.  9 

ber  of  years — that  he  was  president  of  the  Cincinnati  Branch  of  the 
United  States  Bank,  chartered  during  the  administration  of  Mr. 
Madison — that  he  was  the  first  president  of  the  Colonization  Society  of 
Cincinnati,  and  devoted  much  time  in  promoting  the  great  object  of 
its  founders — that  he  was  a  member  of  the  Society  for  the  Cultivation 
of  Sacred  Music,  and  was  president  of  that  association — that  he  was 
the  first  president  of  the  Astronomical  Society  of  Cincinnati,  and  ren 
dered  essential  and  material  aid  to  the  efforts  of  Professor  Mitchell, 
who  is  universally  regarded  as  the  father  and  founder  of  that  noble  in 
stitution — that  he  was  among  the  most  liberal  contributors  to  the 
Cincinnati  Museum  and  the  town  library,  both  of  which,  however, 
proved  to  be  failures. 

In  1847  he  published  a  volume  of  five  hundred  octavo  pages,  enti 
tled  "Notes  on  the  Early  Settlement  of  the  Northwestern  Territory," 
which  is  considered  as  containing  much  interesting  information,  parti 
cularly  as  to  that  part  of  the  territory  now  constituting  the  State  of 
Ohio;  the  progress  of  which  he  has  witnessed,  from  a.  district  of  about 
twelve  thousand  souls,  to  a  state  whose  population  may  be  estimated 
at  two  millions. 

On  the  application  of  General  Lafayette,  the  friend  of  Doctor  Bur- 
net,  the  father,  and  the  bosom  friend  of  Major  Burnet,  the  brother  of 
the  Judge,  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  French  Academy  of  Scien 
ces,  a  compliment  hitherto  very  sparingly  bestowed  on  foreigners. 


HON.  RICHARD  S.  COXE,  LL.  D., 

OF   WASHINGTON,    D.    C. 

MR.  COXE  holds  an  eminent  position  among  the  distinguished  lawyers 
of  the  United  States.  Though  his  residence  for  many  years,  and  dur 
ing  the  principal  portion  of  his  professional  life,  in  the  District  of  Co 
lumbia,  has  not  given  him  the  opportunity  to  receive  those  marks  of 
political  distinction  which  are  generally  conferred,  in  the  states  of  the 
Union,  upon  advocates  who  have  attained  to  similar  celebrity,  and 
gained  as  large  a  share  of  general  confidence  and  reputation  ;  yet  it  has 
contributed  to  place  him  in  a  sphere  where  his  talents,  ability  and 
learning  have  been  brought  to  the  notice  of  his  country,  and  received 
its  approving  judgment,  as  fully,  and  with  justice  as  impartial,  as  if  they 
had  been  rewarded  with  the  highest  professional  or  judicial  honors.  At 
the  bar  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  among  the  distinguished  circle  of 
advocates  which  that  high  tribunal  collects  from  every  part  of  the 
United  States,  there  are  few  who  are  so  largely  engaged  in  the  various 
cases  which  are  brought  before  it  by  its  diversified  and  extensive  juris 
diction  ;  nor  is  there  any  one  to  whom  they  can  be  entrusted  with 
greater  certainty,  that  no  exertion  of  intelligent  industry,  no  applica 
tion  of  legal  learning,  study  and  research  will  be  wanting,  to  their  able 
and  eloquent  presentation  in  that  forum  of  ultimate  resort. 

Though  a  resident  for  the  last  thirty  years  in  the  city  of  Washing- 


10  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

ton,  Mr.  Coxe  is  a  native  of  the  State  of  New-Jersey.  He  was  born  in 
the  picturesque  and  attractive  city  of  Burlington,  on  the  banks  of  the 
River  Delaware,  in  January,  1792.  He  was  the  second  oon  of  the  late 
William  Coxe,  whose  name,  though  not  without  merited  distinction  in 
the  legislative  annals  of  the  state,  has  become  most  widely  known  from 
his  successful  devotion  to  agriculture,  and  especially  by  his  introduction 
and  cultivation  of  every  variety  of  fruit,  and  his  publications,  by  which 
he  allured  and  attracted  the  notice  and  industry  of  his  countrymen  into 
paths  of  horticulture,  which,  before  his  day,  they  had  scarcely  begun  to 
explore. 

His  family  had  been  long  settled  in  New-Jersey  ;  indeed,  for  more 
than  a  century  it  had  filled  a  prominent  position  in  its  history.  Dr. 
Daniel  Coxe,  an  English  gentleman  of  ancient  connections  and  consid 
erable  wealth,  possessed  very  extensive  proprietary  rights  in  the  pro 
vince  of  New-Jersey  before  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
and  he  even  appears  to  have  been  entitled  to  hold  the  office  of  governor 
in  virtue  of  those  rights.  He  had  been  the  physician  to  the  Queen  of 
Charles  II.,  and  subsequently  to  Queen  Anne,  and  was  also  a  governor 
of  St.  Bartholomew's  Hospital  in  London  ;  his  portrait,  from  the  pencil 
of  Kneller,  still  remains  in  the  possession  of  his  descendant  at  Wash 
ington.  The  conflicts  and  difficulties  which  arose  shortly  after  the 
English  revolution,  between  the  proprietaries  and  the  British  govern 
ment,  led  him  at  last  to  assent,  and  to  induce  the  other  proprietaries, 
none  of  whom  were  so  largely  interested  as  himself,  to  surrender  to 
the  crown  the  privilege  of  government  which  they  had  held  and 
exercised ;  but  his  extensive  domain  was  not  relinquished  or  impaired, 
and  he  was  long  known  by  the  designation  of  the  "  great  proprietor  ;" 
nor  was  his  political  influence  destroyed,  nor  even  that  of  his  family, 
for  it  continued  to  be  represented  in  the  royal  council,  probably  with 
out  an  interval,  as  long  as  the  colony  formed  a  portion  of  the  British 
empire. 

The  son  of  Dr.  Daniel  Coxe,  who  bore  the  same  name,  succeeded  on 
his  father's  death  to  his  possessions  in  America,  which  he  visited  in 
person  in  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century.  In  addition,  how 
ever,  to  his  patrimonial  estate  in  New-Jersey,  he  inherited  a  claim  to  a 
large  tract  of  country,  granted  under  the  name  of  the  Province  of  Caro 
lina,  by  King  Charles  I.,  in  the  year  1630,  by  a  royal  charter  to  Sir 
Robert  Heath,  his  heirs  and  assigns.  Though  its  boundaries  were  not 
defined  with  accuracy  or  minuteness,  they  seem  to  have  embraced  the 
broad  valley  of  the  Mississippi  from  Florida  nearly  to  the  Ohio  ;  and 
even  to  have  extended  on  the  east  and  west  to  the  shores  of  both 
oceans.  Colonel  Daniel  Coxe  entertained  a  sanguine  hope  of  settling 
this  vast  region  with  English  emigrants  from  the  Atlantic  colonies,  and 
counteracting  the  plans  which  had  been  already  commenced  by  the 
French  and  Spaniards  on  the  Mississippi,  both  at  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
and  in  the  regions  where  it  approaches  the  great  northern  lakes.  He 
promoted,  and  probably  took  part  in  several  adventurous  expeditions 
into  the  vast  wilderness,  and  made  every  exertion  to  ascertain  correctly 
the  geography,  soil  and  products,  and  the  character  and  disposition  of 
its  Indian  tribes.  It  is  a  matter  of  tradition,  that  two  vessels  dispatch 
ed  by  him  for  the  purpose  of  ascending  the  Mississippi  as  far  as  possi- 


RICHARD  S.  COXE,  OF  WASHINGTON,  D.  C.  11 

ble,  and  bearing  the  English  flag  for  the  first  time  on  that  stream,  were 
arrested  in  their  progress  by  the  French  already  settled  in  Louisiana, 
and  compelled,  at  the  place  which  still  retains  the  name  of  the  "  Eng 
lish  Turn,"  to  retrace  their  voyage.  A  curious  little  volume  was  pre 
served  in  the  Library  of  Congress  until  the  late  conflagration,  and  may 
still  be  found  in  some  of  our  public  libraries,  in  which  he  has  recorded 
the  result  of  these  efforts.  It  traces  the  Mississippi  from  its  mouth  as 
far  north  as  the,  Illinois ;  describes  with  unexpected  minuteness  the 
rivers  which  flow  into  it  on  either  side ;  depicts  the  country,  with  its 
facilities  for  trade  and  agriculture  ;  and  anticipates  the  intercourse  that 
is  to  occur  with  the  colonies  beyond  the  Alleghany,  and  the  facilities 
which  this  is  to  derive  from  the  chain  of  northern  lakes,  and  the  rivers 
whose  valleys  almost  interlock  in  the  mountain  range.  He  looks  for 
ward  at  that  early  period  to  the  vast  cultivation  of  cotton,  which  he 
says,  "  may  be  turned  to  great  account,  and  in  time  perhaps  manu 
factured  either  in  the  country  or  Great  Britain,  which  will  render  it 
a  commodity  still  more  valuable."  What  is  yet  more  remarkable,  as 
indicating  a  judicious  forecast,  he  proposed,  at  that  distant  day,  a 
federal  union  of  all  the  colonies  appertaining  to  the  crown  of  Great 
Britain  on  the  North  American  continent ;  so  that,  to  use  his  own 
language,  they  might  be  united  under  a  legal,  regular,  and  firm  estab 
lishment,  over  which  a  lieutenant  or  supreme  governor  should  be  con 
stituted,  and  two  deputies  be  annually  elected  by  the  council  and 
assembly  of  each  province,  to  be  in  the  nature  of  a  great  council,  and  to 
meet  together  to  consult  and  advise  for  the  good  of  the  whole.  "  A 
coalition  or  union  of  this  nature,"  he  observed,  "  tempered  with  and 
grounded  on  prudence,  moderation  and  justice,  and  a  generous  encou 
ragement  given  to  the  labor,  industry  and  good  management  of  all 
sorts  and  conditions  of  persons  inhabiting,  or  any  ways  concerned,  or 
interested  in  the  several  colonies,  will,  in  all  probability,  lay  a  sure 
foundation  of  dominion,  strength,  and  trade  sufficient,  not  only  to 
secure  and  promote  the  prosperity  of  the  plantations,  but  to  revive 
and  greatly  increase  the  late  flourishing  state  and  condition  of  Great 
Britain,  and  thereby  render  it  once  more  the  envy  and  admiration  of 
its  neighbors." 

William,  the  second  son  of  Daniel  Coxe,  dwelt,  during  a  considera 
ble  portion  of  his  life,  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  where  he  married  the 
daughter  of  Tench  Francis,  then  attorney-general  of  the  Province  of 
Pennsylvania,  son  of  the  dean  of  Christ  Church  in  Dublin,  and  brother 
of  Dr.  Philip  Francis,  so  well  known  among  men  of  letters  as  the 
translator  of  Demosthenes  and  Horace.  Of  this  gentleman,  RICHARD 
SMITH  COXE  was  the  grandson,  being  named  after  his  maternal  grand 
father,  who  was  a  merchant  of  the  city  of  Philadelphia. 

During  his  infancy  and  early  childhood,  the  feebleness  of  his  consti 
tution  scarcely  allowed  the  indulgence  of  a  hope  that  his  life  would  be 
prolonged  to  manhood ;  but  the  energy  of  his  character  was  already 
apparent  in  his  resolute  struggles  to  lesist  and  overcome  his  bodily 
infirmity ;  and  by  habitually  exposing  himself  to  every  vicissitude  of 
weather,  by  courting  all  the  manly  sports  and  exercises  of  youth,  he 
succeeded  at  last  in  conquering  every  weakness,  so  that,  during  the  re 
sidue  of  his  life,  he  has  been  remarkable  for  the  unusual  vigor  of  his 


12  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

bodily  health.  He  was  only  seven  years  of  age  when  he  was  placed 
under  the  charge  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Staughton,  at  the  academy  in  Bur 
lington,  with  whom  he  remained  until  the  age  of  thirteen ;  from  that 
time  until  his  admission  into  Princeton  College,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Wharton, 
long  known  as  the  learned  and  estimable  rector  of  St.  Mary's  Church, 
in  Burlington,  aided  him  with  private  lessons,  and  prepared  him  for 
matriculation. 

In  the  year  1805,  he  was  enrolled  at  Princeton  as  a  member  of  the 
freshman  class,  being  at  that  time  and  for  months  afterwards,  the  young 
est  student  in  the  institution.  From  his  first  entrance  into  college,  how 
ever,  he  was  influenced  by  a  steady  ambition,  and  throughout  his  three 
years'  term  always  maintained  a  conspicuous  position,  which  was 
crowned,  on  his  graduation  in  1808,  with  a  high  and  well-deserved 
honorary  distinction.  His  first  instruction  in  classical  literature,  while 
under  the  care  of  Dr.  Staughton,  had  not  been  profound,  but  his  tastes 
and  habits,  which  had  imbued  him  from  his  earliest  youth  with  a  strong 
love  of  reading,  and  induced  him  ardently  to  cultivate  general  literature 
and  history,  awakened  in  him  a  love  for  the  great  masters  of  Grecian 
and  Roman  poetry  and  eloquence,  which  increased  in  the  progress  of 
collegiate  studies,  and  has  been  nourished  and  indulged  among  the  busy 
occupations  of  subsequent  life.  Under  the  care  of  President  Smith,  a 
gentleman  of  accomplished  manners,  and  a  scholar  who,  with  many 
elegant  and  varied  attainments,  had  especially  cultivated,  and  ably  and 
successfully  explained  the  moral  and  mental  sciences  ;  and  of  Dr.  John 
M'Lean,  the  professor  of  chemistry  and  natural  philosophy,  who  com 
bined  the  Doric  simplicity  of  his  countryman  Burns  with  the  same  spi 
rit  of  accurate  and  searching  inquiry  into  the  truths  of  experimental 
science  which  had  largely  contributed  to  the  fame  of  Professor  Black, 
whose  pupil  in  Scotland  he  had  been,  Mr.  Coxe  acquired,  while  at 
Princeton,  a  fondness  for  every  branch  of  study  and  reflection  con 
nected  with  the  moral  and  physical  sciences ;  this  he  has  ever  since  re 
tained,  and  ever  continued  to  indulge  in  as  far  as  the  engagements  of 
his  profession  have  permitted. 

The  associations  of  his  collegiate  days  were  the  basis  of  friendships 
then  formed  with  persons  of  whom  many  have  since  risen  to  deserved 
distinction.  Stevenson  Archer,  of  Maryland,  afterwards  the  distin 
guished  chief  justice  of  that  state,  and  already  beloved  by  all  who 
knew  him,  for  the  purity  and  excellence  of  his  character,  was  conspi 
cuous  among  his  associates  ;  and  in  his  room-mate  and  most  inti 
mate  companion,  Charles  W.  Monk,  a  native  of  Canada,  he  found  a 
friend,  who,  from  his  superiority  of  years,  commanded  as  much  de 
ference  as  by  his  talents,  early  and  remarkably  developed,  he  attracted 
admiration,  and  by  his  amiable  character  won  and  secured  respect  and 
love.  To  these  chosen  companions  of  his  collegiate  life  he  added  se 
veral  others — some  of  them  students  in  the  same  class — whose  names 
have  been  made  familiar  to  their  countrymen  by  their  subsequent  emi 
nence  and  worth.  Bishop  Meade,  of  Virginia  ;  Mr.  Justice  Wayne, 
who  has  been  alike  distinguished  in  the  halls  of  Congress  and  on  the 
bench  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States ;  Mr.  Booth,  the 
le^r  ed  chief  justice  of  the  State  of  Delaware  ;  and  Mr.  George  Wood, 
who  has  risen  to  deserved  professional  distinction  among  the  bar  of 


RICHARD  S.  COXE,  OF  WASHINGTON,  D.  C.  13 

New- York,  were  some  of  those  with  whom  ties  of  youthful  friendship 
were  formed  at  Princeton. 

Leaving  college  on  his  graduation  as  a  bachelor  of  arts,  at  the  pre 
mature  age  of  sixteen,  Mr.  Coxe,  after  an  interval  of  only  a  few  weeks, 
was  entered  as  a  student  of  law  in  the  office  of  the  late  Judge  William 
Griffith,  then  residing  in  Burlington,  who  had  been  for  many  years  the 
intimate  personal  and  political  associate  of  his  father,  and  with  whose 
family  his  own  had  long  been  united  by  close  ties  of  familiar  and  at- 
tached  friendship.  In  the  office  of  Mr.  Griffith  he  zealously  pursued, 
for  three  years,  his  legal  studies,  only  diverting  his  attention  to  such 
collateral  branches  of  literary  inquiry  as  were  consistent  with  his  in 
tention,  already  formed,  to  make  success  in  his  profession  the  object  of 
his  undivided  aspirations  and  efforts.  Unforeseen  reverses  in  his  father's 
affairs,  during  the  period  of  his  studies,  only  served  to  strengthen  a  re 
solution  which,  without  them,  would  have  been  in  accordance  with  his 
self-relying  spirit  and  disposition.  When  he  had  completed  his  course 
of  study  with  Mr.  Griffith,  he  was  yet  too  young  to  claim  admission  to 
the  bar,  and  he  removed  to  Philadelphia  with  the  view  of  occupying 
the  interval  in  the  larger  field  of  practical  observation  and  instruction 
which  was  afforded  by  its  courts.  He  placed  himself  under  the  direc 
tion  of  Mr.  Binney,  who  was  already  rapidly  rising  to  that  distinction 
and  high  reputation  which  he  has  since  attained.  He  also  united  zea 
lously  and  actively  in  the  formation  of  an  association  among  the  legal 
students  of  Philadelphia,  for  the  purpose  of  mutual  improvement, 
which  has  been  ever  since  continued  with  advantage  and  success.  The  late 
learned  Mr.  Duponceau,  at  the  instance  of  the  students,  consented  to 
become  the  president  of  this  association,  and  to  deliver  formal  written 
opinions  upon  questions  which  were  discussed  by  them  before  him. 
For  several  years  he  devoted  his  time  and  extensive  and  various 
learning,  with  ready  generosity,  to  this  duty,  and  secured  for  himself 
the  lasting  and  grateful  recollection  of  those  to  whom  this  useful  in 
struction  was  given,  among  whom  no  one  has  more  frequently  ex 
pressed  his  sense  of  obligation  than  Mr.  Coxe. 

In  the  year  1812,  a  few  weeks  before  he  attained  his  majority,  Mr. 
Coxe  underwent  his  examination,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Pennsylvania.  His  original  intention  had  been  to 
settle  himself,  at  the  commencement  of  his  professional  life,  in  the 
western  part  of  that  state ;  and  with  this  view  he  had  devoted  much 
of  his  attention  to  the  law  of  real  property,  and  to  the  somewhat  pe 
culiar  legal  system  connected  with  the  land  titles  of  Pennsylvania. 
This  plan,  however,  circumstances  induced  him  to  relinquish,  and  he 
commenced  the  practice  of  his  profession  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia, 
where  he  remained  until  the  year  1816,  when  he  married  a  lady  who 
had  been  the  object  of  his  early  and  long-continued  affections,  the 
daughter  of  Judge  Griffith,  of  Burlington,  with  whom  his  first  legal 
studies  had  been  pursued. 

Shortly  after  this  event  he  determined  to  return  to  his  native  state, 
where,  in  May,  1817,  he  was  admitted  as  an  attorney  and  counselor  of 
the  Supreme  Court.  With  the  encouraging  assistance  of  friends 
already  conspicuous  at  the  bar,  and  with  the  reputation  already  ac 
quired  of  professional  learning  and  industry,  it  was  not  long  before  he 


14  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

found  himself  engaged  in  several  cases  of  importance;  and  from  the 
time  of  his  first  engagement  at  the  New-Jersey  bar  until  he  finally  left 
it,  his  success  was  such  as  to  present  to  a  youthful  lawyer  brighter 
prospects  than  those  which  too  generally  attend  the  earlier  years  of  his 
laborious  profession.  With  many  of  the  distinguished  members  of 
that  bar  he  formed  or  renewed  the  most  friendly  relations.  From  Mr. 
Richard  Stockton,  then  holding  the  high  position  in  the  profession  to 
which  his  talents,  learning  and  worth  entitled  him,  he  received  that  va 
luable  aid  and  friendly  consideration  which  were  congenial  to  his  na 
ture,  and  which  largely  contributed  to  lighten  the  first  difficulties  of  a 
young  lawyer's  career.  He  counted,  too,  among  his  friends,  Mr. 
Southard,  at  that  time  a  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  afterwards  a 
Senator  of  the  United  States,  and  a  member  of  the  administration  of 
Mr.  Adams  ;  Mr.  Charles  Ewing,  subsequently  chief  justice  of  the 
state ;  Mr.  Wall,  who  represented  New-Jersey  for  some  years  in  the 
Senate  ;  and  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  then  the  attorney-general.  From  the 
latter  Mr.  Coxe  received  the  appointment  of  deputy  attorney-general 
for  his  native  county — a  situation  which  afforded  him  opportunities  for 
the  exhibition  of  his  professional  qualifications,  and  largely  extended 
his  acquaintance  and  popularity  ;  so  that  his  share  of  the  professional 
business  of  West  Jersey  soon  became  considerable  in  all  of  the  state 
courts.  Nor  was  it  confined  to  these  ;  it  extended  to  the  Circuit  Court 
of  the  United  States,  over  which  then  presided,  with  distinguished 
ability,  the  late  Judge  Washington,  an  early  friend  of  his  father,  who, 
to  the  end  of  his  life,  continued  and  exhibited  the  same  friendly  regard 
to  his  son. 

In  the  year  1822,  circumstances  occurred  which  induced  Mr.  Coxe  to 
contemplate  a  removal  to  the  District  of  Columbia.  Strong  induce 
ments  were  held  out  to  him  to  make  it  the  place  of  his  future  resi 
dence  and  the  field  of  his  professional  exertions ;  and  encouraged  by  the 
advice  of  friends,  and  strengthened  by  the  letters  of  Judge  Washing 
ton,  Mr.  Southard  and  others,  to  whom  he  was  well  known,  and  who 
felt  a  strong  interest  in  his  welfare,  he  established  himself  at  Washing 
ton,  in  December,  1822.  Admitted  immediately  to  the  bar  of  the 
Circuit  Court  of  the  District,  and,  at  the  commencement  of  the  ensuing 
term  to  that  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  he  plunged 
at  once  into  the  active  and  engrossing  professional  occupation  which 
has  from  that  time,  without  an  interval,  engaged  him.  He  found  him 
self  at  that  period  surrounded  by,  and  associated  with,  men  most  emi 
nent  in  the  profession  of  the  law;  on  the  bench,  before  which  he 
pleaded,  sat  Marshall,  Washington,  Johnson,  Livingston,  Todd,  Duval 
and  Story,  all  of  whom,  in  the  progress  of  his  professional  life,  he  has 
seen  gradually  pass  from  that  high  judicial  station  ;  at  the  bar,  his  daily 
associates  in  forensic  discussion  were  Wirt,  Webster,  Harper,  Ogden, 
Emniett,  Jones,  Key  and  Swann,  few  of  whom  now  remain  to  meet 
him  in  the  scenes  of  their  early  and  agreeable  association. 

During  the  long  interval  of  thirty  years  that  have  since  elapsed,  Mr. 
Coxe  has  been  engaged  in  the  full  practice  of  his  profession  in  the  local 
courts  in  the  District  of  Columbia  ;  occasionally  in  those  of  the  State  of 
Maryland,  and  constantly  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 
To  the  extent  of  his  practice  and  the  importance  of  the  cases  entrusted 


RICHARD  S.  COXE,  OF  WASHINGTON,  D.  C.  15 

to  his  charge,  the  volumes  of  reports  of  the  latter  tribunal,  made  by 
Messrs.  Wheaton,  Peters  and  Howard,  bear  a  continuous  and  abun 
dant  testimony  ;  they  afford,  however,  most  imperfect  and  inadequate 
materials  from  which  to  form  a  just  judgment  of  the  learning,  skill 
and  ability  of  the  advocate,  for,  with  few  exceptions,  they  present 
scarcely  an  outline  of  his  arguments,  and  are  confined  to  a  summary 
of  the  principal  points  which  he  presented,  and  the  authorities  he  re 
lied  on.  Among  the  earliest  of  them  was  one  which  he  argued  in  the 
year  1825,  that  circumstances  concurred  to  invest  with  peculiar  inter 
est  to  himself.  It  was  an  appeal  from  the  judgment  of  the  Circuit 
Court  of  New-Jersey,  in  the  suit  of  Wright  v.  Denn,  which  had  been 
there  instituted  on  the  advice  of  Mr.  Stockton,  who,  in  opposition  to 
several  eminent  counsel,  had  given  a  decided  opinion  in  favor  of  the 
plaintiff's  right,  and  which,  after  a  contest  in  the  Circuit  Court,  con 
ducted  with  equal  zeal  and  ability,  had  been  there  sustained.  When 
the  case  was  taken  by  the  defeated  party  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States,  in  the  confident  expectation  that  this  decision  would  be 
reversed,  Mr.  Stockton  was  unable  personally  to  participate  in  the  ar 
gument  in  Washington.  He  confided  it  to  his  young  friend,  with  an 
earnest  exhortation  to  sustain  the  opinion  he  had  given,  as  well  as  the 
professional  reputation  of  his  native  state ;  and  this  he  successfully 
did,  the  judgment  of  the  Circuit  Court  being  affirmed  without  a  dis 
senting  opinion.  In  the  argument  of  this  cause,  Mr.  Coxe  met  at  the 
bar,  for  the  first  time,  his  old  college  friend  and  companion,  George 
Wood.  Although  natives  of  the  same  county,  members  of  the  same 
class  at  Princeton,  admitted  to  the  bar  nearly  cotemporaneously,  and 
pursuing  their  profession  in  the  same  state,  yet  the  practice  of  the  one 
had  been  principally  in  the  northern  and  eastern  counties,  while  that 
of  the  other  was  chiefly  in  the  western  circuits ;  so  that  they  now  met 
for  the  first  time  upon  a  distant  field,  and  before  a  new  tribunal. 

It  was  not  long  after  the  settlement  of  Mr.  Coxe  in  Washington, 
that  a  class  of  cases  involving  property  of  great  value,  and  presenting 
legal  and  political  questions  of  delicacy  and  importance,  began  to  occu 
py  the  attention  of  the  Supreme  Court,  which  they  continued  to  do  for 
many  subsequent  years.  These  were  controversies  growing  out  of  the 
cession  of  Louisiana  and  Florida  to  the  United  States.  Not  only  did 
they  depend  mainly  upon  the  local  and  colonial  land  laws  of  Spain, 
France  and  Great  Britain,  but  they  required  a  most  careful  examination 
and  construction  of  the  treaties  made  with  those  governments,  and  the 
political  negotiations  which  had  preceded  and  accompanied  them ;  so 
that  the  advocate  was  required  to  master  a  system  of  jurisprudence 
greatly  at  variance  with  our  own,  and  to  apply  to  private  rights  the 
stipulations  of  public  and  political  documents,  which  were  wanting  in 
those  elements  of  minute  certainty  that  characterize  the  statutory 
enactments  which  affect  the  property  and  rights  of  the  individual  citi 
zen.  Into  this  class  of  cases  Mr.  Coxe  was  early  drawn,  appearing  for 
clients  living  remote  from  Washington,  and  thus  invested  with  a  se 
rious  responsibility,  in  addition  to  that  which  resulted  from  the  nature 
of  the  controversy  and  the  magnitude  of  the  amount  involved  in  it. 
Though  few  traces  of  his  elaborate  arguments  in  the  many  cases  of  this 
in  which  he  appeared  are  to  be  collected  from  the  Reports ;  yet 


16  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

the  notes  preserved  by  the  reporter  in  the  suits  of  Forster  v.  Neilson, 
one  of  the  earliest  of  the  class,  may  afford  some  evidence  of  the  re 
search  and  talent  by  which  they  were  distinguished.  In  cases,  also, 
which  have  involved  the  construction  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  and  the  application  of  its  provisions,  not  only  to  the  transac 
tions  of  individuals,  but  to  acts  of  Congress  and  the  legislation  of  the 
states,  he  has  been  repeatedly  engaged,  evincing  at  all  times  in  his  ar 
guments  that  careful  preparation  and  study  which  such  subjects  pecu 
liarly  demand,  and  holding  in  their  discussion  a  high  position  among 
the  advocates  to  whom  they  have  been  entrusted. 

Though  Mr.  Coxe,  since  his  residence  in  Washington,  has  kept  him 
self  aloof  from  public  office,  making  his  profession  the  exclusive  object 
of  his  attention ;  yet  in  one  branch  of  legal  duty,  connected  with  the 
administration  of  the  government,  his  services  have  been  engaged  on 
many  occasions.  In  the  absence  of  a  legal  officer  authorized  by  law  to 
represent  the  government  in  prosecutions  before  courts-martial,  he  has 
been  engaged  in  some  of  the  most  important  cases  to  fill  the  post  of 
judge-advocate;  and  he  has  discharged  its  duties  not  merely  with 
ability  as  a  lawyer,  but  with  that  moderation  and  judgment  which  are 
made  peculiarly  necessary  alike  by  the  character  of  the  tribunal,  the 
nature  of  the  alleged  offences,  and  the  large  discretion  which  belongs 
to  the  office.  Among  the  most  important  cases  in  which  he  was  thus 
employed  by  the  government,  were  those  of  Commodore  Stewart  and 
Commodore  Porter,  in  the  year  1825. 

Such  has  been  the  professional  life  of  Mr.  Coxe — passed  in  the  active 
and  continuous  exercise  of  the  various  duties  of  ah  advocate  and  a 
counselor,  and  attaining,  by  his  integrity,  talents  and  industry,  a  posi 
tion  which  has  secured  for  him  the  respect  of  the  bench  and  the  bar, 
and  the  confidence  of  those  who  have  profited  by  his  services.  In  his 
private  life,  his  conduct  has  ever  evinced  a  sincere  submission  to  that 
sense  of  religious  obligation  which  he  has  ever  cherished ;  and  in  his 
intercourse  with  his  friends,  and  with  all  around  him,  he  has  constantly 
exhibited  a  liberal  and  hospitable  spirit,  which  has  drawn  to  him,  in 
Washington,  a  large  association  with  the  men  of  eminence  and  worth, 
who  have  successively  passed  across  that  changing  scene  during  the 
thirty  years  of  his  residence  there.  Having  experienced  many  years 
since  the  death  of  the  lady  to  whom  he  was  married  in  his  youth,  Mr. 
Coxe  continued  a  widower  until  the  spring  of  1840,  when  he  formed 
a  second  matrimonial  connection  with  Mrs.  Susan  R.  Wheeler,  the 
daughter  of  the  late  and  sister  of  the  present  Mr.  John  Warren,  of 
New-York — a  lady  whose  intelligence,  manners  and  disposition  have 
largely  added  to  the  attractions  of  the  social  circle  which  he  has  gather 
ed  around  him.  His  eldest  daughter  was  married  some  years  since  to 
Major  Weightman,  now  a  delegate  in  Congress  from  the  territory  of 
New-Mexico,  and  whose  gallant  conduct  was  particularly  conspicuous 
throughout  the  brilliant  campaign  in  which  Colonel  Doniphan,  with  his 
little  army  of  adventurous  spirits,  achieved  some  of  the  most  romantic 
exploits  that  characterized  the  war  with  Mexico. 


REUBEN  H.  WALWORTH,  OF  NEW-YORK.  17 


HON.   REUBEN    H.   WALWORTH, 

-% 

THE  LAST  OF  THE  NEW-YORK  CHANCELLORS. 


UNDER  a  government  like  ours,  where  there  are  no  privileged 
classes,  and  where  no  hereditary  distinctions  exist,  it  very  frequently 
happens  that  the  most  important  and  responsible  offices  are  held  by 
those  of  whom  it  may  very  properly  be  said,  they  have  been  the  pio-  x~  I 
neers  of  their  own  fortunes — men  who  haverfeceived  little  or  no  assist 
ance  from  wealthy  or  influential  relatives,  but  who  are  indebted  for 
their  success  in  life  to  their  own  industry  and  perseverance.  Indeed, 
this  is  generally  the  case  in  the  United  States ;  and  it  is  easy  to  see 
why  it  should  be  so.  Native  talent  is  not  confined  to  any  class  of 
society ;  though,  as  a  general  rule,  it  may  reasonably  be  presumed 
that  the  children  of  intellectual  parents  will  have  more  natural  talent 
than  the  children  of  the  ignorant,  the  stupid,  or  the  imbecile.  The 
sons  of  the  wealthy,  however,  or  of  those  who  occupy  situations  of  ^  ^ 
great  power  or  influence,  are  too  often  found  to  rely  upon  the  wealth 
or  the  influence  of  their  parents,  afld  seldom  acquire  those  habits  of 
industry,  perseverance  and  energy  which  are  essential  to  succcess. 
On  the  other  hand,  those  whose  parents  are  poor,  or  belong  to  the 
middle  classes  of  society,  being  early  taught  the  necessity  of  relying 
upon  their  own  exertions,  will  be  more  apt  to  acquire  that  information 
and  those  business  habits  which  alone  can  fit  them  for  the  discharge  of 
important  public  trusts,  and  that  industry  and  perseverance  which 
usually  ensure  success. 

The  subject  of  this  biographical  sketch  was  the  third  son  of  Benja 
min  Walworth ;  and  as  many  of  the  children  and  descendants  of  the 
latter  have  been  members  of  the  legal  profession,  or  otherwise  con 
nected  with  the  administration  of  justice,  it  may  not  be  improper  here 
to  give  a  brief  account  of  his  family. 

Benjamin  Walworth,  who  was  the  youngest  of  nine  brothers  and 
sisters,  was  the  grandson  of  William  Walworth,  of  Groton,  in  Con 
necticut,  who  came  to  this  country,  from  the  neighborhood  of  London, 
near  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century,  with  Governor  Fitz  John  J 
Winthrop.  He  lost  his  father  in  1750,  when  he  was  only  four  years  >-; 
of  age.  He  learned  the  trade  of  a  hatter,  and  worked  at  it  for  several  ^  *^ 
years  after  he  arrived  at  manhood.  In  the  early  part  of  the  Revolution 
he  was  adjutant  of  Colonel  Stevens'  New- York  regiment,  in  the  service  - 
of  the  United  States,  and  was  in  the  battle  of  White  Plains.  After  the 
term  of  service  of  the  regiment  had  expired,  he  was  engaged  in  mer 
chandise  for  a  few  years,  but  relinquished  it  soon  after  his  marriage,  - 
and  became  a  farmer,  which  business  he  followed  until  his  de-ath,  in 
1812,  leaving  a  small  patrimony  to  each  of  his  ten  children.  He  was 
for  many  years  an  active  politician  in  the  county  of  Rensselaer,  where 
he  resided  for  the  last  thirty-nine  years  of  his  life;  and  was  a  supporter 
of  the  administrations  of  Jefferson  and  of  Madison,  and  usually  filled 
some  of  the  local  offices  in  the  town  where  lie  resided.  He  was  also 

2 


18  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

a  personal,  as  well  as  a  political  friend  of  the  first  Governor  Clinton, 
afterwards  Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  and  of  his  brother, 
General  James  Clinton,  ...with  whom  he  became  acquainted  in  eariy 
life,  while  boarding  with  a  n'ear  relative  of  theirs  at  Poughkeepsie. 

He  married  Apphia  Hyde,  a  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Jedediah  Hyde, 
a  Separatist,  or  Baptist  clergyman,  of  Norwich,  who,  at  the  time  of  her 
marriage,  was  the  widow  of  Samuel  Cardell,  of  Bozrah.  On  her 
father's  side  she  was  descended  from  William  Hyde  and  Matthew 
Marvin,  two  of  the  first  settlers  of  Hartford  ;  and  through  her  mater 
nal  grandfather,  Joseph  Ti>&cy,  the  second  son  of  Mary  Winslow,  who 
married  the  first  John  Tra^y,  of  Norwich,  she  was  the  fourth  in  descent 
from  Mary  Chilton,  who^came  to  Plymouth  in  the  Mayflower,  in 
1620,  and  married  John  Winslow,  a  brother  of  the  governor. 

Mrs.  Walworth  was  a  very  talented  and  intellectual  lady,  and  had 
received  as  good  an  education  as  iti  was  usual  for  any  females  to  re 
ceive  previous  to  the  Revolution ;  and  she  was  very  careful  to  infuse 
into  the  minds  of  her  children  the  principles  of  morality,  religion  and 
virtue,  and  to  inculcate  thos^-  habits  of  prudence,  industry  and  perse 
verance,  which  were  afterwards  so  conducive  to  their  success  in  life 
after  they  left  the  paternal  roof. 

William  S.  Cardell,  her  only  c/ild  by  her  first  husband,  but  who 
died  many  years  since,  became  a  cnstfnguished  scholar  and  teacher,  and 
was  the  author  of  some  valuable  school-books  and  other  literary  and 
scientific  works.  Major  John  Walworth,  her  first  son  by  the  chancel 
lor's  father,  was  an  officer  in  the  army  of  the  United  States  during  the 
last  war  with  England,  and  distinguished  himself  at  the  taking  of  Little 
York,  where  he  led  the  advances  under  the  command  of  General  Pike, 
and  was  wounded  by  the  side  of  that  gallant  officer  at  the  time  that 
the  latter  was  killed.  At  the  close  of  the  war. he  left  the  army  and 
settled  at  Plattsburgh,  and  was  subsequently  elected  to  the  office  of 
clerk  of  Clinton  county,  and  continued  to  be  elected  from  time  to  time 
until  1829,  when  he  was  appointed  assistant-register  of  the  Court  of 
Chancery.  He  held  this  last  office  until  his  death,  in  1839,  and 
discharged  its  duties  to  the  perfect  satisfaction  of  the  court  and  the 
bar. 

James  Clinton  Walworth,  the  second  son,  is  a  successful  farmer  in 
the  county  of  Otsego,  and  was  for  many  years  a  judge  of  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas  of  that  county.  Benjamin,  the  fourth  son,  is  a  distin 
guished  physician  and  surgeon,  residing  at  Fredonia,  and  was  for  seve 
ral  years  one  of  the  associate  judges  of  the  county  of  Chautauque. 
Jedediah  H.  Walworth,  the  fifth  son,  was  a  member  of  the  bar  of 
Washington  county,  but  died  in  1827,  a  year  or  two  after  he  was 
licensed  to  practice.  Hiram,  the  youngest  son,  was,  during  the  life  of 
his  brother,  the  assistant-register,  his  deputy.  He  had  the  exclusive 
management  of  the  financial  concerns  of  the  office,  and  the  investment 
and  control  of  several  millions  of  money  which  were  brought  into 
court  in  the  city  of  New- York  ;  which  duty  he  discharged  with  great 
prudence  and  fidelity.  Upon  the  death  of  his  brother,  he  succeeded 
him  in  the  office  of  assistant- register,  which  he  held  until  he  was  in 
duced  to  resign  it  on  accqunt  of  the  loss  of  his  sight.  Oliver  L.  Bar- 
bour,  the  present  reporter  of  the  Supreme  Court,  is  a  son  of  the  oldest 


REUBEN  H.  WALWORTH,  OF  NEW- YORK.  19 

daughter ;  and  Chancellor  Walworth  has  three  other  nephews  who  are 
members  of  the  bar  in  this  state,  and  another  who  is  a  member  of  the 
profession  in  Wisconsin. 

Reuben  Hyde  Walworth,  the  late  chancellor,  was  born  on  the  26th 
of  October,  1789,  at  Bozrah,  a  part  of  the  nine  miles  square  originally- 
embraced  within  the  bounds  of  the  town  of  Norwich,  in  Connecticut ; 
and  in  February,  1793,  he  removed  with  his  father's  family  to  the 
town  of  Hoosick,  in  the  State  of  New- York.  He  was  brought  up  a 
farmer  until  the  age  of  seventeen,  with  no  advantages  of  education 
but  such  as  could  be  obtained  by  attending  the  ordinary  public  schools 
of  that  day,  during  that  part  of  the  year  when  his  services  were  not 
required  on  the  farm.  "  Yet  so  anxious  was  he  to  get  an  education  that, 
at  the  age  of  twelve,  he  went  from  home  and  worked  through  the 
winter,  mornings  and  evenings,  for  his  board,  that  he  might  have  the 
advantage  of  a  better  common  school  than  that  in  the  vicinity  of  his 
father's  residence.  At  the  age  of  sixteen,  he  was  himself  a  teacher  of 
a  village  school  during  the  winter  months.  He  was  also  engaged  in 
the  same  employment  during  the  following  winter."  The  only  classical 
education  which  he  ever  received  was  for  about  fourteen  weeks,  while 
he  was  for  the  first  time  engaged  in  the  business  of  school  teaching 
himself.  During  that  time,  when  he  was  not  engaged  in  his  school,  he 
studied  the  Latin  language  and  mathematics,  under  the  advice  and 
direction  of  Mr.  Cardell,  his  half  brother,  who  had  received  a  liberal 
education. 

To  a  disability  similar  to  that  which  the  unrivaled  success  of  the 
great  Scotch  novelist  is  attributed,  the  people  of  New- York  were  in 
debted  for  the  last  of  their  chancellors.  In  the  summer  after  he  at 
tained  his  seventeenth  year,  he  met  with  an  accident  which  incapa 
citated  him  for  a  long  time  from  working  on  a  farm,  and  changed  the 
whole  course  of  his  life.  While  engaged  with  an  elder  brother  in 
drawing  in  a  load  of  wheat  from  the  harvest  field,  the  loaded  wagon 
was  overturned,  and  both  the  wheat  and  the  wagon  were  thrown  down 
a  precipice.  Being  on  the  top  of  the  load,  he,  with  his  brother,  was 
pitched  down  the  precipice  with  it,  and  fell  beneath  the  load  of  grain 
and  the  wagon,  by  which  one  of  his  ankles  was  so  badly  injured  that  his 
parents  supposed  he  would  be  a  cripple  for  life. 

As  soon  as  he  had  sufficiently  recovered  from  the  effects  of  this  acci 
dent,  which  had  unfitted  him  for  farming,  as  to  be  able  to  engage  in 
any  other  business,  he  went  into  a  country  store  for  a  short  time  as  a 
clerk.  While  there,  he  became  acquainted  with  an  attorney  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  store,  and  he  then  determined  to  endeavor  to  over 
come  the  obstacles  of  a  defective  education,  and  to  prepare  himself  for 
the  bar.  He  entered  his  name  with  the  attorney,  and  continued  to 
study  law  under  the  direction  of  the  latter  for  a  few  months,  while  he 
continued  to  discharge  the  duties  of  a  merchant's  clerk.  But  as  the 
lawyer  under  whose  direction  he  commenced  his  legal  studies  possessed 
very  few  books,  and  not  a  very  extensive  practice,  he  finally  induced 
his  father  to  furnish  him  the  means  of  pursuing  his  studies  at  what  was 
then  the  village  of  Troy — the  place  where  the  courts  of  the  county 
were  held,  and  where  there  were  several  lawyers  of  eminence  in  their 
profession. 


20  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

In  the  selection  of  an  office  in  which  to  pursue  his  legal  studies,  he 
was  particularly  fortunate  in  obtaining  a  first-rate  legal  instructor, 
whose  office  has  become  somewhat  celebrated  for  the  number  of  judicial 
officers  who  have  received  the  whole  or  some  part  of  their  professional 
education  there.  The  gentleman  whose  office  he  entered  at  Troy,  and 
who  had  recently  removed  from  the  county  of  Washington,  was  Mr. 
John  Russell,  formerly  state's  attorney  for  the  northern  district  of 
New- York,  who  died  in  the  prime  of  life  some  forty  years  since.  This 
gentleman,  whose  name  as  counsel  frequently  appears  in  the  first  ten 
volumes  of  Johnson's  Reports,  was  one  of  the  eminent  lawyers  of  his 
day,  and  was  said  to  be  the  best  common  law  practitioner  in  the  state. 
Hence,  although  Mr.  Walworth  was  the  only  student  in  the  office  at 
the  time  when  he  first  entered  it,  he  had  six  or  seven  associates  before 
he  left  there,  three  years  afterwards.  Among  them  were  two  others 
who  have  filled  high  judicial  stations — William  L.  Marcy,  afterwards 
one  of  the  justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State  of  New-York ; 
and  George  Monell,  who  subsequently  was  the  chief  justice  of  the  State 
of  Michigan,  were  among  the  number. 

John  Woodworth,  who  became  the  attorney-general  of  the  State  of 
New- York,  and  was  subsequently  a  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court,  built 
the  office,  and  occupied  it  for  several  years ;  and  Chief  Justice  Savage, 
and  Nathan  Williams,  for  many  years  circuit  judge  for  the  fifth  circuit, 
as  well  as  Mr.  Russell,  who  subsequently  owned  and  occupied  the  same 
office,  were  among  the  students  who  received  their  legal  education 
therein. 

For  the  purpose  of  enabling  him  to  pursue  his  studies  to  greater  ad 
vantage,  Mr.  Walworth,  when  he  commenced  his  studies  there,  had  a 
sleeping-bunk  placed  in  the  office,  and  lodged  there  most  of  the  time 
during  the  three  years  he  continued  to  be  a  student  with  Mr.  Russell. 
At  the  end  of  the  first  year  he  had  been  so  successful  in  acquiring  a 
knowledge  of  the  practice  and  of  legal  principles,  that  his  legal  instructor 
entrusted  him  with  the  whole  charge  of  the  office,  and  with  the  draft 
ing  of  all  the  ordinary  pleadings  and  proceedings ;  and  at  the  end  of 
the  second  year  he  voluntarily  offered  him  a  year's  board,  on  account 
of  the  services  he  performed  beyond  what  was  usually  expected  of 
students  preparing  themselves  for  the  bar.  At  the  age  of  twenty  he 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  and,  in  con 
nection  with  Mr.  John  Palmer,  who  was  licensed  as  an  attorney  of  the 
Supreme  Court  about  the  same  time,  he  commenced  the  practice  of  the 
law  at  Plattsburgh,  in  the  county  of  Clinton. 

Mr.  Russell,  who,  in  his  official  capacity  of  public  prosecutor  or  dis 
trict  attorney  for  the  northern  district  of  New-York,  had  frequently 
visited  Plattsburgh,  and  was  well  acquainted  there,  gave  to  his  late  stu 
dent  letters  of  introduction  to  some  of  the  most  influential  gentlemen 
of  Clinton  county,  strongly  recommending  him  to  their  patronage  and 
support,  as  a  talented,  industrious,  and  well-informed  young  lawyer. 
This  enabled  him  to  get  some  legal  business  at  once,  without  those  har 
assing  delays  which  so  often  discourage  young  gentlemen  of  the  bar 
at  the  commencement  of  their  professional  career.  But  according  to 
the  then  practice  of  the  courts,  process  was  only  made  returnable  at 
the  regular  terms ;  and  no  trial,  or  even  judgment  by  default,  could  b<> 


REUBEN  H.  WALWORTH,  OF  NEW-YORK.  21 

entered  thereon  until  the.  seco-nd  term  after  the  return  of  the  capias. 
The  firm  of  Palmer  and  Walworth,  therefore,  had  no  suits  of  their  own 
to  attend  to  in  court,  until  about  nine  months  after  they  first  located 
themselves  at  Plattsburgh.  Mr.  Walworth,  however,  was  not  idle  in  the 
meantime. 

Soon  after  he  removed  to  Plattsburgh  he  was  attacked  by  an  epi 
demic  that  then  prevailed  there,  and  was  prostrated  thereby  for  three 
or  four  weeks,  which  is  the  only  severe  sickness  that  he  has  ever  expe 
rienced  of  more  than  a  day  or  two's  continuance.  That  epidemic  proved 
fatal  to  many  adults ;  and,  among  others,  to  one  of  the  members  of  a 
legal  firm  in  an  extensive  practice,  who  usually  attended  to  the  argu 
ment  and  trial  of  the  co-partnership  causes.  Shortly  after  Mr.  Wal 
worth  had  recovered  from  his  sickness  so  far  as  to  be  able  to  attend  to 
business,  the  surviving  member  of  that  firm  applied  to  him  for  profes 
sional  assistance,  informed  him  that  his  deceased  partner  had  left  him 
with  about  twenty  causes  to  be  argued  upon  questions  of  law,  or  to  be 
tried  by  jury,  at  the  term  which  was  to  be  held  in  the  ensuing  month. 
And  although  he  was  offered  only  the  stinted  fee  of  fifteen  dollars  for 
the  service,  Mr.  Walworth  readily  accepted  the  offer,  wisely  concluding 
that  what  he  failed  to  receive  as  an  adequate  pecuniary  compensation, 
would  be  made  up  to  him  in  professional  reputation  as  a  source  of 
future  profit.  He  accordingly  prepared  himself  for  the  trial  and  argu 
ment  of  all  those  causes,  and  at  the  next  term  of  the  court  performed 
the  service  required  of  him  to  the  perfect  satisfaction  of  his  employer, 
and  also  of  the  clients.  The  result  was,  as  he  had  anticipated,  that  he 
secured  to  his  own  firm  the  future  business  of  many  of  those  clients.  It 
also  brought  him  to  the  notice  of  many  business  men  of  the  county, 
who  attended  court  at  that  term,  as  an  energetic  and  talented  young 
lawyer,  to  whom  they  or  their  friends  might  safely  entrust  the  prose 
cution  or  defence  of  their  legal  rights. 

The  other  member  of  the  firm,  Mr.  Palmer,  who  was  likewise  a  man 
of  talent,  and  a  good  advocate,  assisted  in  the  trial  and  argument  of 
some  of  the  causes,  by  which  he  was  also  brought  to  the  notice  of  the 
public.  From  that  time  business  began  to  flow  into  their  office  rapidly ; 
and  during  the  eleven  or  twelve  years  that  the  co-partnership  of  Palmer 
and  Walworth  continued,  no  legal  firm  in  the  county  did  a  more  profita 
ble  professional  business. 

Although  Mr.  Walworth  made  it  a  rule  to  accept  no  office  or  employ 
ment  which  would  interfere  with  his  professional  business  and  his  duty 
to  his  clients,  and  frequently  declined  the  offers  of  his  friends  to  present 
his  name  as  a  candidate  for  the  state  legislature,  he  readily  availed  him 
self  of  the  offer  of  local  offices  connected  with  the  law,  the  duties  of  which 
could  be  discharged  by  him  without  interfering  with  his  practice  in  the 
courts. 

Two  years  after  he  settled  at  Plattsburgh,  he  was  appointed  by  Gover 
nor  Tompkins  a  justice  of  the  peace  for  the  county  of  Clinton,  and  a 
master  of  the  Court  of  Chancery.  Both  of  these  offices  he  held,  with  the 
exception  of  a  single  year,  until  his  appointment  as  circuit  judge,  in  the 
spring  of  1823.  In  1817  he  received  the  appointment  of  notary  public. 
In  the  ensuing  year  the  legislature  passed  a  law  creating  the  office  of 
commissioner  to  perform  certain  duties  of  a  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court, 


I 
22  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

for  the  northern  part  of  the  state.     And  shortly  afterwards  Governor 
Clinton  tendered  that  office  to  Mr.  Walworth,  which  he  accepted. 

The  writer  of  a  recent  biographical  sketch  of  the  late  chancellor  says. 
that  "  in  confidence  of  his  ability,  by  his  professional  talents,  to  sustain 
the  burthens  and  expenses  of  a  family,  Mr.  Walworth,  soon  after  he 
became  a  lawyer,  formed  that  happy  matrimonial  connection,  the  disso 
lution  of  which,  by  the  death  of  his  wife,  in  1847,  may  be  deemed  the 
greatest  misfortune  of  his  life.  Though  he  lost,  in  1812,  by  the  acci 
dental  destruction  of  his  house  by  fire,  all  the  avails  of  his  previous  la 
bors,  events  soon  proved  that  his  reliance  on  his  own  powers  were  not 
misplaced.  He  had  at  once  entered  on  a  most  successful  practice,  which 
would  have  conducted  not  only  to  professional  eminence,  but  to  pecu 
niary  affluence,  had  he  not,  at  an  age  at  which  few  young  men  can  be  con 
sidered  to  have  seriously  engaged  in  the  business  of  life,  been  called  by 
his  fellow-citizens  to  the  councils  of  the  nation,  his  labors  in  which  had 
scarcely  terminated  before  his  talents  \vere  demanded  in  the  then  new 
organization  of  the  judiciary  of  the  state." 

The  lady  above  alluded  to,  who  became  the  wife  of  Mr.  Walworth, 
in  January,  1812,  a  few  days  after  she  had  entered  upon  her  seventeenth 
year,  was  Maria  Ketchum  Averill,  the  eldest  daughter  of  Mr.  Nathan 
Averill,  of  Plattsburgh.  And  as  the  success  in  life  of  every  one,  par 
ticularly  of  a  professional  man,  is  intimately  connected  with  the  selec 
tion  which  he  makes  of  a  wife,  it  may  not  be  inappropriate  here  to 
introduce  the  following  extract  from  a  published  sermon,  upon  the  oc 
casion  of  the  death  of  the  late  Mrs.  Walworth.  In  reference  to  her 
domestic  and  social  character,  her  pastor  says : 

"  In  all  the  relations  of  the  family  circle  she  was  most  faithful  and 
successful ;  as  daughter,  wife  and  mother,  she  will  be  mourned  by  those 
who  survive,  as  few  are  mourned. 

"  In  her  native  character,  there  was  an  uncommon  loveliness,  most 
attractive  to  all  around  her,  making  it  easy  for  her  to  secure  the  friend 
ship  of  her  acquaintances;  and  an  artlessness  and  ingenuousness  which 
were  certain  to  retain  the  affection  which  had  been  gained.  Few  persons, 
it  is  believed,  had  so  many  warm  friends.  These  are  all  left  with  bleed 
ing  hearts  to  seek  to  comfort  each  other  with  the  recollection  of  the 
virtues  of  the  departed. 

"Perhaps  if  any  single  trait  of  her  character  were  to  be  specified  as 
surpassing  all  others  in  distinctness  and  excellence,  her  philanthropy, 
her  almost  unbounded  benevolence,  should  be  named.  And  yet  this 
was  the  result  of  a  combination  of  qualities  of  the  highest  order,  and 
was  merely  the  exhibition  of  these  in  action.  Her  liberality  was  of 
the  kind  which  shrinks  not  from  sacrifice.  She  was  ready  at  all  times  to 
deny  herself  personal  gratification,  that  she  might  thus  add  to  the  already 
large  amount  which  every  year  she  contributed  for  human  happiness. 
She  had  a  heart  open  to  every  demand  of  charity.  She  did  not  over 
look  the  heathen  because  they  are  far  away, — her  attachment  to  the 
missionary  cause,  and  to  missionaries  themselves,  will  be  attested  by 
many  a  herald  of  the  cross  in  the  distant  parts  of  the  world.  At  the 
same  time  she  did  not  overlook  the  wants  of  those  suffering  around 
her,  nor  did  she  shrink  from  labor  and  toil  in  their  behalf.  She  went 
to  the  houses  of  the  poor  and  needy,  dispensing  her  charity  everywhere, 


REUBEN  H.  WALWORTH,  OF  NEW-YORK.  23 

and  making  it  doubly  precious  by  her  sympathy  and  kindness.  In 
this,  she  was,  all  her  life,  a  model  most  worthy  of  imitation.  There 
was  no  claim  upon  her  kind  feeling  or  benevolent  action  which  was  not 
at  once  promptly  met.  Everything  especially  which  related  to  the 
poor  and  the  degraded,  awakened  her  warmest  sympathy.  In  the 
Sabbath-school  cause  she  was  deeply  interested,  as  the  tears  of  the  little 
children  crowding  around  her  lifeless  body  bore  witness.  For  the  poor 
inebriate  she  felt  great  solicitude, — some,  reformed  by  her  influence, 
live  to  call  her  their  best  earthly  benefactress,  and  to  lament  her  death. 
With  her  dying  hands  she  made  a  generous  contribution,  I  believe  the 
last  of  a  public  nature,  to  relieve  the  wants  of  the  suffering  families  of 
the  intemperate.  There  was  no  impulse  in  her  manner  of  giving  and 
acting  for  her  Master, — it  was  the  natural,  every-day  movement  of  her 
soul.  Her  name  became  a  proverb  among  us  for  beneficence,  and  as 
such,  cannot  be  forgotten  until  all  have  followed  her  to  the  grave  who 
knew  her.  She  seemed  to  be  acting  continually  as  if  she  would  merit 
the  language  of  approbation  which  the  Master  bestowed  upon  one  of 
her  sisters  in  olden  time:  'She  hath  done  what  she  could' — and  who 
among  us  has  better  deserved  it?" 

By  this  lady,  Chancellor  Walworth  had  two  sons  and  four  daughters, 
all  of  whom,  except  the  youngest  daughter,  who  died  at  the  age  of  five 
years,  are  still  living. 

In  the  spring  of  1851,  Chancellor  Walworth  formed  a  second  matri 
monial  connection  with  Mrs.  Sarah  Ellen  Hardin,  of  Jacksonville,  in 
the  State  of  Illinois,  the  talented  and  accomplished  widow  of  the  late 
Col.  John  J.  Hardin,  of  the  first  regiment  of  Illinois  volunteers  in  the 
late  war  with  Mexico,  who  fell  at  the  battle  of  Buena  Vista,  and  who 
was  one  of  the  most  distinguished  members  of  the  bar  in  the  western 
states.  By  this  lady  the  late  chancellor  has  one  son. 

But  to  return  to  his  early  professional  history  and  pursuits.  Residing 
near  the  northern  frontier  of  the  United  States  during  the  late  war  with 
England,  which  commenced  in  1812,  and  lasted  three  years,  and  Platts- 
burgh  being  a  military  post  during  most  of  the  time,  he  became  ac 
quainted  with  many  of  the  officers  of  our  army,  and  was  frequently 
employed  by  them  as  their  professional  adviser,  and  often  extricated 
them  from  difficulties  in  which  they  became  involved  with  citizens. 

In  the  spring  of  1814,  while  the  army,  under  the  command  of  Maj.  Gen. 
Wilkinson,  was  stationed  at  Plattsburgh,  a  subaltern  officer  belonging  to 
the  British  army  came  to  that  place  in  the  character  of  a  deserter,  and  in 
the  disguise  of  a  common  soldier,  and  as  such  received  a  permit  from  the 
commanding  officer  to  pass  into  the  interior  as  far  as  Albany ;  but  his 
real  object  was  to  ascertain  the  number  and  situation  of  our  army  on  the 
northern  frontier,  and  to  learn  the  progress  which  had  been  made  in  the 
construction  of  the  vessels  of  war  which  our  government  was  then  build 
ing  at  Vergennes  for  the  lake  service.  Having  accomplished  the  ob- 
joct  for  which  he  came  out,  he  was  returning  into  Canada,  in  a  citizen's 
dress,  with  the  information  he  had  obtained,  when  he  was  recognized 
and  arrested  within  a  few  rods  of  the  British  lines,  and  was  brought 
back  as  a  prisoner  to  the  American  camp  at  Plattsburgh.  A  general 
court  martial  was  immediately  ordered  for  his  trial.  And  such  was  the 
standing  which  Mr.  Walworth  had  already  acquired  at  the  bar,  although 


24  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

he  was  not  yet  entitled  to  an  admission  as  a  counselor  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  that  he  was  selected  and  appointed  by  General  Wilkinson  as 
the  judge  advocate  to  conduct  the  proceedings  upon  that  important 
trial,  and  on  the  trial  of  a  colonel  in  the  army,  whose  case  was  to  be 
brought  before  the  same  military  tribunal.  Those  services  were  per 
formed  with  credit  to  himself,  and  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  the  com 
manding  general ;  and  the  unfortunate  Lieut.  Baker  was  condemned 
and  executed  as  a  spy  of  the  enemy. 

The  village  in  which  Mr.  Walworth  resided  was  twice  visited  by  the 
enemy  during  that  war ;  and,  as  might  be  expected  from  what  -has 
been  before  stated,  he  could  not  remain  a  mere  spectator  when  his 
country  was  not  only  engaged  in  what  he  deemed  to  be  a  just  war,  but 
was  actually  invaded  by  the  enemy's  troops.  lie  sought  for  and  ob 
tained  the  appointment  of  aid  to  Major-General  Mooers,  with  the  rank 
of  major  in  the  militia  of  the  state.  He  was  in  the  service  of  his 
country  in  that  capacity  in  1813,  when  a  brigade  of  the  enemy,  under 
the  command  of  Colonel  Murray,  landed  at  Plattsburgh,  and  destroyed 
the  arsenal,  and  the  barracks  at  Pike's  cantonment.  But  General 
Mooers,  and  the  small  body  of  militia  which  was  called  out  at  that 
time,  were  obliged  to  retire  before  a  much  superior  force. 

When  the  British  again  invaded  the  northern  part  of  New- York  with 
an  army  of  14,000  regular  troops,  in  September,  1814,  and  came  as  far 
south  as  Plattsburgh,  Brigadier-General  Macomb,  who  had  been  left  by 
General  Izard  in  command  of  the  forts  at  that  place  with  a  garrison  of 
1,500  regulars,  made  a  requisition  upon  Major-General  Mooers,  under 
authority  from  the  President,  to  order  into  the  service  of  the  United 
States  his  whole  division,  with  the  exception  of  the  brigade  in  Columbia 
county.  The  division  was  called  out  accordingly ;  and  Gen.  Mooers, 
being  the  superior  officer,  took  the  command  of  the  militia  called  out. 
and  of  such  volunteers  as  arrived  at  Pittsburgh  previous  to  the  retreat 
of  the  enemy,  though  he  left  General  Macomb  in  command  of  the  forts. 
Major  Walworth,  who  was  still  one  of  the  aids  of  the  major-general, 
was  assigned  by  the  latter  to  discharge  the  duties  of  adjutant-general 
of  the  forces  under  the  command  of  the  latter. 

When  we  recollect  the  despondency  which  the  capture  of  Washing 
ton,  and  the  destruction  of  the  capitol  by  the  British,  during  the  preced 
ing  month,  had  universally  created,  and  when  we  connect  the  victory 
of  Commodore  McDonough  on  Lake  Champlain  with  the  achievements 
of  the  militia  and  volunteers  under  Major-General  Mooers,  and  of  the 
regulars  under  Brigadier-General  Macomb,  the  occurrences  at  Platts 
burgh  must  be  reckoned  among  the  most  glorious  events  to  which  the 
war  of  1812  gave  rise.  The  whole  American  forces  consisted  of  700 
militia  and  1,500  regulars,  while  the  British  troops  amounted  to  14,000 ; 
a  disparity  even  far  surpassing  that  at  New-Orleans. 

On  the  evening  of  the  5th  of  September,  the  right  wing  of  the  British 
army  was  advanced  on  the  Beekmantown  road  to  within  seven  or  eight 
miles  of  the  village  of  Plattsburgh.  Sometime  in  the  evening  Major- 
General  Mooers,  whose  head-quarters  were  on  the  same  road,  some  two 
or  three  miles  nearer  the  village,  expressed  his  regret  that  he  had  no 
regular  troops  to  support  the  militia  and  volunteers  in  the  anticipated 
conflict  with  the  advancing  enemy  the  next  day.  The  acting  adjutant- 


REUBEN  H.  WALWORTH,  OF  NEW-YORK.  25 

general  immediately  volunteered  his  services  to  proceed  at  once  to 
Brigadier-General  Macomb's  quarters  at  the  village,  and  near  the  forts, 
with  an  order  for  him  to  detach  two  or  three  companies  of  infantry  and 
one  of  light  artillery  from  the  garrison  under  his  command,  and  that 
they  should  report  themselves  to  General  Mooers  at  Beekmantown 
the  next  morning.  An  order  to  that  effect  was  accordingly  made  out, 
and  Major  Walworth  proceeded  at  once  to  General  Macomb's  quarters 
and  delivered  such  order.  The  night  being  very  dark,  he  did  not  deem 
it  prudent  to  attempt  to  return  to  Beekmantown  that  night.  He  slept 
upon  the  floor  of  his  own  deserted  mansion  in  the  village  until  daylight, 
and  then  rode  back  to  head-quarters. 

He  had  just  finished  a  light  breakfast,  when  information  was  brought 
that  the  enemy  was  upon  the  advance.  He  was  thereupon  ordered  by 
the  general  to  select  two  companies  of  the  Clinton  county  regiment  of 
militia,  and  proceed  about  a  mile  to  the  creek  which  crossed  the  road, 
and  take  up  the  bridge,  so  as  to  retard  the  advance  of  the  enemy's 
artillery.  The  order  was  promptly  obeyed,  so  far  as  to  proceed  to  the 
place  indicated  by  the  order.  But  just  as  the  detachment  under  the 
command  of  Major  Walworth  commenced  the  destruction  of  the  bridge, 
the  enemy  approached  in  force  and  commenced  firing  upon  them, 
wounding  two  of  the  detachment  severely,  and  one  of  them  mortally. 
The  fire  was  returned  ;  and  the  detachment  was  then  ordered  to  fall 
back  to  where  Major  Wool,  with  about  150  regulars,  who  had  been  de 
tached  from  the  garrison  under  the  order  of  the  evening  previous,  had 
already  arrived  and  was  stationed. 

The  regulars  were  then  formed  in  the  highway,  and  with  the  detach 
ment  of  militia  on  their  flanks,  waited  the  approach  of  the  enemy,  when 
a  heavy  fire  was  opened  upon  the  head  of  the  British  column  and 
momentarily  arrested  its  progress.  But  the  brigade  of  the  enemy 
which  was  advancing  being  3,500  strong,  the  regulars  under  the  gal 
lant  Wool,  as  well  as  Major  Walworth's  detachment  of  militia,  were 
sooii  compelled  to  give  way  and  fall  back  to  where  the  commanding 
general,  with  the  main  body  of  the  militia  and  volunteers,  was  station 
ed.  At  that  point  the  fighting  became  general,  and  continued  so  at 
intervals  until  the  enemy's  forces  reached  the  village,  and  our  troops 
had  placed  themselves  behind  the  Saranac,  which  runs  through  the  vil 
lage  north  of  the  forts. 

In  a  published  account  of  this  battle  of  the  6th  of  September,  1814, 
commonly  called  the  Battle  of  Beekmantown,  Major  Walworth  is 
specially  named  as  one  of  the  officers  who,  in  connection  with  Major 
Wool,  succeeded  in  rallying  the  militia  and  regulars  that  awaited  the 
approach  of  the  enemy  at  Culvus  Hill,  about  four  miles  from  Platts- 
burgh  ;  which  position  was  maintained  with  so  much  firmness  as  to 
compel  the  enemy  to  fall  back  for  a  time.  It  was  then  that  the  gallant 
Willington,  Lieut.-Colonel  of  the  3d.  Buffs  was  killed,  while  leading  his 
regiment  to  the  charge  against  our  forces,  and  where  several  British 
officers  were  wounded. 

Major  Walworth  was  also  in  the  battle  of  the  llth  of  September, 
when  a  British  brigade,  under  Major-Gen eral  the  Baron  De  Eotten- 
burgh,  crossed  the  Saranac  at  Pike's  cantonment ;  and  where,  in  the 
language  of  General  Macomb,  "  they  were  repulsed  by  the  brave  vol- 


26  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

unteers  and  militia,  and  suffered  severely  in  killed,  wounded,  and 
prisoners."  Shortly  before  that  action,  he  had  been  sent  by  General 
Mooers  to  order  the  Vermont  volunteers,  then  upon  the  lake  shore,  to 
take  a  position  on  the  Saranae,  at  the  place  where  the  battle  after 
wards  commenced.  While  in  the  performance  of  that  duty  he  had  the 
pleasure  of  witnessing  the  termination  of  the  naval  engagement  on  the 
lake ;  and  he  brought  to  his  commanding  officer,  just  as  the  enemy 
approached  the  river  to  cross,  the  first  intelligence  of  the  result  of  that 
engagement,  which  not  only  secured  to  us  the  command  of  Lake 
Champlain,  but,  with  the  evidences  of  bravery  and  prowess  already  ex 
hibited  on  the  part  of  the  militia  as  well  as  the  regular  army,  left  to 
the  enemy  no  hope  of  a  successful  invasion  of  our  country.  After  the 
termination  of  the  wrar,  Major  Walworth  received  a  commission  from 
Governor  Clinton,  appointing  him  division  judge  advocate,  with  the 
rank  of  colonel. 

As  we  have  already  seen,  Mr.  Walworth  sprang  from  a  democratic 
stock  ;  and  he  has  from  his  boyhood  continued  to  be  a  consistent  mem 
ber  of  the  democratic  party,  though  many  of  his  most  devoted  per 
sonal  friends  belonged  to  the  party  to  which  he  was  politically  op 
posed.  He  has  seldom  been  a  candidate  for  any  political  office,  and 
never  when  there  was  any  probability  of  success  at  the  time  of  his 
nomination. 

But  in  1821,  in  connection  with  General  Pitcher,  who  was  after 
wards  lieutenant-governor,  he  was  elected  to  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States,  from  the  double  district  comprising  the  counties  of 
Washington,  Warren,  Clinton,  Essex,  and  Franklin.  And  some  idea 
of  his  personal  popularity  at  that  time  may  be  formed  from  the  fact, 
that  he  everywhere  was  a-head  of  his  ticket,  and  was  elected  by  about 
1,200  majority  over  the  highest  of  the  opposition  candidates,  in  a  dis 
trict  where  the  majority  given  the  year  previous  for  the  political  party, 
to  which  such  opposition  candidates  belonged,  was  much  larger  the 
other  way. 

During  the  two  years,  from  1821  to  1823,  that  Mr.  Walworth  \vas 
in  the  House  of  Representatives,  it  may  be  safely  affirmed  that  no 
member  of  Congress  was  more  indefatigable  in  the  performance  of  his 
public  duties.  It  would  be  difficult  to  find  any  occasion,  where  the  yeas 
and  nays  are  recorded,  in  which  his  name  is  omitted.  Scarcely  a  day 
passed,  in  which  the  journals  do  not  attest  his  presence  by  a  reference 
of  the  petitions  presented  by  him,  many  of  which  came  from  his  im 
mediate  constituents,  and  to  which,  as  arising  from  the  invasion  of  our 
state  during  the  then  recent  war,  he  himself,  an  actor  in  the  memorable 
events  at  Pittsburgh,  could  not  be  insensible  ;  by  the  resolutions  which 
he  offered  on  matters  interesting  to  his  district,  the  state,  or  the  Union; 
and  by  the  reports  which  he  made  on  behalf  of  the  military  committee 
— to  which  he  was  appointed  early  in  the  session,  on  the  resignation  of 
General  Solomon  Van  Rensselaer,  and  of  which  he  was  thenceforward 
the  most  prominent  member. 

It  was  in  the  discharge  of  these  duties  that  he  had  occasion  to  bring 
to  the  notice  of  Congress  the  heroic  achievements  of  a  gallant  band  of  his 
fellow-soldiers,  at  the  siege  of  Pittsburgh,  composed — like  the  garde 
mobile,  during  the  late  struggle  in  Paris — of  youths  below  the  ordinary 


REUBEN  H.  WALWORTH,  OF  NEW-YORK.  27 

age  for  military  duty,  of  volunteers  between  15  and  17.  He  asked  for 
each  of  them,  what  Gen.  Macomb  had  promised  on  the  field  of  battle, 
a  rifle,  as  a  memento  for  his  services.  The  act  obtained  the  assent  of 
the  House,  but  it  was  not  until  a  subsequent  session  that  it  became  a 
law,  through  the  exertions  of  the  Hon.  Aaron  A.  Ward,  of  Westches- 
ter,  who,  as  an  officer  of  the  regular  army,  had  participated  in  the  de 
fence  of  Plattsburgh. 

In  December,  1821,  before  he  became  a  member  of  the  military  com 
mittee,  a  resolution  of  the  House  had  instructed  that  committee  to  in 
quire  and  report  whether  the  army  had  been  reduced  according  to  the 
provisions  of  the  act  of  March,  1821,  to  reduce  and  fix  the  military 
peace  establishment.  After  Colonel  Wai  worth  was  substituted  in  the 
place  of  the  member  of  the  committee  who  had  resigned  his  seat  in 
Congress,  he  was  requested  by  the  chairman,  Dr.  Eustis,  who  had  him 
self  been  at  the  head  of  the  war  department  a  few  years  previous,  to 
examine  the  legal  objections  which  were  made  to  the  manner  in  which 
Mr.  Calhoun,  the  then  Secretary  of  War,  had  carried  into  effect  the  law 
for  the  reduction  and  reorganization  of  the  army.  He  subsequently 
prepared  a  very  able  report  on  the  subject,  fully  sustaining  the 


of  the  course  which  had  been  pursued  in  reducing  the  army  ;  although 
one  of  the  decisions  of  Mr.  Calhoun  involved  the  dismissal  from  the 
service  of  a  distinguished  officer,  who  had  been,  and  still  was,  one  of 
Colonel  Walworth's  personal  friends.  This  report  received  the  appro 
bation  of  Dr.  Eustis,  and  most  of  the  other  members  of  the  military 
committee ;  and  the  member  who  had  prepared  it  was  instructed  to 
present  it  to  the  House. 

This  report,  however,  gave  offence  to  a  distinguished  individual  whose 
feelings  had  become  strongly  enlisted  upon  the  other  side  of  the  ques 
tion,  and  in  hostility  to  Mr.  Calhoun ;  and  at  whose  request,  as  was 
supposed  by  the  friends  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  the  resolution  of  in 
quiry  had  been  brought  before  the  House.  To  this  course  alone  the  late 
chancellor  attributes  the  unfriendly  feelings  of  that  gentleman  ;  and 
which  induced  him  a  few  years  since  to  exert  his  influence  as  a  senator 
of  the  United  States,  to  prevent  a  confirmation  of  the  nomination  of 
Mr.  Walworth  as  one  of  the  associate  justices  of  the  Supreme  Court. 

It  was  within  the  scope  of  Mr.  Walworth's  congressional  duties,  not 
only  to  defend  the  conduct  of  General  Jackson,  as  governor  of  Florida, 
in  the  imprisonment  of  Colonel  Callava,  who,  at  the  instigation  and  in 
connivance  with  others,  attempted  to  defraud  the  orphan  daughter  of  a 
deceased  Spanish  officer,  by  carrying  off  the  papers  containing  the  evi 
dence  of  her  rights  in  a  suit  pending  in  the  military  tribunals  of  the 
territory,  but  he  also  had  an  opportunity  to  sustain,  against  the  assaults 
of  political  opponents,  the  Indian  Agency  of  General  Cass,  in  Michigan, 
and  thus  early  to  vindicate  the  public  services  and  unimpeachable  fame 
of  that  distinguished  individual. 

In  connection  with  his  friend  and  colleague,  the  late  William  B. 
Rochester,  who  was  subsequently  the  democratic  candidate  for  governor, 
he  succeeded  in  defeating  the  attempt  of  one  of  the  federal  representa 
tives  of  the  state  to  deprive  of  their  pay  the  officers  of  the  court  martial, 
which  had  tried  and  condemned  the  recreant  militiamen,  who  had  refused 
to  turn  out  at  the  call  of  their  country,  when  the  state  was  invaded  by 


28  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

the  British  army.  But  one  of  his  happiest  efforts  on  the  floor  of  Con 
gress,  was  his  speech,  in  January,  1823,  in  favor  of  the  bereaved  sister 
of  Lieutenant  Allen,  who  was  killed  by  the  pirates,  and  whose  mother 
had  died  before  the  contemplated  provision  in  her  behalf  could  be  pass 
ed.  "  I  hope  and  trust,"  said  he,  "that  the  sister  whose  desolate  situ 
ation  gave  an  additional  pang  to  the  heart  of  the  dying  hero — she,  who 
has  thus  been  deprived  not  only  of  the  support  of  a  kind  and  worthy 
brother,  but  also  of  the  guardian  care  of  a  pious  and  affectionate  parent, 
may  receive  that  bounty  which  Congress  intended  to  bestow  upon  the 
mother." 

Though  he  voted  against  the  bankrupt  law,  which  was  proposed 
while  he  was  in  Congress,  he  offered  to  meet  the  recent  decision  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  on  the  insolvent  laws,  by  provi 
ding,  by  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution,  that,  "  till  Congress  shall 
establish  uniform  laws  on  the  subject  of  bankruptcies  throughout  the 
United  States,  it  shall  be  lawful  for  the  several  states,  or  any  of  them, 
to  enact  bankrupt  laws,  in  the  same  manner,  and  with  the  like  effect, 
as  they  might  have  done  previous  to  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States. 

Mr.  Walworth  gave  his  vote  in  favor  of  an  appropriation  to  enable 
the  President  to  recognize  the  independence  of  the  Spanish  American 
states.  He  also  called  the  attention  of  the  House  of  Eepresentatives 
to  the  British  act  of  5th  August,  1822,  which  imposed  upon  our  trade 
with  Canada  the  most  onerous  restrictions,  and  by  his  course  led  the 
way  to  the  assertion  of  our  right  to  the  navigation  of  the  St.  Lawrence 
— a  right  of  inestimable  value  to  the  citizens  of  northern  New- York. 

By  the  constitution  of  1821,  which  went  into  operation  on  the  1st  of 
January,  1823,  the  organization  of  the  judiciary  was  materially  affect 
ed;  and  by  its  provisions,  a  circuit  judge  was  required  to  be  appointed 
in  each  of  the  eight  senatorial  districts.  The  duties  of  these  judges 
were  not  only  to  preside  in  the  Courts  of  Oyer  and  Terminer,  and  to 
try  civil  causes  at  Nisi  Prius,  but  they  were  made,  subordinate  to  the 
chancellor,  equity  judges  in  their  respective  circuits.  Mr.  Walworth 
was  appointed  judge  of  the  fourth  circuit,  and  immediately  removed  to 
Saratoga  Springs,  his  present  residence. 

It  is  foreign  to  our  intention  to  enter  upon  an  analysis  of  Judge 
Walworth's  judicial  services.  During  the  five  years  that  he  acted  as  a 
circuit  judge,  opportunities  occurred  to  extend  the  reputation  which  he 
had  previously  acquired  at  the  bar  and  in  Congress.  The  charges 
and  sentences  of  the  court  were  extensively  circulated  in  the  cases  of 
the  Thayers  and  of  Vedeto,  and  to  which,  from  the  heinousness  of  the 
culprits'  guilt,  general  attention  was  attracted.  The  sentence  of  the 
court  in  the  former  case  is  published  in  a  popular  treatise  on  elocution, 
as  a  specimen  of  judicial  eloquence.  Though  the  decisions  of  the  cir 
cuit  judges  were  not  embraced  within  the  purview  of  the  State  Reports, 
yet  such  was  the  ability  with  which  Walworth  already  grappled  with 
the  niceties  of  chancery  law — such  the  extent  of  his  attainments  in  all 
the  cognate  branches  of  jurisprudence,  that  with  regard  to  him  an  ex 
ception  was  made,  and  the  reporter,  the  late  Judge  Cowen,  introduced 
some  of  them  with  the  declaration,  that  no  excuse  need  be  made  for 
laying  before  the  profession  "  such  able  and  luminous  discussions." 


REUBEN  H.  WALWORTH,  OF  NEW- YORK.  29 

In  1828,  on  Chancellor  Jones'  retiring  from  the  office  of  chancellor, 
Judge  Wai  worth  naturally  supposed  that  the  office  would  be  filled  by 
one  of  the  justices  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  that  his  friend,  and  for 
mer  colleague  in  Congress,  General  Pitcher,  then  the  acting  governor, 
would  offer  him  the  vacant  seat  upon  the  bench  of  the  last  mentioned 
court ;  which  office  he  would  have  accepted  without  hesitation.  But  on 
calling  at  the  governor's  room,  as  he  was  casually  passing  through  Al 
bany,  he  was  surprised  with  an  offer  of  the  appointment  of  chancellor. 
He  at  once  told  his  friend,  the  governor,  that  he  ought  to  give  the  office 
to  Chief  Justice  Savage,  who  was  every  way  competent  to  discharge  the 
duties  thereof;  and  that  if  he  preferred  to  retain  the  situation  of  chief 
justice,  Mr.  Justice  Sutherland  should  be  appointed.  And  it  was  not 
until  both  of  those  gentlemen  had  been  consulted,  and  had  absolutely 
refused  to  undertake  to  discharge  the  arduous  and  responsible  duties  of 
the  office  of  chancellor,  that  Mr.  Walworth,  after  some  hesitation,  con 
sented  to  accept  the  highest  judicial  office  in  the  state.  As  Mr.  Justice 
Woodworth  would  in  a  few  months  be  constitutionally  disqualified  to 
hold  the  office,  it  was  not  deemed  necessary  to  consult  him  on  the 
subject. 

Chancellor  Walworth  received  his  appointment  on  the  22d  of  April, 
1828,  just  five  years  from  the  time  he  accepted  the  office  of  circuit  judge, 
and  on  the  28th  he  held  his  first  court  as  chancellor,  and  delivered  writ 
ten  opinions  in  several  cases  which  appear  in  the  reports. 

In  his  address  to  the  bar  on  assuming  his  seat,  he  thus  modestly 
referred  to  his  past  and  present  position:  "Brought  up,"  says  he,  "a 
farmer  till  the  age  of  seventeen,  deprived  of  all  the  advantages  of  a 
classical  education,  and  with  a  very  limited  knowledge  of  chancery  law, 
I  find  myself,  at  the  age  of  thirty-eight,  suddenly  and  unexpectedly 
placed  at  the  head  of  the  judiciary  of  the  state — a  situation  which  has 
heretofore  been  filled  by  the  most  able  and  experienced  members  of  the 
profession." 

As  chancellor,  not  only  was  he  called  upon  to  decide  upon  the  many 
complicated  questions  growing  out  of  trusts,  frauds,  and  the  various 
other  branches  of  equity  jurisprudence,  and  also  all  matters  involving 
the  rights  of  infants  and  lunatics,  as  well  as  appeals  from  the  surrogates 
of  the  fifty-nine  counties  of  the  state,  and  who  administer  what  in  Eng 
land  is  a  distinct  branch  of  jurisprudence;  but,  as  a  member  of  the  Court 
of  Errors,  he  was  required  to  review  all  the  intricate  legal  decisions 
which  had  been  passed  on  by  the  Supreme  Court,  and  as  to  which  either 
of  the  litigating  parties  might  be  dissatisfied. 

Chancellor  Walworth's  adjudications  in  his  own  court  are  collected 
in  the  fourteen  volumes  of  Paige  and  Barbour,  while  the  opinions  which 
he  pronounced  in  the  Court  of  Errors  are  to  be  found  in  the  thirty- 
eight  volumes  of  Wendell,  Hill  and  Denio.  The  reported  cases,  how 
ever,  constitute  but  a  small  portion  of  the  decisions  made  by  him  during 
the  twenty  years  ke  held  the  office  of  chancellor.  In  addition  to  the 
oral  decisions  made  in  open  court  upon  the  close  of  the  argument,  or 
in  cases  where  a  mere  memorandum  of  the  decision  was  indorsed  upon 
the  papers,  his  written  opinions  fill  thirty-nine  large  folio  volumes  in 
manuscript.  By  a  report  made  to  the  senate,  in  1836,  it  appears  that 
the  number  of  decrees,  and  decretal  orders,  and  other  special  orders 


30  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

and  decisions  made  by  the  chancellor  in  one  year  only,  including  de 
cisions  in  cases  brought  before  him  on  appeals  from  vice-chancellors 
and  surrogates,  was  eleven  hundred  and  forty ;  of  these  one  hundred 
and  thirty-eight  were  decrees  made  in  calendar  causes.  But  his  calen 
dar  causes  did  not  embrace  his  numerous  decisions  in  cases  upon  ap 
peals  from  interlocutory  orders  of  vice-chancellors ;  which  appeals  were 
heard  at  the  motion  terms  of  the  court,  and  were  not  placed  on  any 
calendar. 

No  one  can  examine  the  volumes  which  contain  Chancellor  Wai- 
worth's  reported  adjudications,  without  being  satisfied,  not  only  that 
he  is  a  profound  lawyer,  but  that  his  attainments  in  all  collateral 
branches  of  learning  are  most  extensive ;  and  that  in  no  respect  does  he 
yield  to  any  judge  by  whom  the  judicial  annals  of  our  state  have  been 
illustrated.  To  learn  the  general  sentiments  of  the  profession,  it  is  only 
necessary  to  recur  to  what  may  be  every  where  found  conceded  in  the 
contemporary  reports  of  other  states.  We  have  the  authority  of  the 
late  Justice  Story,  given  at  a  time  when  he  expected  to  have  him  as  an 
associate  on  the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  for 
asserting  that  "Walworth  is  the  greatest  equity  jurist  now  living;"  and 
his  own  illustrious  predecessor,  Chancellor  Kent,  did  not  hesitate  to 
bear  the  most  ample  testimony  to  the  merits  of  his  decisions,  declaring 
that  he  had  referred  to  them  in  his  Commentaries,  wherever  he  could 
make  them  apply,  and  adding  in  reference  to  them,  "  I  am  proud  of  my 
own  native  state." 

Although  Chancellor  Walworth  owed  nothing  to  colleges  in  early 
life,  the  most  celebrated  universities  of  the  country  have  vied  with  one 
another  in  according  to  him  their  highest  distinctions.  In  1835  the 
degree  of  LL.D.,  was  conferred. on  him  by  the  college  of  New- Jersey, 
at  Princeton  ;  and  the  same  honors  have  been  since  bestowed  on  him  by 
Yale  College  at  New-Haven,  and  by  Harvard  University  at  Cambridge. 

In  all  associations  for  ameliorating  the  moral  condition  of  mankind, 
Chancellor  Walworth  has  been  a  prominent  and  efficient  actor ;  but  by 
no  trait  is  he  more  distinguished  than  by  the  extent  of  his  benefactions, 
and  which,  considering  his  limited  means,  may  be  deemed  truly  muni 
ficent.  Though  to  the  religious  denomination  with  which  he  is  con 
nected,  his  contributions  have  been  most  ample,  amounting  in  one  case 
to  |2,000,  his  charities  have  been  limited  by  no  sectarian  standard. 
After  the  ravages  of  the  yellow  fever  in  New- York,  in  1819,  Mr.  Wal 
worth,  then  a  young  lawyer  at  Plattsburgh,  sent  unsolicited  a  draft  for 
$100  for  the  suffering  poor,  accompanied  by  a  letter  to  the  mayor,  the 
Hon.  Cadwallader  D.  Golden,  which  was  published  at  the  time  to  induce 
others  to  do  likewise,  and  from,  which  we  learn  the  fact  of  the  donation. 

Chancellor  Walworth  was  among  the  foremost  to  stimulate  his  coun 
trymen  to  afford  efficient  relief  to  the  people  of  Ireland,  when  suffering 
from  the  famine  of  1847.  He  acted  as  one  of  the  vice-presidents,  and 
addressed  the  meeting  at  Albany  on  the  12th  of.  February,  1847,  at 
which  the  governor  of  the  state  presided.  Before  leaving  that  city  he 
sent  to  the  committee  a  donation  of  $200,  accompanied  by  a  letter  in 
dicating  the  most  advantageous  mode  of  its  application,  and  on  his  re 
turn  home,  he  presided  at  another  meeting,  convened  at  Saratoga 
Springs,  for  the  same  object.  He  shortly  afterwards  made  another 


REUBEN  II.  WAL WORTH,  OF  NEW-YORK.  31 

remittance,  for  the  suffering  people  of  Scotland,  to  the  president  of  the 
St.  Andrew's  Society  of  New-York,  and  which  was  publicly  acknowl 
edged  at  the  time. 

He  was  one  of  the  earliest  friends  of  the  temperance  cause  ;  and  at 
the  organization  of  the  State  Society  in  1829,  he  was  its  first  presiding 
officer ;  to  which  situation  he  was  annually  elected  until  his  appoint 
ment  as  president  of  the  American  Temperance  Union,  in  1843,  upon 
the  resignation  of  General  Cocke,  of  Virginia.  For  many  years  he  has 
been  one  of  the  corporate  members  of  the  American  Board  of  Commis 
sioners  for  Foreign  Missions  ;  and  is  one  of  the  most  active  and  influ 
ential  lay  members  of  that  board.  Since  he  left  the  bench,  he  has  been 
elected  to  the  situation  of  one  of  the  vice-presidents  of  the  national 
Tract  Society.  He  is  also  a  vice-president  of  the  American  Bible 
Society  ;  and  a  corresponding  member  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Tem 
perance  Society.  More  than  thirty  years  since,  he  made  a  profession 
of  religion,  and  united  with  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  is  now  one  of 
its  elders. 

Though  Chancellor  Walworth  did  not  deem  it  consistent  with  the 
character  of  his  judicial  station  to  enter  into  the  arena  of  active  politics, 
he  was  not,  during  the  twenty-five  years  that  he  occupied  a  seat  on  the 
bench,  insensible  to  the  interests  either  of  his  party  or  of  his  country. 
When,  in  1832,  a  collision  arose  between  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  and  the  State  of  Georgia,  growing  out  of  the  Indian 
titles  in  that  state,  and  which  led  to  the  imprisonment  of  certain  mis 
sionaries,  Chancellor  Walworth,  who,  as  a  member  of  Congress,  had 
fully  investigated  the  subject,  and  come  to  the  conclusion  in  favor  of 
the  claim  of  Georgia  to  the  prompt  extinguishment  by  the  national 
government  of  the  Indian  titles  within  her  limits,  successfully  inter 
posed,  as  a  private  individual,  with  Governor  Lumpkin,  and  obtained 
the  liberation  of  the  missionaries  ;  thus  terminating  what  might  other 
wise  have  resulted  in  a  most  unhappy  controversy  between  the  powers 
of  a  sovereign  state  and  the  highest  judicial  authority  of  the  Union. 
In  the  performance  of  this  patriotic  duty,  he  acted  in  concert  with  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Nott,  of  Union  College,  and  Benjamin  F.  Butler,  Esq., 
who  was  afterwards  the  attorney-general  of  the  United  States ;  to 
whom  their  co-  ntry  is  deeply  indebted  for  their  exertions  on  that 
occasion. 

When  the  Canadian  outbreak  took  place,  in  1837,  some  of  the  most 
influential  men  of  both  provinces  were  driven  from  their  homes  by  the 
tyranny  of  those  who  then  held  rule  there.  The  chancellor,  although 
he  advised  against  a  hopeless  contest  which,  he  was  aware,  would  only 
end  in  the  ruin  of  the  oppressed  colonists,  deeply  sympathized  with  the 
unfortunate  exiles,  furnished  funds  for  their  relief,  and  took  into  his  own 
family  the  son  of  the  amiable  and  excellent  Papineau,  the  former  speaker 
of  the  parliament  of  Lower  Canada,  while  he  gave  erery  aid  and  encour 
agement  in  his  power  to  the  learned  and  estimable  Bidwell,  the  former 
speaker  of  the  parliament  of  the  Upper  Province,  who  is  now  a  respect 
ed  member  of  the  New-York  bar. 

On  the  death,  in  1844,  of  Judge  Thompson,  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States,  public  opinion  pointed  to  Chancellor  Walworth  as 
his  successor.  His  name  was  presented  to  the  President  (John  Tyler) 


32  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

by  a  majority  of  the  New- York  delegation  in  Congress,  and  he  was  also 
recommended  for  the  office  by  many  of  the  leading  members  of  the  bar 
of  the  state  of  both  political  parties.  Among  others,  Chief  Justice 
Nelson,  who  afterwards  received  the  appointment,  wrote  a  strong  letter 
to  the  President  on  the  subject ;  and  after  the  rejection  of  Mr.  Spencer 
by  the  Senate,  the  President  sent  in  the  name  of  Chancellor  Walworth. 
The  nomination  was  referred  to  the  judiciary  committee,  who  delayed 
making  a  report,  and  finally  the  appointment  was  laid  upon  the  table  or 
postponed  until  after  the  next  presidential  election,  apparently  by  a 
mere  party  vote.  Near  the  close  of  the  next  session  of  Congress,  how 
ever,  it  was  ascertained  that  there  had  been  a  secret  agreement  between 
a  whig  member  of  the  judiciary  committee  and  one  of  the  democratic 
senators  from  the  west,  that  the  nomination  of  Mr.  Walworth  should 
not  be  acted  on  during  Mr.  Tyler's  presidential  term.  And,  although 
every  member  of  the  New-York  legislature  and  many  of  the  leading 
members  of  the  bar  of  both  political  parties,  sent  memorials  to  the 
Senate,  urging  a  confirmation,  the  nomination  was  never  brought  before 
that  body  by  the  judiciary  committee,  either  for  confirmation  or  rejection. 
A  few  days  before  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  office,  the  President, 
being  satisfied  that  the  nomination  would  not  be  acted  on  during  his 
continuance  in  office,  reluctantly  withdrew  it,  and  sent  in  the  name  of 
the  friend  of  Chancellor  Walworth,  Chief  Justice  Nelson. 

The  Court  of  Chancery  was  abolished  by  the  constitution  of  1846  ; 
but  the  convention,  which  formed  that  constitution — for  the  purpose  of 
enabling  the  chancellor  to  hear  and  decide  the  equity  cases  then  pend 
ing  before  him,  and  which  were  ready  for  argument- — provided  for  the 
continuance  of  his  office  and  his  salary  until  the  1st  of  July,  1848.  In 
April,  1847,  the  legislature,  desirous  of  securing  to  the  state  the  benefit 
of  the  legal  learning  of  Chancellor  Walworth  for  a  longer  period, 
placed  him  at  the  head  of  the  commission  organized  under  the  provi 
sions  of  the  new  constitution,  to  reduce  into  a  written  and  systematic 
code  the  whole  body  of  the  statute  and  common  law  of  the  state ;  and 
they  subsequently  extended  the  time  for  his  taking  the  oath  of  office 
several  months,  for  the  purpose  of  inducing  him  to  accept  the  appoint 
ment  after  the  new  judiciary  system  of  the  state  should  have  gone  into 
operation.  After  considering  the  subject  two  days,  the  chancellor,  in 
a  letter  to  the  legislature,  which  is  full  of  instruction,  respectfully  de 
clined  the  appointment.  He  put  his  declension  of  this  important  duty 
upon  the  ground,  that  the  commission  was  not  so  organized  as  to  give 
the  commissioners  sufficient  time  and  means  to  frame  such  a  code  as 
would  carry  out  the  principle  of  the  constitution  on  the  subject,  and  be 
creditable  to  the  commissioners  and  to  the  state,  and  not  because  he 
supposed  such  a  codification  of  the  laws  to  be  impracticable. 

In  his  letter  to  the  legislature,  he  says  :  "  I  am  not  one  of  those  who 
believe  it  is  wholly  impracticable  to  carry  out  the  provisions  of  the 
constitution  on  this  subject.  On -the  contrary,  I  think  it  not  only  prac 
ticable. but  highly  expedient  to  collect  the  general  principles  of  the 
unwritten  commercial  and  other  civil  laws,  and  of  our  equity  system, 
as  well  as  the  criminal  law  of  the  state,  now  scattered  through  some 
thousands  of  volumes  of  treatises,  commentaries,  digests,  and  reports  of 
judicial  decisions,  and  to  arrange  them  under  appropriate  heads,  divi- 


REUBEN  H.  WALWORTH,  OF  NEW-YORK.  33 

sions  and  titles,  in  connection  with  the  statute  law  on  the  same  subjects. 
Such  modifications  of  the  law  should  also  be  suggested  and  incorporated 
into  the  code  as  are  necessary  to  adapt  the  laws  of  the  state  to  the 
present  advanced  condition  of  society,  and  to  the  principles  of  our  free 
institutions." 

The  same  reasons  which  induced  Chancellor  Wai  worth  to  decline  the 
appointment  of  commissioner  of  the  code  at  that  time,  prevented  him 
from  accepting  the  same  office  when  it  was  tendered  to  him  by  Governor 
Fish  two  years  afterwards;  And  that  he  was  right  in  supposing  the 
commission  was  not  properly  organized  for  a  creditable  codification  of 
the  laws  of  the  state,  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  it  proved  an  entire 
failure,  and  was  ultimately  abandoned. 

Chancellor  Walworth  held  his  last  regular  term  for  the  hearing  of 
causes  in  May,  1848.  At  a  meeting  of  the  members  of  the  bar  of  the 
state,  attending  the  general  term  of  the  Supreme  Court,  a  few  days 
afterwards,  at  which  meeting  the  attorney-general  presided,  the  follow 
ing  resolution  was  unanimously  adopted,  which  shows  the  estimate 
placed  upon  the  judicial  services  of  the  late  chancellor  by  those  who  had 
been  in  the  habit  of  attending  his  court : 

"  Resolved — That  we  deem  the  close  of  our  former  judiciary  system 
a  fitting  occasion  for  the  expression  of  our  respect  and  regard  for  the 
eminent  jurist,  who,  for  so  many  years  past,  has  discharged  the  labori 
ous  and  responsible  duties  of  chancellor  of  this  state,  and  whose  last 
term  for  hearing  arguments  has  recently  ended  ;  that  the  published 
volumes  of  his  decisions  evince  a  degree  of  acuteness  and  discrimina 
tion,  love  of  truth,  sound  morality,  and  thorough  legal  research,  unsur 
passed  by  any  others,  and  honorable  alike  to  himself  and  to  the  juris 
prudence  of  our  state." 

At  the  close  of  his  judicial  labors  on  the  1st  of  July  thereafter,  of  the 
numerous  causes  and  motions  which  had  been  argued  before  him,  or 
submitted  by  counsel  for  his  decision,  he  left  but  eight  undecided. 

Since  he  left  the  bench  he  has  not  returned  to  the  practice  of  his  pro 
fession  at  the  bar,  but  confined  himself  to  the  business  of  chamber 
counsel,  and  to  the  investigation  of  legal  questions  submitted  to  him,  or 
for  his  examination  or  decision,  by  the  parties  interested  in  such  ques 
tions.  In  that  branch  of  professional  labor  his  legal  talents  and  attain 
ments  have  been  put  in  requisition  by  clients  from  nearly  every  part 
of  the  United  States. 

In  reference  to  the  correctness  of  his  adjudications  while  at  the  head 
of  the  most  important  equity  court  in  the  Union,  and  the  character  of 
Chancellor  Walworth  as  a  judge,  we  may  say  with  the  late  Dane 
Professor  of  Law  in  Harvard  University,  that  "never,  perhaps,  were  so 
many  decisions  made  where  so  few  were  inaccurate  as  to  facts,  or  erro 
neous  in  law.  If  it  was  destined  that  the  Court  of  Chancery  should  fall 
under  a  reform  which  apparently  designs  to  obliterate  the  history  as 
well  as  the  legal  systems  of  the  past,  it  is  a  consolation  to  reflect  that  it 
fell  without  imputation  on  its  purity  or  usefulness,  and  that  no  court 
was  ever  under  the  guidance  of  a  judge  purer  in  character  or  more 
gifted  in  talent  than  the  last  Chancellor  of  New- York." 

3 


34  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

JOHN  C.  CAMPBELL,  M.  D., 

PRESIDENT  OF  NORTH-WESTERN  BANK  OF  VIRGINIA,  WHEELING. 

JOHN  C.  CAMPBELL,  of  whom  we  propose  to  write  a  brief  biographical 
sketch,  is  now  past  the  meridian  of  life,  and,  though  yet  of  unimpaired 
vigor  both  of  body  and  mind,  and  in  the  active  discharge  of  numerous 
and  important  public  and  private  duties,  has  already  passed  through 
a  career  of  usefulness  and  successful  struggle  with  the  difficulties  of 
life,  which  may  well  be  held  up  for  the  contemplation  and  encourage 
ment  of  the  many  in  our  country,  who,  as  he  was,  are  dependent  upon 
their  own  exertions  for  their  success.  Success,  though  sometimes 
apparently  flowing  from  the  caprices  of  fortune,  is,  after  all,  the  surest 
test  of  real  merit ;  and  it  is  encouraging  to  every  young  man,  who, 
repining  not  at  the  accidents  of  his  birth,  looks  up  with  a  trustful  spirit 
to  higher  spheres  of  usefulness  and  fame,  to  know  that  others  have  gone 
before  him  with  prospects  no  fairer  than  his  own,  and  have  triumphed. 
The  success  of  others  gives  us  confidence  in  ourselves.  What  they  have 
done,  we  may  do,  and  thus  the  example  of  those  who  have  successfully 
trod  any  of  the  diversified  paths  of  life  becomes  the  mental  heritage  of 
every  aspiring  spirit,  more  valuable  than  houses  or  lands.  It  is  the 
capital  which  plumes  the  pinions  of  hope — the  stock  in  trade  which 
gives  confidence  to  the  mind  when  failure  might  else  point  to  despair. 

The  value  of  biography  as  a  study  for  the  young  has  always  been 
highly  appreciated  ;  but  it  has  been  too  much  the  fashion  to  direct  our 
young  men  to  the  lives  of  Plutarch  rather  than  to  the  achievements  of 
men  in  our  own  times.  Not  only  is  much  of  the  moral  force,  which  it 
is  the  peculiar  advantage  of  biography  to  impart,  lost  by  the  purely 
ideal  aspect  in  which  the  youthful  imagination  contemplates  a  Grecian 
sage  or  a  Roman  hero,  but  the  spheres  of  distinction  in  which  they 
were  illustrious  were  so  different  from  those  to  which  men  are  now 
attracted,  that  very  little  either  of  wholesome  incentive  or  needed  en 
couragement  can  be  derived  from  them.  Great  antiquity,  far-off  dis 
tance  of  time,  invests  the  character  of  even  a  common  mind  with  a  glory 
beautiful  as  a  picture,  but  no  ways  encouraging  as  an  example.  We 
look  at  them  to  admire,  but  not  to  imitate.  In  full  harmony,  therefore, 
not  only  with  the  spirit  of  the  age,  but  no  less  with  the  wants  of  our 
nature,  we  are  gratified  to  see  a  growing  tendency  towards  the  publica 
tion  and  study  of  a  cotemporaneous  biography  ;  not  in  a  few  depart 
ments  of  life  only,  but  in  every  walk  in  which  the  human  mind  may 
usefully  and  honorably  exert  itself.  Every  pursuit  needs  the  encour 
agement  of  successful  examples,  and  it  is  in  the  hope  of  presenting 
one  such,  in  addition  to  the  many  already  before  the  public,  that  we 
record  the  following  particulars  in  the  life  of  Dr.  Campbell : 

John  C.  Campbell  was  born  in  the  County  Tyrone,  Ireland,  in  the 
year  1800.  His  parents  were  of  a  highly  respectable  class  of  people, 
and  Presbyterians  of  the  severest  moral  and  religious  character.  Strict 
observers  of  every  divine  institution,  the  Sabbath-day  was  to  them  a 


JOHN  C.  CAMPBELL,  OF  VIRGINIA.  35 

day  of  unbroken  holiness.  Like  the  Jews  in  the  days  of  their  purity, 
they  did  not  allow  themselves  to  think  their  own  thoughts  nor  to  speak 
their  own  words.  Under  the  parental  roof,  therefore,  John  C.,  who  was 
a  younger  son,  was  subjected  to  a  discipline  well  calculated  to  inspire 
his  mind  with  the  purest  principles  of  virtue,  and  if  not  to  make  him 
religious,  at  least  to  fill  him  with  an  abhorrence  of  vice.  The  awful 
sanctions  of  the  Divine  Justice,  as  descanted  upon  in  the  morning  and 
evening  instructions  at  the  family  altar,  could  not  fail  to  fill  him  with  a 
deep  sense  of  its  abstract  excellence  and  value ;  and  the  undeviating  in 
tegrity  of  his  parents  in  every  moral  and  religious  duty  of  life,  early 
begot  in  him  a  feeling  of  earnestness  and  responsibility,  which  have 
been  the  prime  secrets  of  his  success  through  life.  The  impression  was 
thus  early  made  upon  him — insensibly,  but  indelibly  made,  that  every 
man  is  designed  for  a  part  in  life,  and  that  it  is  the  duty  and  highest 
honor  of  each  to  act  his  own  part  well.  The  utmost  watchfulness  was 
exerted  to  keep  him  from  the  evil  influence  of  bad  example,  and  his 
early  years  passed  under  the  undoubting  conviction  that  every  body 
was  as  honest  as  his  own  parents,  and  that  the  whole  world  belonged 
to  the  church.  But  this  state  of  seclusion  and  innocent  ignorance  was 
not  allowed  to  continue.  It  happened  that  his  oldest  brother,  who  had 
been  from  home  for  some  years  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits,  paid  a 
visit  to  the  paternal  roof  at  the  time  of  sacrament  in  the  church  to 
which  his  father  belonged.  This  was  an  occasion  of  unusual  solemnity, 
and  it  was  with  unfeigned  surprise  that  John  witnessed  in  his  brother 
the  absence  of  that  serious  reverence  which  he  had  been  taught  to  ex 
pect  of  all  men  and  everywhere  on  sach  occasions, — much  more  of  his 
own  father's  son,  and  in  his  own  father's  house.  His  brother  did  not 
take  of  the  sacrament,  did  not  go  to  the  church — yea.  was  not  even 
serious,  but  the  rather  merry,  for  he  stayed  at  home  and  disturbed  the 
solemn  silence  of  the  Sabbath  with  the  merry  tones  of  music !  Pie  was 
holding  communion  with  his  flute,  and  regardless  alike  of  the  Sabbath 
and  the  fears  of  little  John.  In  his  eyes  such  license  was  no  less  than 
sacrilege;  but  it  made  him  think — it  broke  the  spell  of  his  narrow 
training,  opened  his  eyes  to  a  wider  world  than  he  had  ever  known  of 
before,  and  awakened  desires  which  ultimately  brought  him  to  the 
United  States. 

His  early  education  had  been  directed  by  his  parents,  in  the  hope 
that  his  mind  might  be  inclined  to  the  choice  of  the  ministry  as  a  pro 
fession.  With  this  view,  his  classical  and  other  studies  had  been  com 
mitted  to  the  private  instructions  of  a  cousin  who  was  preparing  for  the 
ministry,  and  in  this  course  of  training  he  was  contented  to  remain  un 
til  about  the  period  already  referred  to.  His  tastes  and  disposition, 
however,  were  naturally  un suited  to  such  a  career,  and  various  incidents 
soon  occurred  to  induce  his  parents  to  give  a  reluctant  and  almost  con 
strained  assent  to  a  different  coarse.  The  troubles  on  the  continent, 
created  by  the  successful  but  desolating  ambition  of  Napoleon,  were 
then  agitating  all  Europe,  and  England  was  preparing  herself  for  a  cri 
sis  which  the  wisdom  of  her  statesmen  foresaw  to  be  inevitable.  Both 
the  army  and  navy  called  incessantly  for  recruits,  and  opened  up  a 
field  for  distinction  and  glory  ever  inviting  to  those  ambitious  of  fame. 
The  call  did  not  fail  to  reach  the  subject  of  this  memoir.  A  near  rela- 


36  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

tion,  who  was  a  surgeon  in  the  British  navy,  opened  up  to  him  the 
charms  of  naval  life,  and  found  it  no  difficult  task  to  incite  in  him  a  de 
sire  to  enter  the  service  as  surgeon's  mate. 

With  this  view  he  accompanied  his  cousin  to  London,  and  there  en 
tered  upon  a  course  of  anatomical  and  surgical  studies  under  the  lec 
tures  and  instructions  of  Surgeon  Carpu.  combined  with  the  practical 
advantages  of  the  Westminster  Hospital,  in  which,  at  that  time,  Sir 
Astley  Cooper  was  a  regular  lecturer.  From  these  preparatory  studies 
he  passed  to  the  Royal  College  of  Dublin,  and  entered  as  a  regular  stu 
dent  of  the  medical  and  surgical  course  in  that  institution.  He  had 
thus  the  most  ample  opportunities  to  thoroughly  prepare  himself  for 
the  profession  to  which  he  aspired,  and  his  subsequent  history  proved 
how  well  he  improved  them.  The  course  of  events,  however,  gave  a 
different  direction  to  his  fortunes.  A  single  experimental  voyage  satis 
fied  his  thirst  for  naval  life.  The  curtain  was  lifted  from  the  realities 
of  the  life  he  must  lead  if  he  persisted  in  his  purpose  of  prosecuting  in 
the  British  navy  the  profession  for  which  he  had  so  energetically  been 
preparing.  The  immoral  and  vulgar  habits  of  the  crew  filled  him  with 
abhorrence  and  disgust.  Human  nature  was  here  presented  to  him  in 
forms  so  revolting  to  the  principles  of  virtue,  which  had  early  been  in 
stilled  into  his  mind,  that  he  drew  back  from  the  contact  with  almost 
instinctive  dread.  The  charm  which  his  young  and  ardent  hopes  had 
thrown  around  a  seafaring  life  was  broken,  and  he  was,  most  willingly, 
ready  to  abandon  the  pursuit. 

Meantime,  the  triumph  of  the  British  arms  at  Waterloo  had  sent 
Napoleon  into  exile,  and  returning  peace  put  an  end  alike  to  the  pros 
pect  of  preferment  and  the  demand  for  professional  service.  He  was  now 
fifteen  years  old,  and,  finding  the  career  upon  which  he  had  entered  with  so 
much  industry  and  hope  cut  short  by  the  termination  of  the  French  Revo 
lution,  he  came  to  the  United  States  to  seek  his  fortune  upon  a  theatre 
always  open  to  merit,  and  where  industry  and  perseverance  seldom  or 
never  fail  of  their  appropriate  reward.  Finding  that  the  practice  of  medi 
cine  is  generally  combined  in  this  country  with  that  of  surgery,  and  hav 
ing  in  his  previous  studies,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  profession  in 
Great  Britain,  directed  his  mind  almost  exclusively  to  a  preparation  for 
the  practice  of  the  latter,  he  immediately  entered  upon  a  more  thorough 
preparation  for  the  practice  of  every  branch  of  the  healing  art,  and  un 
der  the  special  office  instructions  of  Dr.  M.  Spaulding,  of  Amherst,  N. 
H.,  was  prepared  to  stand  for  the  degree  of  M.  D.,  which  was  regularly 
conferred  upon  him  at  the  commencement  of  Dartmouth  University, 
N.  H.,  (now,  as  formerly,  Dartmouth  College,)  in  the  year  1818. 

Up  to  this  time  he  had  been  supplied  with  the  necessary  means  for 
his  support  by  his  parents  ;  but  these  were  now  withdrawn.  He  was 
informed  that,  for  the  future,  he  must  take  care  of  himself.  This  an 
nouncement  was  unexpected  as  it  was  sudden,  and  we  may  well  con 
ceive  of  its  influence  upon  one  so  young,  far  from  home  and  friends,  a 
stranger,  and  alone  in  a  strange  land.  Every  true-minded  man  must 
have  observed,  periods  in  his  life's  history — turning  points,  at  which  he 
was  made  to  halt  to  review  the  past,  and  to  calculate  for  the  future 
They  are  the  pauses  which  nature  decrees  for  the  gathering  of  fresh 
strength,  that  she  may  be  prepared  for  another  and  higher  step  in  life's 


JOHN  C.  CAMPBELL,  OF  VIRGINIA.  37 

progress — the  moultings  of  the  mind  struggling  into  form  for  states  of 
nobler  being.  Well  for  him  who  meets  them  with  an  earnest  spirit, 
and  takes  his  departure  with  a  trustful  heart  and  a  noble  aim !  It  was 
so  with  Dr.  Campbell.  He  felt  the  full  measure  of  his  responsibility 
as  a  man,  and  hesitated  not  as  to  his  course.  Though  without  the 
patronage  of  friends,  he  had  resources  within  himself — a  native  energy 
and  integrity  that  could  not  falter,  and  a  thorough  acquaintance  with 
his  profession  that  could  not  but  lead  to  success.  The  mighty  valley  of 
the  Mississippi  was  then,  as  it  still  is,  an  inviting  field  for  professional 
employment  and  distinction,  and  he  resolved  at  once  to  make  his  way 
to  its  great  emporium,  the  city  of  New-Orleans.  Accordingly,  he  bade 
adieu  to  the  few  passing  friends  he  had  made  at  Amherst,  and  turned  his 
face  towards  the  West.  On  reaching  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  he  learned  that  an 
opening  for  a  young  physician  was  about  to  occur  in  the  town  of  Wells- 
burg,  Va.,  some  eighty  miles  below  on  the  Ohio  River,  and  concluded 
to  avail  himself  of  its  advantages  for  a  short  time,  that  he  might-  be  the 
better  enabled  to  set  himself  up  in  New-Orleans. 

In  the  fall  of  1818.  therefore,  and  in  the  18th  year  of  his  age,  he 
offered  his  professional  services,  as  a  doctor  of  medicine,  to  the  good 
people  of  Wellsburg  and  the  surrounding  country.  The  energy  of  his 
character,  his  decided  adherence  to  honorable  principles,  his  fearless 
reliance  in  his  professional  skill,  and  his  thorough  education  in  medical 
science,  soon  attracted  to  him  a  large  share  of  public  attention  ;  and  it 
was  not  long  till  his  successful  treatment  of  disease  began  to  secure  to 
him  an  extensive  and  lucrative  practice.  A  characteristic  boldness  and 
self-reliance  in  all  cases,  where  his  judgment  was  satisfied,  could  not 
fail  to  bring  upon  him  more  or  less  of  that  professional  envy  which 
always  struts  itself  across  the  path  of  rising  merit ;  but  this  only  served 
to  increase  his  energy  and  urge  him  to  more  striking  displays  of  his 
superior  professional  skill.  Many  characteristic  anecdotes  might  be 
told,  illustrative  alike  of  his  fearless  confidence  in  the  conclusions  of 
medical  science,  and  his  skill  in  their  application ;  but  the  limits  of  this 
paper  will  not  allow  of  their  introduction  here. 

His  boldness  and  success,  however,  as  a  practical  surgeon,  claim  a 
special  notice.  At  the  period  to  which  we  refer,  this  part  of  the  medi 
cal  profession  was  but  very  imperfectly  understood  and  practised  by 
western  physicians,  especially  those  in  small  towns  and  the  country. 
The  consequence  was  that  many  cases,  perfectly  in  the  control  of  scien 
tific  skill,  were  allowed  to  go  on  to  a  fatal  issue,  and  the  patient  given 
over  to  suffering  and  death.  Such  as  these  afforded  a  fine  opportunity 
for  displaying  the  prestige  of  superior  science,  and  Dr.  Campbell  was 
not  slow  to  avail  himself  of  the  advantage.  Soon  after  he  commenced 
practice,  an  aggravated  case  of  strangulated  hernia  occurred.  Mortifica 
tion  of  the  part  had  taken  place,  and  other  circumstances  of  difficulty, 
which  it  is  not  necessary  to  detail,  were  manifested,  so  that  the  attend 
ing  physician  gave  it  up  as  irremediable.  As  is  usual,  however,  in  such 
eases,  he  called  a  consultation,  less  in  the  hope  doubtless  of  strik 
ing  out  a  remedy  than  in  that  of  dividing  the  responsibility.  Dr. 
Campbell,  young,  and  stranger  as  he  was,  was  invited  to  the  consulta 
tion.  The  case  was  re-examined,  and  the  general  opinion  given,  that 
it  was  hopeless.  Not  so  with  the  young  graduate  of  Dartmouth ; 


38  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

when  asked  for  his  opinion,  he  replied,  "  The  man  may  be  saved ;" 
and  "how,  sir,"  asked  the  attendant  physician;  "By  an  operation; 
treat  it  as  a  gun-shot  wound,  and  remove  the  diseased  part,"  was  his 
prompt  and  unhesitating  reply.  This  startling  proposition  was  received 
with  a  doubting  shake  of  the  head  ;  but  as  the  case  was  otherwise  des 
perate,  it  was  finally  agreed  upon.  Still  the  attending  physician  would 
not  consent  to  do  the  cutting ;  none  of  the  older  members  would  un 
dertake  it ;  the  disagreeable  work,  and  the  odium  and  disgrace,  should 
the  operation  fail,  as  they  expected  it  would,  must  fall  upon  the  bold  boy 
who  had  advised  it.  He  saw  the  critical  position  into  which  he  was  thus 
brought,  and  knew  well  how  much  his  future  prospects  depended  upon 
the  issue  ;  but  his  judgment  was  clear  and  his  hand  ready.  The  opera 
tion  was  performed  in  the  presence  of  the  oldest  and  most  distinguish 
ed  physicians  of  the  country,  by  a  boy  of  19 ;  and  the  patient  lived  many 
years  to  tell  the  story  of  his  cure ! 

Other  cases,  scarcely  less  striking,  and,  to  the  backwoods  people  of 
that  day,  as  unheard  of  before,  in  a  short  time  spread  his  fame,  far  and 
near,  and  in  a  period  less  than  that  usually  required  by  others  for  a 
fair  commencement,  Dr.  Campbell  was  upon  the  full  tide  of  professional 
success.  In  difficult  cases,  his  services  were  sought  for  from  great  dis 
tances,  and  the  utmost  stretch  of  his  physical  endurance  was  taxed  to 
meet  the  demand  upon  his  professional  assistance. 

He  now  concluded  to  abandon  his  original  purpose  of  going  to  New- 
Orleans,  and  determined  to  permanently  locate  himself  in  the  town  of 
Wellsburg,  Va.  The  extensive  range  of  practice  made  it  very  labo 
rious,  and  it  was  not  long  till  he  saw  that  it  presented  but  few  higher 
trophies  for  his  ambition  than  those  he  had  already  won ;  besides,  his 
natural  disposition  led  him  to  desire  that  mental  conflict,  in  which 
strong  minds  always  delight,  and  the  contests  with  disease  did  not  and 
could  not  afford  this.  Under  the  promptings,  therefore,  of  a  mind 
confident  of  its  ability,  and  thirsting  for  opportunities  of  more  active 
and  public  display,  he  turned  his  thoughts  to  the  law,  not  only  as  a 
more  congenial  profession,  but  also  as  affording  a  readier  access  to  pre 
ferment  of  other  kinds.  Accordingly  he  commenced  the  study  of  the 
law,  under  the  advice  and  instruction  of  the  late  Philip  Doddridge,  a 
gentleman  distinguished  for  the  highest  elements  of  greatness,  both  as  a 
lawyer  and  a  statesman,  and  by  the  time  he  had  reached  his  legal 
majority,  was  prepared  for  the  practice.  He  was  regularly  admitted 
to  the  bar  in  the  year  1821,  and  combined  with  the  practice  of 
medicine  also  that  of  the  law.  This  double  labor  growing,  in  a 
short  time,  too  much  for  one  man  to  properly  discharge,  he  associated 
with  himself  in  the  practice  of  medicine  a  young  gentleman  who  had 
studied  in  his  office,  and  thus  was  enabled  to  give  more  time  to  the 
profession  of  the  law.  Divided  as  his  mind  was,  however,  between 
law  and  medicine,  he  could  not  give  to  the  latter  that  entire  devotion 
of  his  powers  which  it  requires  in  order  to  the  highest  success.  Still, 
such  was  his  native  force  of  intellect,  and  the  industry  with  which  he 
prepared  himself  on  his  cases,  that  he  soon  rose  to  a  high  degree  of 
eminence  at  the  bar.  His  integrity  and  prompt  attention  to  business, 
combined  with  the  faithfulness  with  which  he  ever  labored  for  his 
clients'  interest,  secured  for  him  a  very  liberal  share  of  the  practice, 


JOHN  C.  CAMPBELL,  OF  VIRGINIA.  39 

and  gave  him  a  professional  prominence  equaled  but  by  few  of  his 
contemporaries. 

Holding,  as  he  now  did,  so  high  a  place  in  the  public  confidence,  he 
could  not  but  participate  in  the  political  excitements  of  the  day.  He 
was  a  whig  from  principle,  and  from  the  commencement  of  his  public 
life  took  an  active  part  in  the  fortunes  of  his  party.  In  1824,  the 
western  part  of  the  State  of  Virginia  agitated  the  propriety  of  constitu 
tional  reform,  and  a  general  convention  was  proposed  to  be  held  at 
Staunton,  for  consultation  and  concert  upon  several  points  deemed  of 
primary  importance  in  the  fundamental  law  of  the  state.  To  this  end  pri 
mary  meetings  were  called  in  the  various  counties,  and  the  measures  of 
proposed  reform  generally  discussed  before  the  people  and  delegates 
appointed  to  attend  the  convention  called  to  be  held  in  Staunton.  In 
these  primary  movements,  Dr.  Campbell  took  an  active  and  prominent 
part.  The  movement,  though  designed  for  no  higher  purpose  than  to 
excite  the  public  mind  and  to  form  opinions  into  greater  concert,  was 
nevertheless  deemed  of  the  highest  political  importance,  and  therefore 
the  ablest  and  most  discreet  men  that  could  be  found  in  the  country 
were  selected  as  delegates.  In  no  state  perhaps  in  the  Union  has 
there  been  greater  reverence  manifested  for  the  constitutional  law  than 
in  Virginia,  and  it  was  long  a  cherished  doctrine  of  all  parties,  that 
none  but  the  sagest  statesmen  ought  to  touch  this  sacred  instrument. 
Under  the  influence  of  a  sentiment  like  this  were  the  delegates  to  the 
Staunton  Convention  selected,  and  it  was  no  small  evidence  of  the 
strong  hold  which  Dr.  Campbell  had  in  the  confidence  of  his  county, 
that  he  was  at  so  early  an  age  chosen  as  a  member  to  stand  beside  the 
distinguished  lawyers  and  statesmen  of  Virginia  in  deliberations  such 
as  those  which  engaged  that  honorable  body  of  patriots.  The  con 
vention  met ;  its  report  was  thrown  before  the  people,  and  in  a  few 
years  its  influence  was  developed  in  the  call,  by  the  legislature,  of  a 
convention  to  revise  and  amend  the  constitution  of  the  state.  This 
action  of  the  legislature  was  received  with  enthusiasm  by  the  western 
portion  of  the  state,  and  gave  rise  to  the  most  active  measures  for  its 
accomplishment.  Statesmen  of  the  first  ability  were  nominated  for  the 
important  trust  of  delegates,  and  the  most  zealous  exertions  of  friends 
and  foes  put  forth  for  and  against  the  various  condidates.  Dr.  Camp 
bell,  though  not  himself  a  candidate,  took  the  most  decided  and  active 
part  in  these  contests,  and  distinguished  himself  for  the  zeal  and  ability 
with  which  he  advocated  the  claims  of  his  friends. 

In  18*29  he  was  appointed  Commonwealth's  Attorney  for  Brooke 
county,  in  the  Superior  Court,  which  office  he  held  until  the  month  of 
July,  1852.  At  this  time,  Dr.  Campbell  had  removed  from  the 
county  of  Brooke,  and  the  office  of  Commonwealth's  Attorney  having 
been  made  elective,  he  declined  a  contest  for  it,  and  it  passed  into  other 
hands.  In  the  discharge  of  the  trust  committed  to  him  in  this  office,  he 
showed  himself,  at  all  times  and  under  all  circumstances,  the  fearless 
and  impartial  advocate  of  the  true  spirit  and  intent  of  the  law.  In  no 
instance  would  he  prosecute,  where  the  evidence  did  not  clearly  satisfy 
him  of  the  offender's  guilt.  He  regarded  his  office  as  that  of  a  public 
guardian  of  the  state,  not  simply  as  a  hired  prosecutor  of  the  accused,  and 


40  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

it  was,  therefore,  his  practice,  as  it  was  his  pleasure,  to  look  upon  those 
who  were  charged  with  offence  against  the  laws  as  entitled  to  his  impartial 
consideration,  in  virtue  of  their  rights  as  citizens  of  the  commonwealth, 
whose  welfare  was,  in  a  measure,  entrusted  to  his  keeping.  Under  a 
spirit  so  enlarged,  impartial  and  liberal  as  this,  the  law  ceases  to  be  a 
terror,  save  to  the  really  guilty ;  and  the  state,  instead  of  being  erected 
into  an  engine  to  oppress  the  people,  becomes,  as  it  should  be,  the  in 
strument  of  the  people's  rights. 

In  1830,  the  new  constitution  of  Virginia  was  adopted  by  the  people, 
and  delegates  were  chosen  to  provide  for  its  practical  administration. 
So  many  and  radical  were  the  changes  from  the  former  constitution, 
that  nearly  every  department  required  to  be  remodeled  and  adapted  to 
the  new  order  of  things.  To  aid  in  this  difficult  and  important  work, 
Dr.  Campbell  was.  for  the  first  time,  brought  before  the  people  of 
Brooke,  as  a  candidate  for  the  Virginia  house  of  delegates.  Brooke 
county  was  at  that  time,  as  it  has  ever  been,  most  decidedly  democratic; 
but  such  was  the  public  confidence  in  the  ability  and  liberal  patriotism 
of  Dr.  Campbell,  that  he  was  elected  against  democratic  opposition,  and 
in  spite  of  a  clear  party  majority  of  three  or  four  to  one  against  him. 
This  was  a  triumph  of  no  ordinary  kind,  and  showed  how  unequaled 
was  the  influence  he  held  over  the  confidence  of  his  county. 

When  the  legislature  met,  in  the  winter  of  1830,  Dr.  Campbell  was 
placed  upon  the  committee  on  courts  of  justice,  one  of  the  most  im 
portant  committees  under  the  constitution,  and  soon  distinguished  him 
self  for  the  zeal  and  industry  with  which  he  discharged  the  duties  of 
his  new  and  responsible  position.  His  services  and  conduct  during 
this  session  of  the  legislature  met  with  the  most  cordial  approval  of 
his  constituents,  and  he  was  again  elected  for  the  session  of  1831  and  '32. 
During  this  session  the  subject  of  slavery  was  forced  upon  the  con 
sideration  of  the  legislature,  by  one  of  the  most  horrid  and  alarming 
butcheries  that  has  ever  occurred  in  the  history  of  that  institution  in 
Virginia.  It  will  be  remembered  as  the  Nat.  Turner  insurrection,  and 
was  accompanied  with  such  circumstances  of  savage  ferocity,  as  filled 
the  community  with  apprehension  and  alarm.  The  details  are  too 
fresh  in  the  memory,  to  require  more  than  a  passing  allusion  here. 
Under  the  general  exitement  which  ensued,  all  minds  were  turned  to 
the  serious  consideration  of  some  means  whereby  the  state  could  be 
secured  against  the  recurrence  of  evils  so  deadly,  and  which  seemed  in 
separably  connected  with  the  institution  itself.  The  question  was 
brought  before  the  legislature,  and  agitated  by  the  first  patriots  of  Vir 
ginia  of  all  parties,  and  from  every  portion  of  the  state.  In  these 
movements  Dr.  Campbell  fully  sympathized,  and  when  the  proposition 
was  brought  forward  to  raise  a  committee  to  examine  into  the  subject 
and  report  upon  the  practicability  of  a  remedy,  he  gave  it  his  warm 
and  unreserved  support.  The  motion,  however,  failed  in  a  great  mea 
sure  through  the  obtrusive  and  ill-judged  interference  of  northern  abo 
litionists  ;  and  the  men  who  would  then  have  been  in  favor  of  some 
system  of  gradual  emancipation,  are  now  driven,  by  a  sense  of  duty  to 
themselves,  their  families  and  the  peace  of  the  state,  to  assume  the  most 
decided  opposition  to  all  agitation  of  this  vexed  and  difficult  question. 


JOHN  C.  CAMPBELL,  OF  VIRGINIA.  41 

Thus,  to  the  presumptuous  and  infatuated  intermeddling  of  fanatics 
from  abroad,  must  we  refer  the  present  position  of  Virginia  on  the 
subject  of  slavery ! 

In  1832  and  '33,  Dr.  Campbell  was  again  returned  as  the  delegate 
from  Brooke,  in  which  relation  he  continued  to  hold  a  high  and  com 
manding  influence.  During  this  session,  the  difficulty  between  the 
general  government  and  South  Carolina,  one  of  the  sovereign  states  of 
the  Union,  came  to  its  decisive  crisis.  The  tariff  of  1828  had  given 
rise  to  the  Colleton  addresses,  in  which  the  doctrine  of  "  open  resistance 
to  the  laws  of  the  Union"  was  boldly  avowed,  and  Gen.  Hamilton  had 
publicly  declared  that  "  a  nullification  of  the  unauthorized  act  was  the 
rightful  remedy."  Still  no  decisive  measures  to  carry  out  these  alarm 
ing  principles  were  taken  till  1832.  In  May,  1832,  congress  again  re 
vised  the  tariff,  for  the  purpose,  among  others,  of  rendering  some  of  its 
duties  more  agreeable  to  the  southern  states.  The  changes,  however, 
were  not  satisfactory,  and  opposition  now  began  to  assume  a  more 
pointed  and  practical  form.  Mr.  Calhoun,  in  a  letter  dated  "  Fort  Hill, 
SOth  July,  1832,"  declared  that  nullification  was  a  peaceful  remedy,  and 
that  it  was  necessary  to  the  preservation  of  other  powers.  In  the  Octo 
ber  following,  the  legislature  of  South  Carolina  passed  an  act  calling  a  con 
vention  of  the  people  to  consider  the  several  acts  of  Congress  on  the  sub 
ject  of  the  tariff,  to  determine  the  character  thereof,  and  to  consider  the 
means  of  redress.  The  convention  met  in  November,  and  passed  the 
celebrated  ordinance  of  nullification.  This  was  followed,  on  the  10th 
of  December,  by  the  no  less  celebrated  proclamation  of  the  President, 
Gen.  Andrew  Jackson,  exhorting  all  persons  to  obey  the  laws,  and  de 
nouncing  in  clear  and  decisive  terms  the  principles  set  forth  in  the 
ordinance  of  South  Carolina.  Thus,  the  general  government  and  a 
sovereign  state,  after  four  years  of  exciting  controversy,  were  at  length 
in  open  defiance,  and  the  whole  Union  was  agitated  with  apprehension 
for  the  consequences.  It  was  a  crisis  in  the  affairs  of  our  country  which 
apparently  portended  inevitable  ruin :  nothing  short  of  the  horrors  of 
civil  war  and  the  pouring  out  of  kindred  blood,  by  those  who  were  de 
scended  from  a  common  ancestry,  seemed  adequate  to  placate  the  in 
censed  spirit  of  political  strife.  Resolutions  were  passed  by  most  of 
the  southern  states,  repudiating  the  doctrines  of  the  South  Carolina 
ordinance — but  to  no  purpose : — the  general  government  was  deter 
mined  to  execute  the  laws,  and  South  Carolina  had  declared  that  she 
would  make  her  mountain  passes  "  Thermopylaes  of  America."  It  was 
under  these  circumstances  that  the  difficulties  were  brought  before  the 
legislature  of  Virginia.  She,  in  common  with  South  Carolina,  Georgia, 
Louisiana,  Tennessee,  Alabama,  and  Mississippi,  had,  through  her  dele 
gates  in  Congress,  voted  against  the  tariff  of  1828,  and  many  of  her 
people,  and  not  a  few  of  her  able  statesmen,  now  sympathized  with 
South  Carolina  in  her  bold  stand  to  resist  the  execution  of  its  provisions 
The  fiery  crest  of  nullification  raised  itself  in  the  halls  of  Virginia  legis 
lation  and  claimed  to  revive  and  rally  under  the  spirit  of  1798.  Bold 
defiance  was  thrown  at  those  who  might  vindicate  the  sanction  of  the 
laws,  and  the  issue  was  waited  for  with  apprehension  and  alarm.  All 
eyes  were  turned  to  Virginia,  and  it  was  generally  conceded  that  her 
course  would  determine  the  fates  of  the  controversy  and  decide  for 


42  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

peace  or  for  war.  In  this  perilous  crisis  of  our  affairs,  when  most  men 
were  too  much  excited  to  act  with  wisdom,  who  is  not  grateful  to  the 
statesmen  who  had  the  courage  to  stand  up  for  the  supremacy  of  the 
laws,  and  the  wisdom  and  calmness  to  commend  the  milder  measures 
of  peace !  Foremost  and  conspicuous  among  these  stood  the  subject 
of  this  memoir;  and  it  must  be  one  of  the  most  gratifying  recollections 
of  his  public  life,  to  reflect  that,  though  upon  the  constitutional  ques 
tion  involved,  he  was  most  decidedly  with  the  government,  yet  he  had 
the  magnanimity  and  the  honor  to  exert  his  best  endeavors,  and  to  con 
tribute,  in  no  small  degree,  towards  the  adoption  of  those  prudent  and 
conciliatory  measures,  which  are  so  well  known  to  have  opened  the  way 
to  the  final  and  peaceful  adjustment  of  this  fearful  controversy.  In  the 
beginning  of  1833,  resolutions  were  passed  by  the  Virginia  legislature, 
commending  Congress  to  modify  the  tariff;  and  South  Carolina  to  re 
scind  her  ordinance.  Benjamin  Watkins  Leigh,  one  of  her  most  dis 
tinguished  statesmen,  was  appointed  commissioner  to  bear  and  urge 
these  resolutions,  and  in  a  short  time  the  difficulty  was  settled.  Con 
gress  did  modify  the  tariff,  and  South  Carolina  rescinded  her  ordinance ; 
the  ominous  clouds  of  war  were  lifted  from  our  heavens,  and  the  stars 
of  our  Union  were  once  more  seen  moving  harmoniously  on,  each  in 
its  own  glorious  sphere ! 

During  the  three  years  that  Dr.  Campbell  served  the  county  of  Brooke 
in  the  Virginia  legislature,  he  exerted  himself  in  every  legitimate  way  to 
promote  the  interest  and  welfare  of  his  constituents, — and  to  no  one, 
who  ever  served  her  in  this  relation  is  she  more  indebted  for  her  pre 
sent  advantages  than  to  him.  Through  his  influence,  a  branch  of  the 
Northwestern  Bank  of  Virginia  was  established  at  Wellsburg,  the  coun 
ty  seat  of  Brooke,  and  in  honor  of  his  exertions  in  procuring  the  charter, 
as  well  as  from  confidence  in  his  abilities  as  a  financier,  he  was  ap 
pointed  her  first  president.  This  office  he  continued  to  hold  till  after 
his  removal  to  the  adjoining  county  of  Ohio,  in  1849,  when  he  was 
elected  president  of  the  mother  bank,  in  the  city  of  Wheeling,  Va. 

Not  only  as  her  delegate  in  the  Virginia  legislature,  but  also  as  a  citi 
zen  at  home,  Dr.  Campbell  ever  lent  his  best  energies  to  develop  the 
resources  of  his  county  and  town.  Various  schemes  of  improvement 
and  county  policy  whose  good  practical  effects  are  now  being  enjoyed  by 
his  old  constituents,  originated  with  him.  Not  only  was  his  head  ready  to 
devise,  but  his  purse  ever  open  to  sustain  and  carry  into  operation  plans 
for  increasing  the  growth  and  strengthening  the  permanency  of  her 
prosperity.  He  contributed  freely  towards  the  improvement  of  the 
public  roads  and  bridges ;  to  the  establishment  of  lines  for  the  trans 
portation  of  the  mails ;  to  the  encouragement  of  the  manufacturing  in 
terests  in  various  forms;  engaged  in  the  practical  pursuits  of  agriculture 
and  wool-growing  ;  interested  himself  in  the  prosperity  of  the  farmer, 
the  miller,  the  merchant  and  the  river  trader  ;  devised  plans  for  extend 
ing  the  blessings  of  education,  and,  in  short,  threw  his  decision,  and 
energy,  and  clear  mind,  into  every  department  of  social  life,  where  he 
saw  an  opportunity  for  promoting  the  general  welfare. 

In  1836  he  was  married  to  a  highly  accomplished  lady,  a  daughter  of 
Bishop  Alexander  Campbell,  President  of  Bethany  College,  Virginia, 
with  whom  he  enjoyed  for  a  few  years  the  highest  pleasures' of  domes- 


JOHN  C.  CAMPBELL,  OF  VIRGINIA.  43 

tic  happiness.  During  this  period  he  withdrew  altogether  from  the 
practice  of  medicine,  except  in  the  case  of  special  friends,  who  solicited 
his  advice.  In  1838,  he  lost  a  lovely,  and,  at  that  time,  his  only  child, 
and  in  1839  his  wife  also  died.  Strong-minded  and  self-relying  as  he 
had  always  been,  these  were  calamities  beneath  which  he  bowed  with 
almost  insupportable  heaviness.  His  domestic  affections,  naturally 
strong,  and  weaned,  as  they  were,  from  all  earthly  relationships,  save 
those  of  his  own  fireside,  had  been  concentrated  upon  these  with  an 
absorbing  intensity  which  but  few  can  feel,  and  when  these  were  taken 
away,  the  interest  of  life  seemed  to  depart  with  them.  His  health 
gave  way  under  the  affliction,  and  in  1840  he  embarked  on  a  voyage  for 
the  West  Indies.  For  several  years  after  his  return,  though  he  con 
tinued  the  practice  of  law,  he  sp'ent  the  greater  portion  of  his  time  in 
the  country,  and  gave  a  large  share  of  his  attention  to  the  management 
of  his  extensive  farms  and  numerous  flocks.  In  1844  he  was  again 
married  to  Mrs.  Vance,  a  daughter  of  the  late  Samuel  Sprigg,  a  dis 
tinguished  lawyer  of  Wheeling,  and  is  now  enjoying,  on  his  farm  near 
that  city,  the  rewards  of  a  well-spent  life,  in  the  midst  of  opulence,  and 
those  sweet  domestic  comforts  which  his  gifted  lady  and  a  promising 
family  of  children  throw  around  the  hearth  of  his  home. 

Dr.  Campbell  is  now  in  the  52d  year  of  his  age,  and  is  still  engaged 
in  the  most  active  pursuits  of  private  and  public  life,  being  still  the 
president  of  the  Northwestern  Bank  of  Virginia,  and  one  of  the  largest 
and  most  successful  growers  of  fine  wool  in  the  United  States.  His  habits 
of  unwearying  industry,  combined  with  the  high  power  which  distin 
guishes  him,  of  concentrating  all  his  mental  energies  upon  whatever 
business  he  has  in  hand,  have  enabled  him,  beyond  most  men  in  life,  to 
carry  forward  to  successful  issues  every  enterprise  to  which  he  has  given 
his  personal  attention,  whilst  the  good  principles  of  his  early  and  paren 
tal  training  have  ever  shielded  him  from  the  temptations  of  a  life,  full  of 
exposures  too  strong  for  most  men,  left,  early  as  he  was,  without  friend 
or  fortune,  to  battle  with  -the  world. 

As  a  physician,  the  character  of  Dr.  Campbell  may  be  sufficiently  in 
ferred  from  what  we  have  already  written.  His  acquaintance  with  the 
science  was  thorough,  and  his  popularity  and  success  unequaled.  As  a 
lawyer,  though  from  the  other  numerous  engagements  of  his  mind,  he 
had  not  the  time  for  that  extensive  reading  which  is  essential  to  the  highest 
eminence,  he  was,  nevertheless,  a  very  successful  practitioner.  His  high 
moral  character,  his  fairness  and  frankness  in  the  conduct  of  his  cases,  the 
clearness  of  his  judgment,  the  elaborate  and  practical  common-sense  ex 
positions  which  he  gave  of  the  subject,  and  the  faithfulness  and  promptness 
with  which  he  watched  over  every  interest  entrusted  to  his  management, 
constituted  the  principal  features  of  his  character  as  a  practitioner  at  the 
bar.  His  example  served  to  give  dignity  and  tone  to  the  profession, 
and  was  a  standing  reproof  of  the  pettifogging  spirit  which  is  too  gene 
rally  in  the  ascendant  in  newly-settled  countries.  As  a  speaker,  he 
was  not  so  eloquent  as  strong.  Forcibleness  was  written  upon  every 
thing  he  did,  and,  next  to  the  clearness  of  his  judgment,  and  that  happy 
equipoise  of  powers  which  led  him  almost  intuitively  to  correct  conclu 
sions  upon  whatever  subject  was  submitted  to  him,  was  the  blasting  power 
of  his  sarcasm.  Altogether  fearless  of  consequences,  and  naturally  pos- 


44  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

sessed  of  the  strongest  feelings  of  indignation,  he  spared  neither  epithet 
nor  trope,  to  utter  the  scorn  and  abhorrence  he  felt  for  chicanery  and 
vice  in  all  their  forms,  and  no  matter  by  whom  exhibited. 

As  a  financier,  Dr.  Campbell's  views  are  liberal  and  enlarged,  and  his 
policy  prudent  and  generous.  Under  his  management,  moneyed  cor 
porations  are  relieved  of  much  of  the  odium  which  usually  attaches  to 
them,  and  enjoy  not  only  the  trade  but  the  confidence  and  respect  of 
the  public.  As  a  politician,  he  has  ever  been  a  prominent  and  a  leading 
Whig,  and  even  when  his  party  has  not  been  in  the  ascendant,  he  has 
freely  lent  his  influence  and  his  aid  in  questions  involving  the  common 
welfare.  Sincerely  attached  to  the  Union,  and  convinced  of  the  in 
estimable  importance  of  its  preservation,  he  has  ever  watched  over  its 
fortunes  with  the  most  patriotic  concern,  and,  even  when  not  in  such 
political  stations  as  to  officially  participate  in  the  deliberations  of  her 
great  statesmen,  he  has  ever  labored  to  hold  up  their  hands  and  sus 
tain  them  in  their  efforts  by  his  influence  with  the  people.  In  his 
views  of  constitutional  law,  he  is  of  the  school  of  Chief  Justice  Mar 
shall  and  Story,  with  whose  political  principles  on  this  subject  he  be 
came,  very  early  in  life,  fully  imbued.  Adopting,  ex  animo,  the 
doctrines  of  these  great  expounders  of  constitutional  law,  he  fully  ap 
proved  of  the  stand  taken  by  the  President  in  the  difficulty  with  South 
Carolina,  to  which  wre  have  already  referred,  and  justified,  as  the  proper 
constitutional  ground,  the  position  taken  in  the  proclamation.  Still, 
with  the  true  spirit  of  enlarged  patriotism  which  animated  the  noblest 
friends  of  the  Union  on  that  trying  occasion,  he  raised  the  voice  for 
peace,  and,  with  his  principles  unchanged,  united  in  commending  mea 
sures  of  mutual  concession  and  compromise. 

As  a  citizen,  Dr.  Campbell  holds  a  position  which  but  few  ever  reach. 
No  man,  perhaps,  who  has  attained  to  a  high  standing  among  his  con 
stituents  ever  did  less  than  he  for  the  purpose  of  courting  popularity. 
His  motives  have  ever  been  lofty  and  patriotic,  and  his  mind  of  that 
self-relying  and  independent  stamp  which  goes  forward  towards  the 
accomplishment  of  its  ends,  for  their  own  sake — because  it  sees  they 
are  wise  and  good — and  does  not  stop  to  inquire  what  other  people 
think  of  them  or  of  him.  This  is  characteristic  of  every  man  of  com 
manding  influence.  He  acts  with  reference  to  a  good  end,  nor.  when 
he  has  acted,  does  he  pause  to  gather  up  his  reward  of  human  praise. 
He  leaves  the  action  to  speak  for  itself,  and  goes  about  something 
better,  anticipating  the  wants  of  the  community,  and  jostling  others  in 
their  old  conceits,  with  a  rudeness  by  no  means  agreeable.  And  herein 
consists  his  character,  and  the  key  to  its  influence.  He  asks  not  nor 
seeks  favor  of  the  people,  but  the  people  have  learned  to  expect  service 
from  him.  They  see  that  his  work  is  already  in  the  line  of  their  in 
terest — in  fact,  work  for  them,  and  they  bid  him  work  on.  They  look 
to  him  as  their  exponent ;  they  ask  him  to  represent  them,  because  they 
see  that  he  knows  their  wants  in  the  case  better  than  they  themselves. 
Thus  is  character  greater  than  deeds ;  what  a  man  does  in  the  form  of 
recordable  service  is  not  a  just  measure  of  his  moral  and  citizen  power. 
He  is,  in  his  influence,  in  his  character,  more  than  his  individual 
achievements,  and  his  mind  and  his  energy  can  only  be  estimated  in 
the  life  they  beget  in  the  wide  circle  over  which  they  radiate.  We 


JOHN  C.  CAMPBELL,  OF  VIRGINIA.  45 

feel,  therefore,  in  this  hasty  sketch,  which  we  have  given  of  the  public 
career  of  Dr.  Campbell,  that  we  have  produced  but  a  very  imperfect 
idea  of  his  real  character,  but  it  is  all  that  the  circumstances  justify  us 
in  attempting. 

A  word  or  two  more,  and  we  shall  conclude.  We  have  not  pre 
tended  to  give  anything  concerning  the  private  character  and  standing 
of  Dr.  Campbell,  because  it  would  have  been  traveling  out  of  the 
special  design  of  this  paper  to  have  done  so.  Still,  we  beg  indulgence, 
while  we  gratify  a  personal  feeling  of  our  own,  in  saying  a  word  of  his 
character  as  a  gentleman  and  a  friend.  In  these  respects  the  writer  of 
this  article  would  not,  perhaps,  be  considered  an  impartial  witness ; 
yet,  if  to  have  known  him  long  and  intimately,  both  in  his  public  re 
lations,  and  in  his  private,  social,  and  domestic  life,  be  a  sufficient  quali 
fication  to  speak  on  this  head,  then  may  he  testify  with  full  confidence. 
We  speak  both  from  observation  and  experience,  when  we  say,  that  it 
is  in  these  points  that  are  found  not  only  the  noblest  but  the  strongest 
elements  of  his  nature.  But  few  men  have  had  truer  and  more  de 
voted  friends  than  Dr.  Campbell  has  always  formed  for  himself  where- 
ever  he  has  been  intimately  known.  The  sentiment  of  friendship  with 
him  partakes  much  of  that  high  nobility  to  which  the  Roman  orator 
arid  philosopher  so  beautifully  refers,  in  his  treatise  de  amicitia,  and  im 
parts  an  interest  to  him  as  a  man  which  commands  at  once  the  admira 
tion  and  esteem  of  his  associates.  Of  course,  it  cannot  be  promiscuous, 
but  is  confined  to  such  kindred  spirits  as  are  not  only  worthy  of,  but 
can  also  reciprocate  the  honorable  affection  which  he  himself  feels. 
For  such,  however,  his  respect  and  esteem  are  unreserved  and  entire. 
He  does  not  see,  or  seeing,  has  not  the  heart  to  notice  a  fault  in  one 
whom  he  admits  as  a  friend.  Towards  others  he  is  generous  ;  with  a 
friend,  he  is  more  than  fraternal ;  in  promiscuous  society  his  manners, 
though  free,  are  blunt,  and  too  readily  sarcastic ;  but  in  the  fireside 
circle  of  congenial  companions,  he  is  familiar,  easy,  good-natured,  and 
humorous.  He  reverences  only  what  he  truly  admires,  and  can  love 
no  one  whose  character  he  does  not  really  respect. 

With  these  high  sentiments,  which  must  ever  ennoble  the  man  who 
cherishes  them,  Dr.  Campbell  has  won  for  himself  many  a  warm  and 
devoted  friend,  both  in  his  public  and  private  relations ;  and  when,  a 
few  years  ago,  he  left  Wellsburg,  the  town  of  his  early  adoption,  to  be 
come  a  citizen  of  Wheeling,  all  parties  and  conditions  united  in  ex 
pressing  their  regrets  that  her  most  tried  and  valued  friend  had  left 
her.  But  his  public  services  are  permanently  recorded  in  her  institu 
tions  and  her  growth,  and  his  friendships  still  live  in  the  hearts  of  her 
best  citizens.  May  he  long  enjoy  them,  and  yet  live  many  years  to 
add  much  to  the  well-earned  fame  which  already  gathers  around  his 
name ! 


46  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMET.ICAN3. 

GENERAL  JACOB  GOULD, 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  FARMERS'  AND  MECHANICS'  BANK,  ROCHESTER,  NEW-YOTilf, 

WAS  born  in  Boxford,  Essex  county,  Massachusetts,  on  the  10th  day 
of  February,  1794.  His  father,  Capt.  Jacob  Gould,  was  a  native  of  the 
same  town.  His  grandfather,  of  the  same  name  and  place,  was  lieuten 
ant  of  the  militia  in  said  town,  in  the  American  Revolution,  and  was  oc 
casionally  on  duty.  His  mother  was  a  Peabody,  from  the  adjoining 
town  of  Middleton,  in  which  and  in  Danvers,  and  the  now  city  of  Salem, 
reside  many  of  the  same  name,  having  descended  from  the  same  an 
cestry  ;  some  of  whom  are  extensively  known  as  most  successful  as 
well  as  honorable  in  the  commercial  world. 

The  subject  of  this  brief  sketch  lived  with  his  parents,  who  were  poor 
but  respectable,  on  the  old  farm — hallowed  by  having  descended  from 
father  to  son,  where  naught  new  was  allowed  to  come ;  indeed,  the  whole 
town  was  filmed  for  its  at  that  time  called  stability ;  it  had  no  public 
house,  no  justice  of  the  peace,  and  for  years  and  years  not  a  law  suit, 
small  or  great,  amongst  its  inhabitants.  Squire  Perly,  as  he  was  called, 
represented  the  town  in  general  court,  Boston,  for  nineteen  years  in 
succession ;  in  the  twentieth  year,  when  a  young  man  of  forty  was 
elected  in  his  place,  an  excitement  was  produced  such  as  had  never 
been  experienced  by  the  oldest  inhabitants.  The  schools  were  of  the 
ordinary  class  of  Massachusetts  country  schools,  kept  three  months  \n 
winter  by  a  man,  the  same  time  in  summer  by  a  woman.  To  these  the 
subject  of  this  sket2h  went  when  his  labor  on  the  farm  could  be  con 
veniently  dispensed  with.  When  twelve  years  of  age,  he  had  permis 
sion  from  his  father  to  labor  for  a  neighbor  eight  days  in  the  fall,  doing 
the  work  of  a  man  for  the  wages  of  a  boy,  viz :  a  shilling  per  day, 
Massachusetts  currency.  With  this  money  he  bought  Morse's  geo 
graphy,  which  had  in  it  two  maps,  the  world  and  North  America.  This 
was  at  the  time  considered  extravagant,  and  caused  great  jealousy  when 
it  was  taken  to  school  with  one  other,  to  unite  with  the  art  of  reading 
a  knowledge  of  the  world. 

The  next  year  a  similar  process  brought  forth  Perry's  dictionary, 
which  constituted  quite  a  library.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  it  was  deter 
mined  he  should  learn  the  shoemaker's  trade,  and  for  this  purpose  a 
bargain  was  made  to  serve  a  year  with  a  man  living  about  a  mile  from 
his  father's,  the  Sabbaths  to  be  spent  at  home  during  the  year.  His 
master  being  exacting,  he  had  no  opportunities  for  improvement  except 
in  his  trade :  in  this  he  was  quite  successful ;  the  last  week  of  school  in 
his  district  he  was,  however,  permitted  to  attend,  at  the  request  of  the 
teacher,  (now  the  Hon.  Benjamin  A.  Gould,  of  Boston,  then  seventeen 
years  of  age,  whose  great  success  afterwards  as  a  teacher  in  Boston  is 
well  known,)  and  take  part  in  the  examination.  The  year  after,  he  was 
hired  to  a  man  near  the  centre  of  the  parish,  to  work  at  his  trade  and 
tend  a  small  West  India  goods  store  in  the  absence  of  his  principal. 

The  succeeding  year  he  worked  at  his  trade,  except  occasionally  as 
sisting  on  the  farm.  During  the  winter  he  attended  school,  which  was 


JACOB  GOULD,  OF  NEW-YORK.  47 

taught  by  a  respectable  but  unqualified  teacher.  Soon  after  this,  he  was 
afflicted  with  a  severe  cold,  which  so  alarmed  the  family  that  further 
labor  at  his  trade  was  abandoned. 

During  the  following  season,  1812,  he  spent  three  months  at  West 
Bradford  Academy,  renowned  the  world  over  as  the  school  where 
Harriet  Atwood,  afterwards  Harriet  Newell,  Miss  Hazeltine,  Mrs. 
Judson,  were  instructed,  with  many  other  choice,  kindred  spirits.  Here 
also  the  subject  of  this  biography  first  resolved  to  serve  the  Lord. 

The  succeeding  winter,  1812-13,  he  taught  school ;  the  one  after, 
1814,  in  his  native  district ;  his  third  and  last  winter  in  Massachusetts 
as  a  teacher,  Mr.  Gould  instructed  in  the  village  of  East  Bradford,  where 
he  became  acquainted  with  the  Rev.  Mr.  Perry,  D.  D.,  the  clergyman 
of  the  parish,  who  had  spent  a  year  at  Union  College,  Schenectady,  a.s 
tutor,  and  by  whose  advice,  in  the  spring  of  1815,  being  twenty-one 
years  of  age,  he  took  the  journey  to  Albany  without  friends  or  associ- 
ates,  literally  alone,  with  a  letter  from  Dr.  Perry  to  the  Hon.  Gideon 
Hawley,  then  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools  for  the  State  of  New- 
York. 

With  a  letter  from  Superintendent  Hawley,  Mr.  Gould  proceeded 
west,  intending  to  go  into  the  interior,  as  far  as  Utica,  seeking  em 
ployment  as  a  teacher.  On  arriving  at  Schenectady,  he  was  invited  by 
the  Rev.  J.  Mabon,  who  had  charge  of  Union  College  Grammar  School, 
to  stay  over  and  visit  the  president  and  professors  of  the  college,  and, 
at  their  request,  he  took  charge  of  the  English  department  in  said 
school,  at  his  own  risk  as  to  pay,  charging  a  reasonable  tuition.  Here 
he  continued  to  teach  with  good  success  for  four  years — the  last  three 
in  connection  with  the  Rev.  D.  H.  Barnes,  afterwards  a  prominent 
teacher  in  the  City  of  New-York,  whose  untimely  death  numerous 
friends  and  an  affectionate  family  will  never  cease  to  mourn. 

Owing  to  some  misunderstanding  between  the  trustees  and  teachers, 
Mr.  Barnes  went  to  New- York  and  Mr.  Gould  to  Rochester,  a  small  but 
promising  village  of  ten  or  twelve  hundred  inhabitants,  situated  on 
feoth  sides  of  the  Genesee  River,  at  its  falls — the  east  side  being  the 
county  of  Ontario,  the  west  side  the  county  of  Genesee. 

The  business  of  teaching  being  abandoned  for  the  more  active  em 
ployment  of  merchandising,  he  went  into  the  business  of  manufactur 
ing  and  selling  boots  and  shoes.  This  was  continued  for  more  than 
twenty  years,  connected  with  an  extensive  wholesale  trade  in  leather, 
&c.,  to  as  great,  if  not  greater  extent,  than  any  other  establishment  in 
Western  New- York. 

Occasionally  he  was  honored  with  office — his  military  career  was  of 
a  character  peculiar  to  those  times.  In  1824  he  was  elected  captain, 
of  a  nearly  lifeless  artillery  company,  but  as  he  never  intended  to  do 
things  by  halves,  he,  by  his  energy,  revived  the  spirits  of  those  already 
enlisted,  which  had  the  effect  to  encourage  others,  so  that  a  handsome 
company  was  soon  the  result.  Some  difficulty  the  winter  following, 
at  a  court-martial,  caused  an  application  to  the  adjutant-general  for 
a  division  of  the  regiment,  which  was  promptly  made. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  elected  colonel.  The  same  process 
in  another  quarter  caused  a  division  of  the  brigade ;  before  the  colonel's 


48  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

commission  arrived  he  was  duly  elected  brigadier-general,  and  in  that 
capacity  appeared  before  a  regiment  the  same  fall. 

The  winter  following,  a  major-general  had  to  be  appointed  by  the 
governor  and  senate.  Here  a  principle  had  to  be  settled  causing  no 
little  trouble.  «The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  a  few  days  the  senior 
brigadier,  and  had  held  a  commission  but  a  little  over  a  year,  while  the 
junior  brigadier  was  an  old  officer  of  more  than  twenty  years'  service, 
and  claimed  the  appointment  from  Governor  Clinton  and  the  senate  on 
this  account  ;  it  was  settled,  however,  and  has  since  been  referred  to  as 
a  precedent,  governing  subsequent  action  in  similar  cases,  that  Mr. 
Gould  was  entitled  to  the  appointment,  which  he  received,  going  from 
a  citizen  to  that  of  major-general  of  artillery  in  less  than  two  years. 

In  1829  he  was  appointed,  by  President  Jackson,  collector  of  the 
customs  for  the  district  of  Genesee,  and  re- appointed ;  and  again  ap 
pointed  by  President  Van  Buren. 

Soon  after  this  he  resigned  the  office  to  attend  with  more  diligence 
to  his  private  affairs. 

In  1836  he  was  elected  president  of  the  Rochester  City  Bank;  held 
the  office  two  years,  and  then  resigned.  Subsequently,  when  some  diffi 
culty  arose  in  said  institution,  he  was  invited  to  its  presidency  again, 
which  office  he  held  until  all  trouble  was  past.  He  was  twice  elected 
mayor  of  the  city  of  Rochester,  which  was  incorporated  in  1834. 

In  1845,  unexpectedly  to  himself  and  friends,  he  was  appointed  U.  S, 
Marshal  for  the  Northern  District  of  New- York  by  President  Polk, 
which  office  he  held  four  years. 

To  show  the  energy  wTith  which  these  duties  were  performed,  it  may 
be  stated,  that  there  were  more  convictions  for  counterfeiting  coin,  rob 
bery  of  the  mails,  etc.,  during  his  term,  than  for  twenty  years  previous. 
In  his  duties  he  was  ably  sustained  by  the  court,  and  especially  by 
Judge  Allen,  of  Oswego,  the  U.  S.  District  Attorney,  and  George  W. 
Clinton,  Esq.,  of  Buffalo,  his  successor  in  office. 

At  present  he  is  the  financial  officer  of  the  Farmers'  and  Mechanics1 
Bank  of  Rochester,  a  bank  under  the  general  banking  Jaw  of  the  state. 

The  difference  between  the  subject  of  this  sketch  and  many  others, 
has  been  a  perseverance  in  whatever  was  undertaken,  until  all  obstacles 
were  overcome,  and  success  complete. 

His  first  political  efforts  were  to  sustain  his  most  esteemed  friend, 
Governor  Clinton,  in  1820,  and  afterward  until  his  death.  After  that 
mournful  event,  with  untiring  energy  he  labored  to  elect  Gen.  Jackson 
to  the  presidency.  He  recollects  being  in  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  in  the 
summer  of  1826,  visiting,  when  he  announced  himself  as  a  Jackson 
man.  The  next  day  he  was  introduced  as  such  by  his  friends,  as  a  cu 
riosity  in  those  parts,  being  the  first  known.  He  has  cordially  sup 
ported  the  democratic  party,  and  always  received  the  confidence  of  his 
political  friends  of  both  high  and  low  standing,  which  confidence  has 
never  been  abused  for  selfish  or  improper  purposes. 

Socially,  the  subject  of  this  sketch  has  been  proverbially  affectionate 
and  kind.  Being  the  second  child  and  oldest  son,  much  responsibility 
rested  upon  him  in  early  life,  on  account  of  a  lameness  of  his  father, 
occurring  from  an  accident,  when  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was  only- 
eight  years  old. 


RICHARD  HAZEN  AYER,  OF  NEW-HAMPSHIRE.  4$ 

He  married,  at  the  age  of  twenty-two.  Ruby  Swan,  of  North  Ando 
ver,  Massachusetts,  with  whom  he  lived  happily  twenty-four  years. 
She  was  then  called  to  that  <;  bourne  from  which  none  return."  She  left 
three  children,  two  daughters  and  a  son,  all  of  whom  are  eligibly  con 
nected  and  settled. 

He  married  again,  in  1847,  Miss  Sarah  T.  Seward,  principal  of  the 
Seward  Female  Seminary,  in  Rochester,  by  whom  he  has  had  three 
children. 

His  labors  and  efforts  have  not  been  confined  to  his  own  family  and 
relatives.  For  many  of  these  he  has  done  much  ;  but  he  has  educated, 
and  helped  to  educate  many,  and  also  to  establish  the  deserving  in 
business.  In  all  these  efforts  a  desire  to  do  good  has  been  apparent,  and 
results  might  be  cited  showing  that  these  labors  have  not  been  in  vain. 

In  religion,  the  subject  of  this  sketch  has  been  always  decided.  He 
united  with  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Schenectady  in  1817  ;  was  su 
perintendent  of  the  Female  Sabbath  School  just  established  in  that  city, 
and  afterwards  in  Rochester  ;  was  for  a  number  of  years  an  active  elder 
in,  and  still  continues  his  connection  with,  the  First  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Rochester,  to  which  he  took  a  letter  when  he  left  Schenectady,  in 
1819.  At  that  time  it  was  the  only  church  of  any  denomination  in 
Rochester  ;  now  there  are  nearly  or  quite  one  hundred.  He  built,  in 
1825,  the  first  good  dwelling-house,  and  is  now  living  in  the  same,  in 
Rochester,  that  has  been  suffered  to  remain  and  occupied  by  its  owner 
and  builder  in  a  city  of  now  over  forty  thousand  inhabitants.  What 
progress !  what  improvement ! — from  a  wilderness  to  a  beautiful  city 
in  a  little  over  a  quarter  of  a  century  ! 

The  times  are  portentous.  What  is  now  done  in  minutes  formerly 
took  days,  and  even  weeks,  to  accomplish. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  has  taken  part  in  the  improvements  as  they 
passed — has  been  connected  with  most  of  them,  and  still  continues  to 
apply  himself  as  steadily  and  perseveringly  as  in  his  youth :  it  is  his 
habit.  How  necessary  that  early  habits  be  correct !  Learn  to  assume 
responsibility  in  youth,  then  it  will  become  easy  in  riper  years,  and  in 
old  age  not  be  a  burthen. 

As  a  man  and  a  citizen  his  character  is  above  reproach.  His  cheer 
ful  disposition  and  courteous  manners  endear  him  to  a  large  circle  of 
acquaintances.  As  a  husband  and  father  he  possesses  the  deep  affection 
of  his  family. 


HON.  RICHARD  HAZEN  AYER, 

PRESIDENT  OP  THE  AMOSKEAG  BANK,  MANCHESTER,  NEW-HAMPSHIRE. 

IT  is  one  of  the  beauties  of  our  government,  that  it  acknowleges  no 
hereditary  rank  or  title — no  patent  of  nobility  save  that  of  nature ; 
leaving  every  man  to  establish  his  own  rank,  by  becoming  the  artificer 
of  his  own  fortune.  Places  of  honor  and  trust,  rank  and  preferment, 
being  thus  happily  placed  before  every  individual,  high  or  low,  rich  or 

4 


50  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

poor,  to  be  strived  for  by  all,  but  earned  alone  by  perseverance  ancl 
sterling  worth,  are  most  always  sure  to  be  filled  with  deserving  men, 
or  by  those,  to  say  the  least,  who  are  possessed  of  energy  and  talent. 

Every  man,  as  it  were,  being  thus  a  candidate  for  the  highest  offices 
that  are  the  objects  of  the  elective  franchise,  has  an  incentive  to  action 
to  attain  every  acquirement  within  his  reach  that  shall  in  any  way  ex 
pand  his  mind  or  improve  his  understanding,  and  these  make  him  de 
serve  well  of  his  friends  and  become  useful  to  the  community.  This 
principle  leads  to  the  happiest  results.  It  is  this  principle  that  lies  at 
the  foundation  of  our  success  in  the  great  experiment  of  self- govern 
ment  by  the  people  ;  and  which,  in  the  short  period  of  three  quarters-  of 
a  century,  has  made  our  nation  the  astonishment  or  admiration  of  the 
nations  of  the  earth.  Had  not  this  principle  been  part  and  parcel  of 
our  constitution,  or  had  the  tenure  of  our  public  offices  been  hereditary, 
or  for  life  even — our  government  would  still  have  retained  the  swad 
dling  clothes  of  puerile  infancy,  instead  of  attaining  the  strength  and 
beauty  of  stalwart  manhood  ;  or  would  have  become  the  mere  append 
age  of  some  family  of  rank  and  fortune,  to  be  governed  by  the  whims 
and  caprices  of  the  accidental  heir  of  its  wealth  and  imbecility. 

Thanks  to  the  wisdom — self-denial — of  our  revolutionary  worthies, 
for  the  incorporation  of  this  truly  wise  and  republican  principle  into  our 
glorious  constitution. 

Nowhere  is  this  principle  so  fully  developed  as  in  the  New-England 
states,  or  in  that  section  of  them  remote  from  closely  populated  and 
wealthy  towns  and  cities.  In  large  towns  and  cities,  where  wealth  con 
centrates  in  the  hands  of  the  few,  or  where  the  facilities  are  afforded  for 
accumulating  large  fortunes,  power  is  in  the  hands  of  the  few,  and  the 
control  of  public  affairs  is  often  confined  to  the  narrow  circle  of  families 
or  classes  ;  but  in  the  country  towns  of  those  states,  where  wealth  is 
more  generally  diffused,  and  the  concentration  of  great  wealth  in  a  sin 
gle  family  is  of  rare  occurrence — there  the  principle  of  which  we  speak 
is  fully  developed ;  and  generally  a  man's  success  in  life  depends  upon 
his  own  merit,  his  energy,  and  his  talents. 

Nowhere  is  this  more  apparent  than  in  the  northern  states  of  New- 
England,  Maine,  New-Hampshire  and  Vermont. 

Occasionally  in  those  states  "  shoots  of  old  stocks"  may  be  found, 
high  in  public  confidence,  shining  lights  in  the  bar,  the  pulpit,  and  the 
legislative  hall ;  but  generally  the  destinies  of  these  states,  for  weal  or 
for  woe,  are  in  the  hands  of  that  efficient  class  of  men,  called  by 
Cicro,  new  men;  or,  in  other  words,  men  who  have  made  themselves ; 
men  who,  without  the  advantages  of  birth  or  the  assistance  of  friends, 
solely  through  their  own  resources  of  energy  and  talents,  have  made  a 
deep-lined  mark  in  the  community  in  which  they  live,  and  have  won 
an  enviable  position  among  their  fellow-men.  At  the  present  writing, 
we  have  in  our  minds'  eye  scores  of  men  scattered  over  these  states, 
who,  under  this  fostering  principle  of  our  glorious  constitution,  unaided 
and  alone,  save  by  their  own  energy,  enterprise  and  talents,  and  such 
friends  as  these  are  sure  to  make,  stand  in  the  highest  rank  of  public 
confidence,  can  command  any  place  within  the  gift  of  their  fellow- 
citizens  ;  and  who  will  leave  behind  them  names  associated  with  the 
noblest  qualities  of  man. 


RICHARD  HAZEN  AYER,  OF    NEW-HAMPSHIRE.  51 

Such  a  man  is  the  Hon.  Richard  H.  Ayer,  of  Manchester,  N.  H. 

Richard  Hazen  Ayer  was  born  at  Concord,  N.  H.,  January  12,  1778. 
His  father,  Richard  Ayer,  moved  to  Concord  in  1777,  from  Haverhill, 
Mass.,  being  the  son  of  Samuel  Ayer,  a  respectable  yeoman  of  that 
ancient  town  in  the  Bay  State.  About  the  time  of  his  removal  to  Con 
cord,  Mr.  Ayer  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Susannah  Sargent, 
grand-daughter  of  the  Rev.  Christopher  Sargent,  of  Methuen.  Mass.,  by 
whom  she  had  been  adopted  and  educated,  her  mother  having  died  in 
her  infancy.  In  Concord,  following  his  trade  of  tanner  and  currier,  and 
purchasing  lands  as  they  came  into  market  for  cultivation — thus  uniting 
the  callings  of  mechanic  and  farmer — he  soon  became  independent  in 
circumstances  ;  and  by  his  habits  of  industry  and  integrity,  secured  the 
confidence  of  his  fellow-citizens.  Though  often  solicited,  he  generally 
declined  being  a  candidate  for  public  office  ;  yet  he  served  the  town  re- 
^spectably  as  selectman  in  1797  and  1798,  and  as  representative  in  1815 
and  1816.  His  children  were  eleven  in  number  ;  of  which,  Samuel, 
a  respectable  physician  of  Eastport,  died  November  11,  1832 ;  Susan, 
the  wife  and  widow  of  the  late  Governor  Hill,  now  lives  at  Concord ; 
Elizabeth,  wife  of  Richard  Beadley,  Esq.,  now  resides  at  Concord  also  ; 
Mary,  wife  of  J.  T.  Williams,  Esq.,  resides  in  the  same  town ;  and 
Charlotte,  wife  of  W.  Williams,  Esq.,  now  resides  at  Portsmouth. 

Richard  Hazen  Ayer,  the  subject  of  this  memoir,  is  the  oldest  of  the 
family.  At  the  age  of  fourteen  he  went  into  the  yard  of  his  father  and 
took  his  chance  as  an  apprentice.  In  this  position  he  continued  three 
years,  working  early  and  late,  and  enjoying  but  scanty  opportunities  for 
schooling.  In  the  eighteenth  year  of  his  age,  an  accident  occurred, 
that,  though  distressing  at  the  time,  and  the  source  of  much  pain  and 
anxiety  for  many  months  ;  yet,  in  the  end,  changed  his  entire  plan  of 
life,  and  was  the  real  source  of  a  long  life  of  prosperity  and  usefulness. 
His  father  often  purchased  the  fat  beeves  of  the  neighboring  towns  for 
slaughter,  and  thus  made  a  double  profit  by  selling  their  meat,  and  se 
curing  their  hides  at  a  reduced  price,  for  his  tan-vats.  Young  Ayer 
having  been  sent  into  the  west  part  of  the  town  to  purchase  cattle,  in 
getting  over  a  fence,  jumped  down  upon  a  small  stone  and  dislocated  a 
bone  in  his  right  ancle.  He  succeeded  in  purchasing  his  cattle,  and 
getting  them  home,  but  not  without  much  pain  and  difficulty.  A  phy 
sician  was  called,  but  his  limb  grew  worse  under  his  care,  and  finally 
the  young  man  passed  the  winter  hobbling  about  the  village  upon 
crutches,  with  the  prospect  of  being  a  cripple  for  life. 

In  this  situation,  after  months  of  suffering,  he  happened  into  the  store 
of  Jacob  Abbott,  Esq.,  who  advised  him  to  visit  Andover,  Mass.,  and 
put  himself  under  the  care  of  the  celebrated  Dr.  Thomas  Kittredge  of 
that  town.  Said  the  good  old  man,  "go  down  to  Andover,  and  put  your 
self  under  his  care  ;  it  will  take  some  time  to  cure  you,  but  then  he'll  do 
it,  and  while  he  is  curing  your  limb  you  can  go  to  the  academy  and  get 
a  good  education  ;  and,  young  man,  the  injury  to  your  limb  will  be  the 
best  thing  that  ever  happened  to  you." 

The  thing  was  talked  over,  and  in  the  following  spring  young  Ayer 
went  to  Andover,  got  encouragement  from.  Dr.  Kittredge  as  to  the  pro 
bability  of  curing  his  limb ;  made  arrangements  to  put  himself  under  his 
care,  and  spent  the  summer  at  Andover,  attending  the  academy  under 


52  SKETCHES  OF  EMXNENT  AMERICANS. 

Mr.  Newman,  during  the  week ;  and  on  Saturday,  constantly  riding 
over  to  see  Dr.  Kittredge,  and  receive  his  attention  to  his  crippled  limb. 
Thus  he  spent  four  months  ;  at  the  end  of  which  time,  he  had  so  far  re 
covered  from  his  lameness,  as  to  be  able  to  walk  without  crutches,  and 
at  the  same  time,  had  laid  the  foundation  of  a  good  business  education. 

The  following  winter  he  spent  in  the  store  of  Mr.  Towne,  of  Hop- 
kinton,  as  an  accountant.  In  the  spring  he  had  so  far  recovered  his 
strength  as  to  resume  the  business  of  his  father,  and  he  continued  with 
him  until  his  majority,  when  he  went  in  foreman  of  the  establishment, 
'vrith  the  privilege  of  stocking  certain  vats  on  his  own  account.  At  the 
end  of  a  year  he  was  appointed  a  deputy  by  Gen.  George  Reid,  of  Lon 
donderry,  sheriff  of  Rockingham  county.  This  was  a  situation  well 
calculated  to  develop  his  business  capacities,  and  at  the  same  time  was 
a  profitable  one,  as  there  was  no  other  deputy  in  the  west  end  of  Rock 
ingham  county,  and  a  large  and  increasing  population.  He  continued 
as  deputy  until  1807,  having  been  deputized  by  Judge  Peabody,  of* 
Exeter,  who  succeeded  Gen.  Reid  in  1805  as  sheriff  of  Rockingham 
county. 

At  this  time,  the  lawyers  who  did  the  leading  business  in  that  sec 
tion  were  Samuel  Green,  of  Concord,  and  Daniel  Webster,  of  Bosca- 
wen,  and  it  was  there  that  Mr.  Ayer  secured  the  friendship  of  Mr. 
Webster,  so  pleasantly  continued  to  the  present  time. 

In  1806  he  was  one  of  four  contractors  who  built  the  bridge  across 
the  Merrimack,  at  "  Isle  of  Hooksett  Falls,"  and  eight  miles  of  the  road 
from  that  place  to  Concord,  for  the  Londonderry  Turnpike  Corporation. 
This,  for  those  days,  was  a  great  undertaking,  and  during  its  comple 
tion  Mr.  Ayer  was  much  upon  the  line  of  the  road.  This  gave  him  op 
portunities  to  become  acquainted  with  the  capabilities  of  the  regions  of 
country  about  "  Isle  of  Hooksett  Falls,"  and  his  sagacity  led  him  to 
determine  upon  settling  at  that  place.  His  friends  endeavored  to  dis 
suade  him  from  his  determination,  but  without  avail ;  and  in  the  sum 
mer  of  1807  he  took  up  his  residence  on  the  west  side  of  the  Merri 
mack,  at  the  foot  of  "  Isle  of  Hooksett  Falls,"  in  the  town  of  Dumbarton. 
In  February  of  the  same  year  he  had  married  Miss  Mary  Green,  the 
beautiful  and  accomplished  daughter  of  Colonel  Peter  Green,  who  had 
been  a  lawyer  of  great  respectability  at  Concord,  who  married,  for  his 
second  wife,  Rebecca,  a  daughter  of  the  Rev.  John  Mellen,  of  Hanover, 
Mass.,  by  whom  he  had  five  children — Mrs.  Ayer  being  the  fourth  child. 
John  B.  Green,  an  eminent  banker  of  Paris,  lately  deceased,  was 
the  second  son.  Mrs.  Ayer  is  a  specimen  of  the  sterling  wife — ever 
attentive  to  the  interests  of  her  husband,  and  at  the  same  time  making 
his  abode  one  of  pleasure  after  the  perplexities  of  business,  and  ever 
one  of  agreeable  and  substantial  hospitality  to  their  numerous  friends. 

The  fruits  of  this  marriage  were  two  daughters,  Susan  Rebecca,  the 
wife  of  Dr.  Enoch  B.  Barnes,  a  lady  of  much  literary  taste,  and  who 
died  at  the  residence  of  her  father,  July  8th,  1852 ;  and  Mary  Green, 
the  wife  of  Dr.  Amos  G.  Gale,  a  distinguished  physician  of  Manchester. 

At  the  "  Isle  of  Hooksett"  Mr.  Ayer  soon  obtained  a  lucrative  busi 
ness,  and  entered  largely  into  the  lumber  trade,  his  position  proving  a 
most  favorable  one  for  prosecuting  the  same  to  advantage  and  profit. 
In  1808  he  was  first  commissioned  as  a  justice  of  the  peace  for  Hills- 


RICHARD  HAZEN  AYER,  OF  NEW-HAMPSHIRE.  53 

borough  county,  in  which  office  he  has  been  continued  in  the  various 
counties  in  which  he  has  resided  until  the  present  time,  having  been  for 
the  last  fifteen  years  a  justice  of  the  peace  and  of  the  quorum  through 
out  the  state.  *His  business  capacity  socn  attracted  attention,  and  in 
1810,  though  at  the  extreme  line  of  the  town,  he  was  chosen  a  repre 
sentative  from  Dunbarton,  and  represented  that  town  for  seven  years 
in  the  legislature.  In  the  House  he  attained  a  commanding  influence, 
his  opinions  ever  being  formed  with  judgment  and  supported  by  sound 
sense.  Of  the  democratic  party,  he  was  yet  tolerant  of  others'  views ; 
and  thus,  while  a  stern  leader  in  his  own  party,  he  yet  commanded  the 
respect  of  those  of  opposite  views.  In  1816  he  was  chosen  an  elector  of 
President  and  Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  the  Electoral  Col- 
lege,  with  the  venerable  Captain  Thomas  Manning  as  its  chairman, 
throwing  its  votes  for  James  Monroe. 

In  1817  he  was  returned  to  the  Council  from  the  county  of  Hillsbo- 
rough,  succeeding  Gen.  Benjamin  Pierce,  who  had  been  appointed  sheriff 
of  the  county,  and  being  in  the  Council  of  Governor  Plumer.  He  was 
elected  to  the  Council  for  five  successive  years,  the  last  four  being  of  the 
Council  of  Governor  Samuel  Bell.  He  brought  to  the  council  board 
the  prime  qualities  of  decision,  sound  judgment,  and  unbending  in 
tegrity — qualities  which  have  marked  his  course  through  life.  His 
intercourse  with  Governor  Bell  resulted  in  a  project  long  in  his  mind- — 
that  of  the  improvement  of  the  "  Isle  of  Hooksett  Falls"  as  a  water- 
power  for  manufacturing  purposes.  In  1823,  in  company  with  Gov 
ernor  Bell,  John  Bell,  and  Isaac  Hill,  he  commenced  arrangements  for 
building  a  large  cotton  factory  at  these  Falls,  which  was  completed  in 
1824,  at  an  expense  of  $80,000.  This  was  then  one  of  the  best  and 
largest  factories  in  the  state.  In  June  of  1822,  principally  through  the 
exertions  of  Mr.  Ayer,  the  town  of  Hooksett  was  incorporated  out  of 
territory  comprised  in  the  towns  of  "Chester,  Goffstown,  and  Dunbarton, 
which  three  towns  each  made  an  angle  near  the  "  Isle  of  Hooksett 
Falls." 

At  the  March  election  following,  he  was  chosen  representative  and 
chairman  of  the  board  of  selectmen  of  the  new  town,  which  last  office 
he  held  for  seven  successive  years. 

While  a  member  of  the  house  from  Hooksett  in  1823,  the  new  county 
of  Merrimack  was  formed,  and  Governor  Woodbury  made  Mr.  Ayer 
the  high-sheriff  of  the  new  county 

He  held  this  office  until  the  close  of  the  term  in  1828,  when  the 
government  of  the  state  being  in  the  hands  of  his  political  opponents, 
one  of  their  number  was  appointed  his  successor. 

The  loss  of  office  was  to  him  no  disappointment,  as  his  extensive 
business  required  more  of  his  immediate  personal  supervision. 

But  he  did  not  long  remain  in  retirement,  as,  upon  the  commence 
ment  of  the  new  national  administration,  Gen,  Jackson  tendered  him  the 
office  of  naval  store-keeper  at  the  Navy  Yard  at  Portsmouth,  which  he 
was  induced  to  accept,  as  it  would  give  him.  rest  from  the  turmoil  of 
active  business. 

He  removed  to  Portsmouth  in  1829,  and  entered  upon  the  duties  of 
his  office,  which  he  held  for  eight  years,  during  the  administration  of 
Gen.  Jackson.  During  his  residence  at  Portsmouth,  he  received  many 


54  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

marks  of  the  confidence  of  its  citizens.  lie  was  chosen  chairman  of  the 
board  of  selectmen ;  chairman  of  the  committee  to  build  the  new  alms- 
house,  and  during  his  entire  residence  was  an  efficient  member  of  some 
board  for  the  transaction  of  the  affairs  of  the  town.  At  the  same  time 
he  entered  earnestly  into  the  private  interests  of  the  place,  and  the  city 
of  Portsmouth  owes  it  mainly  to  his  public  spirit  and  enterprise,  that 
she  can  boast  one  of  the  most  substantial  and  best  appointed  hotels  in 
the  country,  the  splendid  "  Rockingham  House,"  having  been  first 
started  by  a  few  individuals,  who  saw  the  need  of  a  first-class  hotel,  of 
whom  Mr.  Ayer  was  first  and  foremost. 

At  length,  in  1837,  he  resigned  the  office  of  naval  store-keeper,  and 
returned  to  Hooksett,  to  resume  the  cultivation  of  his  farm,  and  to  pur 
sue  a  less  exciting  course  of  life.  But  a  life  of  inactivity  to  such  a  man  is 
impossible;  and  Mr.  Ayer  soon  found  himself  as  actively  engaged  is  bu 
siness  as  ever.  It  was  about  the  time  of  the  germination  of  the  "  Spindle 
City"  of  Manchester  ;  and  a  proposition  having  been  made,  and  accept 
ed,  to  merge  the  stock  of  the  Hooksett  factory  in  that  of  the  Amoskcag 
Company  at  Manchester,  Mr.  Ayer  found  his  interests  at  once  blended 
with  one  of  the  largest  corporations  in  New- England.  Of  course  it 
was  a  capital  investment ;  but  aside  from  this  direct  advantage,  the 
connection  conferred  upon  him  still  greater  indirect  advantages.  As  the 
result  of  his  foresight,  he  was  the  owner  of  immense  tracts  of  wild  lands 
in  Hooksett  and  its  neighborhood,  and  an  inexhaustible  deposit  of  clay. 
The  latter  had  been  purchased  by  the  late  Judge  Blodgett,  who  first  im 
proved  the  hydraulic  power  at  "  Amoskeag  Falls,"  and  constructed  a 
canal  about  the  same,  for  the  express  purpose  of  furnishing  bricks  for 
a  future,  city  of  Manchester.  Judge  Blodgett  lived  a  half  century  be 
fore  his  time,  and  did  not  see  the  consummation  of  his  sanguine  specu 
lations.  But  Mr.  Ayer,  with  equal  sagacity,  entertained  the  same 
opinion  with  Judge  Blodgett,  that  the  "  Amoskeag  Falls"  must  of  ne 
cessity  be  occupied  for  manufacturing  purposes,  and  give  rise  to  a  large 
manufacturing  town ;  held  on  to  his  clay  and  woodlands,  and  thus  was 
able  to  supply  the  immediate  and  pressing  demand  for  bricks  raised  by 
the  building  up  the  city  of  Manchester.  The  result  has  been  the  addi 
tion  of  a  handsome  sum  to  an  already  ample  fortune.  But  the  result 
has  not  been  for  his  benefit  alone ;  others  have  come  in  freely  for  its 
advantages.  The  cutting  and  hauling  the  wood  for  burning ;  the  making 
and  boating  to  Manchester,  a  distance  of  eight  miles,  of  from  one  million 
to  four  millions  of  bricks  annually,  for  the  last  fifteen  years,  have  given 
employment  to  a  large  number  of  men;  and  Mr.  Ayer  is  no  niggard  of 
prices  to  men  who  do  his  work  faithfully. 

In  1840,  he  was  again  returned  to  the  legislature  from  Hooksett,  and 
also  in  1841-2. 

About  this  time  he  commenced  investing  largely  in  real  estate  in 
Manchester,  and  finally,  in  1845,  he  took  up  his  residence  in  that  city. 
In  1848,  he  was  chosen  a  member  of  the  Electoral  College,  and,  upon 
organization,  was  chosen  its  president,  which  cast  its  votes  for  Gov 
ernor  Cass  for  president.  And  here  we  would  remark,  that  few  men 
can  preside  over  any  public  body  with  more  aptitude  or  dignity  than 
Mr.  Ayer.  Ready,  self-possessed,  with  a  fine  commanding  person,  he 
makes  a  pattern  presiding  officer. 


RICHARD  HAZEN  AYER,  OF  NEW-HAMPSHIRE.  55 

In  December  of  1848,  upon  the  organization  of  the  "  Amoskeag 
Bank,"  Mr.  Ayer  was  made  its  president,  which  office  he  still  most  ac 
ceptably  holds.  In  1850,  he  was  chosen,  from  the  city  of  Manchester, 
a  member  of  the  convention  to  revise  the  constitution  of  the  state.  In 
this  body  he  was  a  most  efficient  member,  ever  favoring  the  incorpora 
tion  of  the  most  liberal  provisions  into  that  instrument. 

By  his  straightforward,  judicious  and  liberal  course,  he  won  the  re 
spect  of  all  and  the  esteem  of  most  of  that  convention.  Professor 
Sanborn,  of  Dartmouth  College,  a  member  of  that  convention,  and  a 
political  opponent,  in  sketching  the  characters  of  its  most  prominent 
members,  thus  spoke  of  Mr.  Ayer : — "  One  of  the  oldest  men  in  the 
convention  was  Richard  H.  Ayer,  of  Manchester.  He  has  been  much 
in  public  life,  and  has  exerted  a  powerful  influence  in  the  politics  of 
New-Hampshire  for  the  last  forty  years.  He  has  been  in  his  day  a  man 
of  commanding  eloquence,  strong  in  debate  and  energetic  in  action. 
He  was  very  appropriately  denominated  by  Joel  Eastman,  the  Ajax 
Telamon  of  the  democratic  party  in  the  convention.  In  past  years,  he 
has  undoubtedly  espoused  and  advocated  the  particular  policy  of  that 
party  with  great  warmth  and  power.  He  is  now  in  the  winter  of  life. 
His  passions  are  subdued,  but  his  judgment  is  mature.  He  showed, 
in  all  his  votes  and  speeches,  an  unwonted  liberality  of  sentiment. 
He  evidently  aimed  at  justice  and  equality  in  the  measures  he 
advocated,  rather  than  the  success  of  the  party  of  which  he  was  an 
honored  member.  In  this  assembly,  his  recorded  votes  and  opinions 
publicly  expressed  do  honor  both  to  his  head  and  heart."  This  is  his  last 
public  office,  as  Mr.  Ayer  has  frequently  expressed  the  wish  to  his 
friends  to  keep  entirely  free  from  public  business  of  any  kind,  wishing 
to  secure  that  freedom  from  cares  his  advanced  age  so  peremptorily 
demands.  This  is  the  more  to  be  desired,  as  the  care  of  a  large  estate 
still  demands  his  continued  attention,  and  receives  it  with  a  punctuality 
and  directness  that  should  be  an  example  to  men  of  business,  his  junior 
by  many  years. 

In  person,  Mr.  Ayer  is  above  a  medium  height,  with  a  strong,  well- 
knit  frame,  capable  of  great  endurance  in  middle  age;  and  now, 
although  inclined  to  corpulency,  and  in  the  very  "  sear  and  yellow  leaf 
of  life,"  still  active  and  capable  of  much  service  ;  a  broad  and  expanded 
forehead,  a  full  blue  eye  and  a  wide  full  face,  in  which  the  predominant 
reading  is  benevolence — most  strikingly  illustrated  by  the  charities  of 
a  long  life.  For  no  man  in  New-Hampshire  can  better  have  judged 
of  the  truth  of  that  saying,  "  It  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to 
receive."  No  charitable  enterprise,  deserving  his  patronage,  appeals 
unsuccessfully  to  his  open  purse  ;  no  unfortunate  but  deserving  indivi 
dual  goes  unsatisfied  from  his  door  ;  while  his  continual  kindness  of 
feeling  prompts  him  to  the  bestowal  of  those  unasked  but  equally  de 
serving,  and  often  more  charitable  alms,  which,  "  unseen  of  men,"  yet 
sure  in  their  effect,  bring  comfort  to  the  afflicted,,  relief  to  the  unfortu 
nate,  and  to  the  giver,  the  blessing  of  HIM  who  took  note  of  the  mitt 
of  the  "  poor  widow,"  because  bestowed  in  the  pure  spirit  of  charity. 
Such  is  a  brief  sketch  of  Hon.  Richard  Hazen  Ayer — a  self-made  man 
in  every  sense  of  the  word  ;  an  example  of  that  sentiment  of  the  great 
feet,  that  "  worth  makes  the  man,"  so  happily  recognized  and  guaran 
tied  by  our  glorious  constitution. 


56  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 


HON.  JOSEPH  M.  HARPER, 


PRESIDENT  OF  MECHANICS    BANK,  CONCORD,  NEW-HAMPSHIRE. 

THE  subject  of  this  memoir  was  born  in  Limerick,  Maine,  on  the  21st 
of  June,  A.  D.,  1787,  and  of  the  independence  of  the  United  States  of 
America,  the  eleventh. 

At  that  early  period  of  our  country's  history,  the  sources  of  wealth 
were  not  sufficiently  developed  to  afford  the  new  settlers  those  comforts 
and  conveniences  of  life  which  are  at  this  era  of  national  prosperity  so 
widely  diffused,  and  so  abundantly  enjoyed  by  millions  of  intelligent 
and  happy  freemen. 

The  father  of  Joseph  M.  was  a  farmer  in  comfortable,  but  not  afflu 
ent  circumstances,  and  with  a  family  of  ten  children  depending  upon 
him  for  support  and  maintenance,  found  it  impossible  to  afford  them 
other  than  very  limited  privileges  of  obtaining  education. 

Joseph  M.  was  consequently  employed  in  labor  on  the  farm  from  the 
beginning  of  the  spring  to  the  latter  part  of  the  autumn  months ;  and  in  the 
winter,  tending  the  stock  and  driving  a  lumber  team  to  Portland,  Saco, 
and  Kennebunk,  seaport  towns,  about  twenty-six  miles  from  Limerick. 
He  was  released  from  this  employ  about  eight  weeks  in  the  winter  to 
attend  a  district  school ;  the  town  being  in  its  infancy,  this  was  all  the 
educational  privilege  afforded. 

Of  these  early  scenes,  he  says  in  a  small  memorandum  kept  by  him 
self  years  after  : — "I  spent  my  time  at  school  in  a  manner  to  gain  this 
appellation, — '  Joe.  Harper  is  the  best  scholar  and  biggest  rogue  in 
school' — for  if  there  was  any  boyish  mischief  afoot,  I  was  sure  to  be 
among  the  leaders,  and  as  sure  to  have  my  lessons  ready  at  the  teach 
er's  call." 

Working  on  a  farm  was  never  suited  to  his  taste ;  and  as  time  ad- 
vaneed  he  grew  more  and  more  averse  to  it,  and  at  length  made  appli 
cation  to  his  father  to  permit  him  to  seek  some  other  kind  of  manual 
employment,  or  afford  him  some  means  to  procure  an  education.  The 
former  he  did  not  choose  to  do,  the  latter  he  could  not.  Of  this  period 
he  says  in  his  memorandum  : — "  There  then  appeared  but  two  alterna 
tives  ;  to  continue  my  labor  at  farming,  or  leave  my  father  and  look 
out  for  myself."  I  decided  on  the  latter  course,  and  on  the  22d  of 
May,  1803,  being  then  about  16  years  of  age,  I  left  home  and  bent  my 
steps  toward  Portsmouth,  N.  H. ;  without  any  definite  idea  of  where  I 
was  to  go,  or  what  business  1  was  to  follow.  I  traveled  as  far  as  New- 
ington,  and  let  myself  for  one  month  to  a  Mr.  Pickering  for  the  sum 
of  nine  dollars.  Before  the  time  had  expired  I  began  to  repent  my 
bargain.  A  local  disease,  from  which  I  had  for  a  considerable  length  of 
time  experienced  much  inconvenience,  increased  upon  me,  so  that  I 
found  I  could  not,  without  risking  permanent  loss  of  health,  continue 
the  hard  labor  of  a  farm.  My  education  being  insufficient  for  teaching, 
I  was  at  a  loss  what  course  to  pursue.  At  this  crisis,  my  father  came 
to  see  me,  and  advised  me  to  return  home.  I  accordingly  did  so,  and 
continued  with  him  till  the  spring  of  1806,  performing  some  light  labor 


JOSEPH  M.  HARPER,  OF  NEW-HAMPSHIRE.  57 

in  the  summer  months,  and  attending  school  through  the  winter,  or 
reading  and  studying  at  home.  About  the  1st  of  June,  1806,  I  was 
sent  to  the  academy  at  Fryeburg,  Me.,  and  continued  there  five  or  six 
months;  the  ensuing  winter  taught  a  school  in  Limington,  and  at  its 
close,  a  second  in  Buckston,  at  which  latter  place,  I  boarded  with  a 
Dr.  Brewster,  and  the  hours  I  was  not  engaged  in  the  school-room,  read 
different  medical  authors,  and  prepared  medicines  under  his  supervision. 
These  circumstances  tended  to  strengthen  a  desire  I  had  for  some  time 
cherished  of  becoming  a  member  of  the  medical  faculty,  and  I  soon  after 
commenced  a  regular  course  of  study  with  Dr.  William  Swasey,  in  my 
native  town,  under  whose  tuition  I  remained  till  July,  1808,  and  then 
went  to  Canterbury,  N.  H.,  and  spent  my  last  year  with  Dr.  Jonathan 
Kittredge.  I  then  attended  the  private  anatomical  and  physiological 
lectures  of  Dr.  Eamsay,  a  celebrated  Scotch  anatomist  at  Fryeburg, 
Me.,  and  Concord,  N.  H.,  and  afterwards  a  course  of  medical  lectures  in 
Boston,  Mass. 

"I  was  now  ready  to  establish  myself  in  my  profession,  and  for  seve 
ral  months  remained  unsettled,  traveling  through  different  portions  of 
Maine  and  New-Hampshire,  unable  to  fix  upon  a  stand  that  suited  me 
in  all  respects.  I  at  length  concluded  to  settle  for  a  while  in  Sanborn- 
ton,  N.  H.,  and  did  so  about  November,  1810 — remaining  through  the 
winter ;  but  there  being  several  of  the  faculty  in  the  place,  the  prospect 
of  gaining  a  tolerable  share  of  practice  was  rather  dubious,  and  in  April 
of  the  next  year,  a  more  eligible  situation  presenting  at  Canterbury,  (a 
place  to  which  I  was  more  strongly  attached  than  any  in  the  world,  for 
what  reason  I  could  not  tell,)  I  went  there  and  commenced  business  to 
better  advantage  than  I  had  hitherto  done.  About  this  time  I  ex 
perienced  religion,  and  became  a  member  of  the  '  Free  Will  Baptist 
Church.'" 

Here,  it  is  to  be  regretted,  his  memorandum  ceases,  and  the  remain 
der  of  this  sketch  is  made  up  of  such  facts  and  incidents  as  now  recur 
to  his  memory.  With  this  in  view,  it  will  be  evident,  that  through  a 
long  life,  chequered  and  varied  as  his  has  been,  though  what  is  collected 
may  be  undoubtedly  correct,  many  points  it  might  be  well  to  notice 
may  be  glanced  over,  and  things  of  interest  lost  or  forgotten. 

During  the  whole  course  of  the  troubles  with  Great  Britain,  out  of 
which  grew  the  war  of  1812,  he  was  an  unwearying  and  unflinching  ad 
vocate  for  his  country,  for  free  trade  and  sailors'  rights.  He  sustained 
the  embargo,  the  non-intercourse,  and  every  act  of  the  government  up 
to  the  declaration  of  war,  and  when  that  came  he  engaged  heartily  in 
its  support,  encouraged  enlistment,  and  urged  the  necessity  of  carrying 
it  on  with  all  the  resources  and  energy  of  which  the  nation  was  capable. 
He  was  at  that  time  in  the  practice  of  his  profession,  with  good  pros 
pects  of  success.  He  left  this,  and  joined  the  army  in  Jan.,  1813,  in  the 
capacity  of  second  surgeon  of  the  4th  regiment  of  U.  S.  infantry,  com 
manded  by  Colonel  Robert  Purdy,  and  continued  in  that  capacity  until 
the  close  of  the  war  in  1815.  He  then  returned  to  Canterbury,  and 
resumed  his  practice  of  physic  arid  surgery  for  several  years,  devoting 
his  time  and  talents  almost  exclusively  to  his  profession.  He  was 
about  this  time  elected  a  Fellow  of  the  New-Hampshire  Medical  Society. 

June  6th,  1816,  he  married  Miss  Elizabeth  Clough,  daughter  of  Oba- 


58  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

diah  Clough,  Esq.,  of  Canterbury — a  lady,  as  time  has  proved,  abun 
dantly  possessed  of  those  female  virtues  which  serve  to  adorn  the 
walks  of  private  life.  While  she  has  ever  given  home  the  first-fruits  of 
her  care  and  affection,  she  has  to  the  fullest  extent  obeyed  the  scriptural 
injunction,  "  Remember  the  poor."  Kindness  and  benevolence  are  riot 
less  her  characteristics  than  a  gentle,  but  firm  decision,  adherence  to 
established  principles,  independence  of  nature,  and  strong  attachment 
to  friends. 

Three  children  blessed  this  union — two  sons  and  a  daughter. 

The  eldest  son,  Joseph  C.  Harper,  Esq.,  is  married,  and  resides  in 
London,  N.  H.  He  has  two  years  represented  that  town  in  the  state 
legislature,  and  as  a  magistrate  and  a  man  of  business  stands  high 
among  the  first  class  of  citizens-ill  his  community. 

The  second  son,  Charles  A.  Harper,  was  a  graduate  of  Dartmouth 
College,  A.  D.  1834,  at  the  age  of  nineteen.  He  read  law,  and  com 
menced  practice  in  Clarksburg,  Va.,  where  he  remained  several  years, 
and  then,  on  account  of  enfeebled  health,  was  induced  to  resort  to  a 
milder  climate.  In  1845  he  went  to  Texas,  and  became  deeply  inter 
ested  in  the  war  with  Mexico.  When  a  volunteer  regiment  was  called 
for  from  that  state,  he  joined  the  one  commanded  by  Colonel  Jack 
Hays,  was  chosen  adjutant,  and  acted  as  such  through  the  campaign. 
At  the  seige  of  Monterey  this  regiment  was  with  General  Worth's 
division,  and  in  the  advance  during  the  three  days'  hard  fighting,  being 
the  first  that  entered  the  city. 

He  is  now  married,  and  resides  at  Indianola,  Texas,  in  the  practice 
of  his  profession. 

The  youngest,  a  daughter,  now  resides  with  her  parents.  She  pos 
sesses  fine  literary  taste,  and  is  to  some  extent  known  as  a  poet  and 
prose  writer.  Her  health  is  extremely  delicate. 

Aside  from  the  duties  of  the  medical  profession,  Joseph  M.  Harper 
has  transacted  during  his  life  a  large  amount  of  business  pertaining  to 
the  functions  of  the  law — such  as  executor  of  wills,  suits  at  law,  re 
ferences,  and  probate  affairs. 

In  political  matters  he  has  ever  taken  an  active  interest,  being  always 
a  staunch  democrat  of  the  old  school.  When  a  boy  of  seventeen,  he 
took  an  active  part  in  advocating  the  claims  of  Mr.  Jefferson  at  his 
second  election  to  the  presidency  in  1804.  He  voted,  for  the  first  time 
in  his  life,  for  James  Madison,  on  his  coming  into  power  in  1808 ;  and 
during  the  great  struggle  between  the  republican  and  federal  parties,  as 
they  were  then  styled,  from  Jefferson's  second  election  to  the  declara 
tion  of  war  in  1812,  and  through  the  war,  he  acted  a  noble  and  con 
spicuous  part,  attended  the  meetings  of  the  democratic  party  in  town, 
county,  and  state,  making  frequent  speeches,  and  producing  arguments 
for  the  support  of  republican  government  and  rule  in  the  halls  of  the 
nation.  His  remarks  were  never  long  and  windy,  but  brief  and  to  the 
point,  as  were  the  articles  he  from  time  to  time  presented  for  the  pub 
lic  press. 

From  a  printed  copy  of  an  address,  delivered  by  him  at  Sanbornton, 
New-Hampshire,  on  the  fourteenth  anniversary  of  Gen.  Jackson's  victory 
at  New-Orleans,  we  present  an  extract,  as  elucidating  his  views  upon 
the  two  dominant  parties  which  arose  in  the  infancy  of  our  country, 


JOSEPH  M.  HARPER,  OF  NEW-HAMPSHIRE.  59 

and  have,  with  different  degrees  of  success,  sought  ascendency  and 
control  down  to  the  present  time : 

"  But  it  will  be  necessary  for  me  on  the  present  occasion  to  turn 
back  the  page  of  modern  history  a  few  years,  and  give  a  brief  and 
succinct  account  of  the  two  parties  in  our  country,  from  the  close  of 
the  Revolutionary  war  up  to  the  time  of  the  recent  and  signal  victory 
gained  by  the  Jeffersonian  republicans  in  the  triumphant  election  of 
the  hero  of  New-Orleans  to  the  presidency. 

"  At  the  commencement  of  that  war  two  distinct  parties  arose,  which 
have  continued  to  agitate  this  happy  land  down  to  the  present  time. 
At  one  time  they  have  appeared  to  be  nearly  swallowed  up  in  the 
prosperity  and  quietude  of  the  country ;  at  another,  to  threaten  our 
very  existence  as  an  independent  nation  by  their  violence  of  contested 
opinion  and  party  fury. 

"  They  were  first  known  by  the  appellation  of  Whig  and  Tory.  And 
it  would  have  been  for  the  peace,  honor,  and  dignity  of  the  common 
wealth,  had  they  been  known  to  the  present  day  by  no  other  names, 
and  the  lines  between  them  marked  with  that  precision  they  were  when 
Washington  was  in  the  field,  or  Jefferson  in  the  counsels  of  the  nation. 

"  During  the  struggle  for  liberty  and  independence,  the  whigs  risked 
everything  a  patriotic  people  could  risk  for  their  country's  freedom. 
Heaven  smiled  propitious ;  victory  turned  on  the  side  of  the  rights  of 
man;  but.  while  the  whigs  were  fighting  their  country's  battles,  the 
tories  remained  idle  spectators,  or  fled  to  the  enemy's  raiiKs  for  safety 
from  their  own  people's  indignation.  After  the  close  of  the  war  a 
remnant  of  this  recreant  party  was  left  in  our  midst.  They  were,  as 
a  body,  wealthy,  compared  with  the  whigs,  who  had  expended  without 
sparing  their  property  in  the  glorious  contest.  They  possessed  talents, 
craft,  and  subtlety,  and  began  to  declaim  loudly  of  their  respect  for 
American  rights.  By  their  plausible  conduct  and  fair  speeches  many 
of  them  wormed  themselves  into  places  of  trust  and  power. 

"  At  the  formation  of  our  most  excellent  constitution  some  of  the 
whigs  had  so  far  joined  the  tory  party  as  to  advocate  a  stronger  form 
of  government,  more  aristocratical,  with  an  hereditary  president  and 
senate.  And  the  worshipers  of  titles,  stars,  and  garters  so  rapidly 
increased,  that  in  1797  an  advocate  for  the  divine  right  of  kings  was 
placed  in  the  chair  of  state,  and  a  'reign  of  terror'  commenced.  The 
aristocratical  party  assumed  the  specious  name  of  federalists,  declared 
the  tory  party  extinct,  became  vociferous  for  American  rights,  and 
mounted  the  black  cockade  as  a  token  that  they  were  pledged  to  the 
then  reigning  dynasty,  and  would  support  the  illustrious  house  of 
Braintree  ;  and  piously  branded  all  who  would  not  '  hold  up  the  hand 
or  kiss  the  book,'  with  the  epithets  of  Jacobins  and  French  citizens. 

"  Among  the  arbitrary  and  anti-republican  measures  of  this  ad 
ministration  were  the  sedition  law,  the  alien  law,  the  raising  of  a 
standing  army,  the  odious  stamp  act,  and  a  direct  tax  on  almost  every 
species  of  property. 

"  Such  were  some  of  the  leading  features  of  the  young  federal  govern 
ment,  with  the  first  Adams  at  its  head  ;  all  of  which  had  a  direct  ten 
dency  to  remove  the  veil  from  the  minds  of  the  substantial  yeomanry 


60  SKETCHES  OP  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

of  the  nation,  and  pave  the  way  for  the  elevation  of  the  immortal 
Jefferson  to  the  presidency  in  1801,  thus  effecting  the  ascendency  of 
the  democratic  party." 

In  March,  1826,  he  was  elected  to  represent  his  town  in  the  state 
legislature  and  again  in  1827,  which  office  he  filled  to  the  entire  satis 
faction  of  his  constituents.  He  took  an  active  part  in  the  house  of 
representatives. 

In  1829,  he  was  elected  to  the  senate  of  New-Hampshire,  where  he 
sustained  himself  as  a  worthy  member. 

During  the  June  session  of  that  year,  a  resolution  was  passed  by  the 
legislature,  authorizing  the  governor,  with  consent  of  council,  to  appoint 
some  one  as  an  agent  of  the  state,  to  go  to  Connecticut  and  gather  facts 
and  general  information  concerning  the  culture  of  the  mulberry  tree,  the 
methods  of  raising  the  silkworm  and  the  manufacturing  of  the  silk. 

He  received  this  appointment,  and  the  July  following  proceeded  to 
Connecticut,  collected  all  the  information  possible  on  the  subject,  and 
made  a  report  at  the  June  session  of  1830,  which  was  printed  in  pam 
phlet  form  and  circulated  gratuitously  through  the  state. 

He  was  re-elected  this  year  (1830)  to  the  senate,  and  on  organizing, 
chosen  president  of  that  body,  over  which  he  presided  with  honor  to 
himself  and  general  satisfaction  to  the  public. 

By  the  constitution  of  New-Hampshire,  the  president  of  the  senate 
acts  as  governor  in  case  that  office  is  vacated  by  death,  resignation  or 
otherwise. 

On  the  28th  of  February,  1881,  Hon.  Matthew  Harvey,  then  gover 
nor,  resigned  his  office,  being  appointed  district  judge  of  the  U.  S. 
Court,  for  the  district  of  New- Hampshire.  Consequently,  J.  M.  Harper 
assumed  the  title  and  held  the  office  till  June  of  the  same  year. 

In  March,  1831,  he  was  elected  one  of  the  representatives  from  New- 
Hampshire  to  the  twenty-second  Congress  of  the  United  States,  it  being 
the  second  Congress  of  the  first  term  of  Gen.  Jackson's  presidency. 
He  took  his  seat  in  the  month  of  December  of  the  same  year.  In 
1833,  he  was  re-elected,  and  served  in  that  capacity  the  two  first  years 
of  President  Jackson's  second  term. 

During  the  whole  four  years  he  was  in  Congress,  there  was  much 
party  strife,  and  frequently  a  high  state  of  animosity  between  the  two 
great  political  parties  throughout  the  country,  as  well  as  between  their 
respective  representatives  in  the  congressional  halls. 

The  whigs  contended  that  the  welfare  and  prosperity  of  the  nation  de 
pended  on  a  national  bank,  a  protective  tariff,  and  an  extensive  and 
liberal  system  of  internal  improvements  instituted  by  the  national  or 
general  government. 

The  president,  the  cabinet,  and  democratic  party  opposed  these 
leading  measures  of  the  whigs,  and  the  contest  was  ardent  and  discus 
sions  able  and  protracted  on  both  sides. 

He  was  a  strong  and  faithful  supporter  of  Jackson's  administration, 
and  though  not  a  fluent  speaker,  did  much  by  steadfast,  unyielding  at 
tachment  to  the  cause  he  had  espoused.  He  uniformly  sustained  the 
president  in  his  bold  measures  of  the  removal  of  the  deposits  of  the 
public  funds  from  the  United  States  Bank,  his  veto  of  the  bill  to  re- 


JOSEPH  M.  HARPER,  OF  NEW-HAMPSHIRE.  61 

charter  the  same,  his  proclamation  in  relation  to  South  Carolina  nulli 
fication,  and  others  of  like  character;  for  which  marked  and  decided 
course  he  received  much  vituperation  from  the  whig  party. 

For  the  two  last  years  of  his  term,  he  was  on  the  committee  of  com 
merce,  and  during  the  last  session  acted  as  chairman  a  large  portion  of 
the  time. 

He  was  always  in  his  seat  in  the  house,  and  always  present  at  the 
meetings  of  the  committees,  discharging  duty  with  promptness  and 
fidelity. 

He  closed  his  congressional  career  in  March,  1835,  and  with  it  his 
political  life,  as  to  any  public  office  or  station ;  yet  he  has  not  been  an 
indifferent  spectator  of  what  relates  to  his  country's  prosperity.  He  is 
still  a  warm  supporter  of  the  republican  cause,  and  feels  a  lively  in 
terest  in  the  universal  emancipation  of  the  whole  human  family  from 
tyranny  and  oppression.  He  is,  and  ever  has  been,  an  uncompromising 
advocate  for  universal  suffrage  in  politics,  and  universal  toleration  in 
religious  faith;  believing  that  that  faith  cannot  be  materially  wrong 
which  produces  good  effects. 

He  experienced  religion  October  5th,  1810  ;  was  baptized  by  immer 
sion,  and  united  with  the  F.  W.  Baptist  Church  in  Canterbury,  of  which 
he  still  continues  a  useful  and  honorable  member.  In  April,  1838,  he 
was  ordained  an  elder  to  take  the  lead  in  meetings  of  public  worship, 
and  administer  the  ordinances.  For  several  years,  the  church  being 
destitute  of  a  pastor,  he  officiated  in  that  capacity,  yet  never  considered 
himself  called  to  relinquish  all  other  business  and  devote  himself  en 
tirely  to  the  ministry.  He,  notwithstanding,  possessed  a  gift  of  exhor 
tation  and  teaching  which  proved  salutary  in  the  church,  and  tended 
much  toward  its  prosperity  and  enlargement. 

On  leaving  public  life,  he  retired  to  his  farm  in  Canterbury,  where  he 
still  resides,  not  as  an  idler  or  drone  in  society,  but  is  still  recognized 
as  an  industrious,  persevering,  energetic  man,  constantly  employed 
either  on  his  farm  or  in  transacting  business  for  his  friends  and  neigh 
bors,  in  the  capacity  of  agent,  trustee,  referee,  attorney,  &c.,  &c. 

He  is  and  has  been  president  of  the  Mechanics'  Bank,  in  Concord, 
for  many  years ;  also  one  of  the  directors  of  a  savings'  bank  in  that  city, 
and  president  of  an  insurance  company  in  Canterbury. 

By  industry  and  economy  he  has  accumulated  a  sufficiency  of  this 
world's  goods  to  place  him  in  easy  circumstances  for  the  remainder  of 
life.  He  still  resides  on  his  farm  in  Canterbury,  in  the  enjoyment 
of  good  health,  with  the  exception  of  a  slight  rheumatic  affection,  and 
hopes  for  a  better  inheritance  beyond  the  grave. 


62  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

AARON  V.  BROWN, 

LATE  GOVERNOR  OF  TENNESSEE. 

AARON  V.  BROWN,  late  Governor  of  Tennessee,  was  born  on  the  15th 
of  August,  1795,  in  the  county  of  Brunswick,  Virginia.  His  father, 
the  Rev.  Aaron  Brown,  enlisted,  when  not  yet  of  lawful  age,  f>r  three 
years  in  the  Revolutionary  army.  He  was  in  the  battle  of  Trenton, 
and  participated  in  that  ever-memorable  march  through  the  Jerseys, 
where  the  course  of  the  American  army  was  known  to  the  enemy  by 
the  blood  of  its  bare-footed  soldiery.  He  was  also  one  of  the  sufferers 
in  the  encampment,  at  Valley  Forge,  during  the  severe  winter  of  1777-8, 
where  disease,  and  famine,  and  nakedness,  so  often  drew  tears  from  the 
illustrious  Washington.  At  the  close  of  his  term  of  service,  he  returned 
to  the  county  of  Brunswick,  where  he  continued  to  reside  for  nearly 
forty  years  in  the  midst  of  those  who  had  witnessed  his  early  and  pa 
triotic  career,  respected  and  beloved  by  all  as  a  faithful  and  useful  min 
ister  of  the  gospel,  of  the  Methodist  persuasion  ;  an  upright  civil 
magistrate,  a  staunch  republican  of  the  old  Jefferson  school,  and  an 
honest  man.  The  subject  of  this  memoir  was  the  issue  of  his  second 
marriage,  with  Elizabeth  Melton,  (corrupted  from  Milton,)  of  Northamp 
ton  county,  in  the  State  of  North  Carolina. 

Except  in  the  simplest  elements,  Gov.  Brown  was  educated  in  the 
last-mentioned  state.  He  was  sent  when  very  young  to  Westrayville 
Academy,  in  the  county  of  Nash,  in  order  to  be  placed  under  the  care 
of  Mr.  John  Bobbitt,  one  of  the  best  scholars  and  teachers  of  the  time. 
After  continuing  here  for  two  years,  he  was  transferred,  in  the  year  1 812, 
to  the  University  of  North  Carolina,  at  Chapel  Hill.  He  graduated  in 
this  institution,  in  1814,  in  a  large  class,  of  which  Senator  Mangum  and 
ex-Governor  Manley,  of  North  Carolina,  were  also  members.  The  duty 
was  assigned  to  him  by  the  faculty,  and  confirmed  by  the  trustees,  of 
delivering  the  valedictory  oration  on  commencement  day,  and  the  ser 
vice  was  performed  in  a  manner  which  produced  the  most  striking  im 
pression  on  the  large  assembly  then  in  attendance.  The  collegiate 
career  of  but  few  young  men  is  marked  by  incidents  of  sufficient  im 
portance  to  be  recited  in  a  notice  like  this.  Industry  in  preparing  for 
and  punctuality  in  attending  at  the  hour  of  recitation,  as  well  as  the 
most  cheerful  conformity  to  the  rules  of  the  institution,  were  the  most 
striking  characteristics  of  his  educational  course. 

Having  finished  his  educational  course.  Gov.  Brown  returned  to  his 
parents,  who,  in  the  previous  year,  had  removed  to  the  county  of  Giles; 
in  the  State  of  Tennessee.  About  the  beginning  of  the  year  1815,  he 
commenced  the  study  of  law  in  the  office  of  the  late  Judge  Trimble, 
in  the  town  of  Nashville.  With  this  gentleman  he  continued  to  read 
for  two  years,  and  now  often  refers  to  him  as  one  of  the  most  systema 
tic,  able  and  upright  men  he  ever  knew.  Having  obtained  a  license,  he 
opened  an  office  in  Nashville,  and  commenced  practice  in  that  city 
with  the  most  flattering  prospects  of  success.  About  this  time,  how- 


AARON  V.  BROWN,  OF  TENNESSEE.  63 

ever,  Alfred  M.  Harris,  who  was  engaged  in  a  very  extensive  practice 
in  nearly  all  the  southern  counties  of  Middle  Tennessee,  accepted  a 
place  on  the  bench,  and  solicited  Gov.  Brown  to  remove  to  the  county 
of  Giles  and  close  up  his  extensive  business  for  him.  The  opportunity 
was  inviting,  and  that  being  the  residence  of  his  now  aged  parents,  he 
determined  to  settle  in  that  county.  Taking  charge  at  once  of  an  ex 
tensive  practice,  both  civil  and  criminal,  including  the  land  litigation, 
then  an  important  and  almost  distinctive  branch  of  the  profession,  Gov. 
Brown  found  all  the  resources  of  his  mind  brought  into  immediate  re 
quisition.  No  time  was  to  be  lost  in  idleness — none  to  be  devoted  to 
pleasure.  We  remember  that  one  of  his  maxims  about  this  period 
was,  "  Always  to  be  first  at  court,  and  never  to  leave  it  until  the  ad 
journing  order  was  made."  Under  such  habits  it  was  no  matter  of  sur 
prise  to  those  who  observed  them,  that  there  were  but  few  causes  of 
importance  in  the  counties  in  which  he  practised,  in  which  he  was  not 
engaged. 

In  a  few  years  after  Gov.  Brown  commenced  his  career  in  Giles,  the 
late  President  Polk  commenced  his  in  Columbia,  in  the  adjoining 
county  of  Maury.  They  soon  formed  a  partnership  in  their  profes 
sion,  thereby  extending  the  field  of  their  professional  labors  into  more 
counties  than  they  could  have  done  without  that  arrangement.  This 
partnership  continued  for  several  years,  and  until  Mr.  Polk  engaged 
in  his  congressional  career.  Its  dissolution  brought  no  termination  to 
that  cordial  friendship,  personal  and  political,  in  which  it  had  com 
menced,  and  which  continued  unabated  until  the  death  of  the  late 
lamented  president.  Gov.  Brown  continued  engaged  in  his  profession 
until  the  year  1839,  when,  having  been  elected  to  Congress,  he  gave  it 
up  altogether.  Much  of  the  time  in  which  he  was  in  regular  and  full 
practice  he  was  also  a  member  of  one  branch  or  the  other  of  the  state 
legislature.  This  service  being  near  home,  and  the  counties  he  repre 
sented  being  those  in  which  he  practised,  produced  no  material  impedi 
ment  to  the  progress  of  his  professional  business.  But  the  case  was 
different  in  the  distant  service  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States. 

Gov.  Brown  served  as  a  senator,  from  the  counties  of  Lincoln  and 
Giles,  at  all  the  sessions  of  the  legislature,  regular  and  called,  from  1821 
to  1827,  inclusive,  except  the  session  of  1825,  when  he  was  not  a  candi 
date.  In  the  session  of  1831  and  1832,  he  was  the  representative  of 
the  county  of  Giles  in  the  other  branch  of  the  general  assembly.  His 
course  was  distinguished  at  all  times,  as  a  legislator  for  the  state,  for  his 
determination  to  sustain  an  independent  and  able  judiciary,  and  to  build 
up  an  enlightened,  liberal,  and  impartial  system  of  jurisprudence  in  the 
state ;  and,  we  hazard  nothing  in  saying,  that,  in  searching  through  the 
statutes,  one  will  find  more  laws  of  a  general  and  permanent  nature 
which  emanated  from  him  than  from  any  one  of  the  other  public  men 
of  the  state.  He  was  longer  in  that  service,  and,  by  professional  ex 
perience,  may  be  presumed  to  have  understood  the  defects  of  existing 
laws,  and  how  to  remedy  them.  Throughout  his  service  in  the  legis 
lature  he  evinced  a  strong  disposition  to  diminish  the  number  of  offences 
which  should  be  capitally  punished.  He  did  not  propose  or  wish  to 
abolish  such  punishments  altogether,  but  only  to  reduce  and  limit  them 


64  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

down  to  the  smallest  possible  number  of  cases,  consistent  with  the 
necessary  self-defence  of  society  against  the  aggressions  of  the  lawless 
and  abandoned.  At  the  session  of  1831-32,  by  the  order  of  the  judici 
ary  committee,  he  prepared  an  elaborate  and  able  report,  which  he 
submitted  to  the  house,  on  the  subject  of  capital  punishments,  which 
attracted  great  attention  throughout  the  Union. 

Gov.  Brown  first  became  a  candidate  for  Congress  in  1839.  At  two 
former  elections  the  whigs  had  carried  his  district  by  majorities  rang 
ing  from  eleven  to  twelve  hundred  votes.  His  competitor,  the  Hon. 
E.  J.  Shields,  had  served  in  the  two  preceding  Congresses.  He  was  a 
gentleman  of  fine  talents,  and  one  of  the  most  plausible  and  handsome 
debaters  of  his  party.  When  the  election  came  off,  however,  Gov. 
Brown  was  found  not  only  to  have  overcome  the  large  party  majority 
against  him,  but  to  have  overcome  it  by  the  immense  majority  of  six 
teen  hundred  and  one  votes.  He  was  re-elected  for  the  called  session 
of  Congress  in  1841,  without  having  any  opposition.  In  1843,  the  con 
gressional  district  was  altered  so  as  greatly  to  diminish  the  democratic 
majority  by  which  Gov.  Brown  had  been  usually  elected  in  the  old  dis 
trict.  This  induced  hopes  that  he  might  possibly  be  beaten  in  the  new 
one,  and  all  the  regular  steps  were  taken  to  present  a  competitor  in 
the  person  of  the  Hon.  N.  S.  Brown,  now  minister  to  Russia.  The 
result,  however,  demonstrated  that  the  democracy  of  the  new  district, 
although  not  in  so  large  a  majority  as  in  the  old  one,  was  nevertheless 
equally  invincible. 

During  the  period  of  his  congressional  service,  beginning  in  1839 
and  ending  in  1845,  Gov.  Brown  seems  to  have  been  an  active  mem 
ber,  taking  a  part  in  nearly  all  the  great  questions  which  came  up  dur 
ing  that  eventful  portion  of  our  political  history. 

In  May,  1840,  he  delivered  a  speech  in  reply  to  Mr.  Bell,  on  the  bill 
introduced  by  that  gentleman,  "  to  secure  the  freedom  of  elections." 
He  also  made  a  speech  on  the  celebrated  New-Jersey  case,  having  been 
a  member  of  the  committee  which  reported  on  the  same.  His  speech 
on  the  burning  of  the  Caroline,  to  be  found  in  the  Congressional  Globe 
and  appendix  of  1841,  was  listened  to  by  the  house  with  profound  at 
tention  and  emotion,  and  is  regarded  by  his  friends  as  one  of  his  ablest 
efforts  in  Congress.  He  was  a  member  of  the  committee  which  framed 
the  tariff  of  1842,  and  united  with  the  minority  in  presenting  an  able 
and  conclusive  report  against  the  principles  and  details  of  that  measure. 
When  the  bill  came  up  for  discussion,  Gov.  Brown  made  a  clear  and 
powerful  argument  against  it,  opening  the  debate  on  the  democratic 
side  of  the  house.  On  the  4th  of  August,  1841,  he  delivered  a  speech 
against  the  fiscal  bank  bill,  which  occupied  so  large  a  portion  of  pub 
lic  solicitude  at  that  time.  He  made  speeches  in  1844  on  the  remis 
sion  of  the  fine  imposed  on  Gen.  Jackson  at  New-Orleans,  and  against 
receiving  and  reporting  on  abolition  petitions ;  also,  on  the  right  of 
members  elected  by  general  ticket  to  their  seats. 

It  was  in  December,  1844,  that  Gov.  Brown  found  it  necessary  to 
reply  to  sundry  speeches  of  Mr.  Adams,  made  in  Massachusetts,  in  re 
lation  to  the  negotiation  of  the  Florida  treaty.  That  reply  having  a 
direct  reference  to  incidents  occurring  in  the  congressional  career  of 


AARON  V.  BROWN,  OF  TENNESSEE.  65 

Gov.. Brown,  may  be  seen  in  the  Daily  Globe  of  December  14,  1844. 
A  reply  to  Mr.  Adams,  on  the  Oregon  bill,  may  be  seen  in  the  "Consti 
tution"  of  January  29, 1845,  and  also  a  reply  to  another  speech  of  Mr. 
Adams  may  be  seen  in  the  National  Intelligencer  of  February  3,  1845. 

On  the  12th  March,  1844,  Gov.  Brown,  as  chairman  of  the  commit 
tee  on  territories,  reported  a  bill  to  extend  the  civil  and  criminal  juris 
diction  of  the  several  courts  of  the  territory  of  Iowa  over  the  territory 
of  Oregon,  and  for  other  purposes.  At  the  next  session  he  reported 
another  bill,  organizing  a  territorial  government  for  Oregon,  which 
passed  the  house  by  a  large  majority,  but  was  lost  in  the  senate. 

Governor  Brown's  service  in  Congress  ended  with  the  commence 
ment  of  President  Folk's  administration.  He  declined  any  office 
under  the  administration,  and  determined  to  return  home  and  devote 
himself  to  the  education  of  his  children  and  the  management  of  his  own 
private  affairs.  Before  he  reached  home,  however,  he  was  nominated 
by  the  democratic  party  as  its  candidate  for  governor.  He  met  the 
news  of  this  nomination  at  Pittsburg,  and  hesitated  many  days  whether 
he  would  accept  it  or  not.  It  conflicted  with  all  his  purposes  to  retire 
to  private  life  to  accept  it,  and  opened  a  wide  field  of  labor  with  but 
little  prospect  of  success.  Mr.  Polk  had  failed  twice  for  the  same 
office,  and  could  not  carry  the  state  in  his  presidential  race,  under 
all  the  zeal  and  excitement  which  it  created.  Besides  this,  Mr.  Polk, 
in  organizing  his  administration,  and  selecting  his  friends  for  different 
offices,  had  withdrawn  from  the  state  some  of-  the  most  influential  and 
powerful  members  of  the  party.  He  himself  was  gone,  Hon.  Cave 
Johnson  was  gone,  General  Robert  Armstrong  was  gone,  and  several 
others  whose  weight  had  been  always  felt  in  state  elections.  Dis 
couraging,  however,  as  were  the  prospects,  he  finally  determined  to 
take  the  field  against  Colonel  Foster,  a  late  senator,  and  one  of  the 
most  popular  and  able  men  of  the  whig  party.  The  discussions  of  the 
canvass  turned  chiefly  on  the  tariff,  the  Texas  and  the  Oregon  questions. 

In  this  canvass  Gov.  Brown  was  elected  by  a  majority  of  1,500  or 
1,600;  but  in  that  of  1847,  he  was  defeated  by  about  half  that  number. 
For  the  last  twelve  years  parties  have  been  so  nearly  balanced  in  Ten 
nessee  that  they  have  carried  the  state  alternately  against  each  other. 
The  one  last  defeated  brings  to  the  polls  at  the  next  election  a  little 
more  zeal  and  determination  to  retrieve  their  last  misfortune,  and  are 
therefore  very  apt  to  prove  triumphant. 

In  the  next  year,  1848,  Gov.  Brown  was  a  candidate  for  elector  for 
the  state  at  large,  and  canvassed  it  with  great  vigor,  sustaining  and 
even  surpassing  the  reputation  which  he  had  previously  acquired. 

In  1850,  he  was  a  member  of  the  Southern  Convention  held  at  Nash 
ville.  He  concurred  fully  in  the  resolutions  passed  at  the  first  session 
of  that  body,  but  dissented  from  and  protested  against  the  address.  At 
the  second  session  of  that  body  in  November  following,  Gov.  Brown 
dissented  altogether  from  the  report  submitted  by  the  committee  on 
resolutions;  and,  to  exhibit  his  own  views  and  those  of  the  democracy 
of  the  state,  prepared  what  was  called  and  known  as  the  Tennessee 
Platform,  which,  after  being  submitted  to  the  delegation  of  the  state 
and  being  approved  by  them,  was  by  their  order  submitted  by  General 

5 


66  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

Pillow  to  the  convention.  His  whole  course  at  both  sessions  was  emi 
nently  conservative.  At  neither  session,  and  at  no  stage  of  the  slavery- 
agitation,  would  he  hear  or  think  of  a  dissolution  of  the  Union.  He 
considered  secession  or  a  dissolution  of  the  Union  as  no  remedy  for 
alleged  grievances.  His  favorite  remedy  against  the  whole  series  of 
aggressions  was  retaliation,  as  set  forth  in  the  Tennessee  Platform. 
This  he  believed  would  soon  exhibit  to  the  North  a  greater  power  to 
injure  them  than  they  have  had  to  injure  the  South ;  and  that,  upon  the 
simple  principle  of  self-interest,  both  sections  would  presently  cease 
the  profitless  controversy. 

The  last  public  station  which  Gov.  Brown  has  occupied  was  that  of  a 
delegate  from  the  state  at  large  in  the  late  Baltimore  convention.  He 
introduced  a  very  important  resolution  into  that  body,  raising  a  com 
mittee  of  one  from  each  state,  to  be  appointed  by  the  delegates  from 
each  state,  to  whom  all  resolutions  relative  to  the  principles  or  platform 
of  the  democratic  party  should  be  referred  without  debate.  The  im 
portance  of  such  a  reference,  without  debate,  was  instantly  peiceived, 
and  the  resolution  was  adopted.  He  was  unanimously  appointed  the 
chairman,  and  subsequently  reported  the  platform,  which  has  given  such 
general  satisfaction  to  his  party  in  every  portion  of  the  United  States. 
Gov.  Brown  has  reason  to  be  proud  of  the  concurrence  of  his  party  in 
the  platforms  which,  at  different  times,  he  has  prepared  for  them.  He 
was  the  author  of  the  Tennessee  platform  in  the  Southern  Convention. 
He  prepared  and  presented  the  platform  which  was  unanimously  sanc 
tioned  in  the  convention  at  Nashville,  on  which  the  last  gubernatorial 
battle  was  fought  in  Tennessee  ;  and  that  he  had  the  honor  assigned  to 
him  of  reporting  the  national  platform  of  democratic  principles  at  the 
late  convention  was  highly  gratifying  to  his  numerous  friends. 


JOSIAH  BPJGHAM,  ESQ., 

OF  QUINCY,  MASSACHUSETTS,  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  QUINCY  STONE  BANK. 

FROM  the  town  which  has  been  rendered  illustrious  as  the  birth-place 
and  residence  of  two  presidents  of  the  United  States,  the  Adamses, 
father  and  son,  and  of  John  Hancock,  and  Josiah  Quincy,  the  patriot, 
we  present  the  subject  of  the  following  sketch.  Mr.  Brigham,  for  his 
fidelity  and  success  in  commercial  pursuits,  and  in  other  trusts,  through 
nearly  half  a  century,  is  entitled  to  a  notice  in  these  pages. 

We  find  early  mention  of  the  family  in  England.  Nicholas  Brigham, 
it  appears,  who  died  in  1559,  was  a  native  of  Oxfordshire ;  educated  at 
Harthall  and  at  one  of  the  Inns  of  Court.  He  was  eminent  not  only 
as  a  lawyer  but  as  a  poet  and  an  author,  and  was  so  partial  to  Chaucer 
that  he  removed  his  remains  to  the  south  transept  of  Westminster 
Abbey,  where  he  erected  a  monument  to  his  fame. 

Thomas  Brigham,  supposed  to  be  the  progenitor  of  all  the  Brighams 
in  this  country,  came  from  England  at  the  age  of  thirty,  with  his  wife, 
(Mercie  Herd,)  to  Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  about  1634.  It  ap- 


JOSIAH  BRIGHAM,  OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  67 

pears  that  he  was  made  freeman  in  1637.  One  son,  Thomas,  accom 
panied  him.  Two  others  were  born  at  Cambridge — John,  March  9, 
1644,  and  Samuel  in  1652.  The  father  died  there,  January  8,  1653. 
The  widow  and  her  children  next  appear  in  Sudbury,  where  she  married 
Edmund  Rice,  March  1,  1655.  They  removed  to  Maryborough,  where 
he  died,  May  1663.  His  widow  then  married  William  Hunt,  in 
1664.  He  died  in  Marlborough,  October,  1667  ;  and  she  (his  widow) 
died  December  23,  1693. 

Thomas,  the  elder  of  three  brothers,  "  married  Mary,  his  wife,"  so 
runs  the  record,  December  27,  1665.  They  had  three  sons,  Nathan, 
David,  and  Silas.  David  married  Mary  Newton,  and  by  her  had  one 
daughter  and  two  sons,  Jonas,  born  1716,  and  Levi,  born  1717.  Levi 
(Col.)  married  Susanna  Grout,  of  Watertown,  June  6,  1745.  They 
were  the  grand-parents  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch.  He  died  in  1787, 
aged  70,  and  his  widow  in  1816,  aged  96  years. 

They  had  eight  children.  Levi,  born  1746,  settled  in  Fitzwilliam, 
New-Hampshire.  Joseph,  born  1747,  who  was  suddenly  killed  by  a 
fall,  1760.  Elijah,  born  1750,  graduated  at  Dartmouth  College,  1778, 
and  engaged  in  trade  at  Westborough  with  Breck  Parkman.  He  was 
afterwards  appointed  one  of  the  judges  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas 
in  Massachusetts.  He  was  for  several  years  representative  in  Con 
gress  ;  and,  while  a  member  of  the  house,  died  suddenly  at  Washing 
ton  from  an  affection  of  the  croup,  February  22,  1816,  aged  66.  Josiah, 
born  1753,  physician  in  Westborough,  and  died  1788.  Susanna,  born 
1754,  wife  to  Breck  Parkman.  Winslow,  the  father  of  the  subject  of 
this  notice,  was  born  at  Northborough,  1756,  and  died  there,  Septem 
ber  4,  1837,  aged  81  years.  His  widow,  a  worthy  and  much  esteemed 
woman,  died  there  February  7,  1847.  at  the  age  of  90.  Mindwell, 
born  1760  and  died  1784,  and  Anna,  born  1763  and  died  1790,  com 
plete  the  list. 

Winslow,  the  sixth  child,  married  Alice  Gushing,  daughter  of  the  late 
Colonel  Job  Gushing,  of  Shrewsbury.  Their  children,  who  lived  to  grow 
up,  were  Nathaniel,  Alice,  Josiah,  Lucy,  Gushing,  Nancy,  Emery, 
Mindwell,  Lydia,  and  Winslow.  Three  others  died  in  infancy. 

Josiah,  the  fourth  son,  and  subject  of  this  memoir,  was  born  at  North- 
borough,  Massachusetts,  September  1,  1788.  His  father  was  a  farmer, 
and  owned  and  occupied  one  of  the  pleasantest  and  most  valuable 
estates  in  the  town,  on  which  he  had  spent  the  whole  period  of  his  life, 
with  the  exception  of  one  year  of  service  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution. 
The  same  estate  had  been  owned  and  occupied  by  his  father,  Colonel 
Levi  Brigham,  also  by  his  grandfather,  David  Brigham,  and  also  by  his 
great-grandfather,  Thomas  Brigham,  son  of  the  first  Thomas  who  came 
to  this  country,  as  above  stated.  He,  the  second  Thomas,  about  the 
year  1665,  took  up  as  common  land,  and  settled  upon  said  estate,  to 
gether  with  other  lands  adjoining  the  same,  comprising  about  500  acres, 
which  now  compose  several  other  separate  estates,  and  all  which,  for 
many  years,  were  owned  by  the  Brighams,  one  of  which  is  that  large 
and  beautiful  farm  in  Weetborough,  now  owned  by  the  state,  on  which 
is  located  the  State  Reform  School  for  boys.  The  Brigham  estate  is 
situated  in  front  of  Little  Chauncy  Pond,  on  the  southerly  line,  between 
Northborough  and  Westborough,  adjoining  said  state  farm.  Nathaniel 


68  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

an  elder  brother  of  the  subject  of  this  memoir,  now  owns  the  said  estate. 
It  has  thus  been  owned  and  occupied  by  the  family  for  nearly  two 
hundred  years,  and  through  five  successive  generations.  The  other 
estates  have  all  passed  out  of  the  names. 

Josiah  remained  at  home  till  he  was  21  years  of  age,  enjoying  the 
care  of  virtuous  and  pious  parents.  The  advantages  for  general  edu 
cation  afforded  the  young  at  that  period  were  comparatively  limited, 
and  were  confined  to  a  few  months'  instruction  each  year  in  the  district 
schools.  Agriculture  was  a  favorite  pursuit  with  his  father,  but  for 
this  Josiah  had  little  fancy.  Knowing  that  he  must  depend  upon  his 
own  exertions  for  support,  he  concluded  to  fit  himself  for  teaching 
school,  and  for  this  purpose  was  entered  a  pupil  at  Leicester  Academy. 
In  the  winter  of  1899-10,  he  was  engaged  as  teacher  in  one  of  the  public 
schools  in  East  Sudbury.  The  same  school  he  taught  the  succeeding 
winter.  In  April  1811,  he  removed  to  Quincy,  where  he  has  ever  since 
resided.  He  went  there  as  teacher  in  the  only  annual  public  school 
then  in  town,  and  continued  in  the  same  school  three  successive  years. 
In  this  important  and  responsible  office  he  was  very  successful,  having 
qualities  which  won  for  him  alike  the  confidence  of  parents,  and  the  re 
spect  and  good-will  of  his  pupils.  From  boyhood  he  had  been  inclined 
to  mercantile  pursuits,  and  he  accordingly  relinquished  the  office  of 
school-teacher  in  the  spring  of  1814,  and  engaged  in  trade  at  Quincy. 
Here,  for  nearly  forty  years,  he  has  been  thus  employed — the  upright 
and  successful  merchant.  He  married,  November  23,  1814,  Miss  Eliza 
beth,  daughter  of  Mr  John  Fiske  of  Northborough.  Mr  Fiske  died, 
March  26,  1837,  aged  76.  His  wife,  the  daughter  of  the  Rev. 
Abner  Ballou,  a  baptist  clergyman  of  Cumberland,  Rhode  Island,  died 
January  3,  1819,  aged  57  years. 

They  had  five  children,  James  Ballou,  Nathan,  Elizabeth,  John,  and 
Horace  S.  Mrs.  Brigham,  the  only  daughter,  is  a  very  worthy  lady, 
of  strong  mind,  but  of  slender  constitution.  She  is  most  faithful  and 
devoted  in  all  domestic  concerns,  industrious  and  energetic ;  and  it  may 
with  truth  be  said  of  her,  that  "  she  looketh  well  to  the  ways  of  her 
household,  and  eateth  not  the  bread  of  idleness." 

Mr.  Brigham  has  two  children,  Abigail  Fiske,  born  December,  30, 
1816,  and  Elizabeth  Ann,  born  April  2,  1820.  The  former  married, 
November  10,  1842,  James  A.  Stetson,  M.  D.,  of  Quincy  ;  and  the 
latter  married,  November  4,  1840,  Charles  F.  Baxter,  merchant,  of  the 
firm  of  W.  &  S.  Phipps  &  Co.,  Boston. 

Thus  happy  in  his  domestic  relations,  Mr.  Brigham  has  enjoyed  the 
uninterrupted  confidence  of  the  community  in  which  he  has  resided.  In 
August,  1814,  he  became  associated  with  the  Quincy  Light  Infantry,  an 
ancient  and  respectable  military  company,  then  under  the  command  of 
Captain  Thomas  Tirrell.  This  company  was  drafted  into  the  service  of 
the  country  in  the  war  of  1812  with  Great  Britain,  and  was  ordered  to 
Boston  on  the  12th  of  September,  1814.  It  was  encamped  at  South 
Boston  with  the  troops  there  stationed  under  the  command  of  General 
Maltby.  Mr.  Brigham  was  with  the  company  through  this  service ; 
and  in  1823,  having  previously  filled  every  subordinate  office  in  the 
same,  he  was  elected  its  commander.  It  was  one  of  the  best  disciplined 
companies  in  the  state.  In  the  year  1826,  Mr.  Brigham  was  chosen 


THOMAS  NELSON,  OF  OREGON.  69 

lieutenant-colonel  of  the  third  regiment  of  the  first  brigade  in  the  first 
division  of  the  Massachusetts  Militia;  but  having  been  several  years  in 
the  service,  he  saw  fit  to  decline  the  honor. 

By  diligence,  and  fidelity,  and  unswerving  integrity,  Mr.  Brigham 
has  enjoyed  the  confidence  of  those  with  whom  he  has  had  intercourse 
and  dealings.  The  esteem  of  his  fellow-citizens  has  been  manifested  in 
their  selection  of  him  to  fill  the  various  offices  of  honor  and  trust  in  the 
town,  and  in  the  parish  with  which  he  is  connected,  as  clerk,  assessor, 
treasurer,  member  and  chairman  of  the  General  School  Committee. 
He  has  been  for  many  years  trustee  or  director  in  several  moneyed 
institutions,  clerk  and  treasurer  of  the  Quincy  Canal  Corporation 
from  its  first  organization  in  1825  to  the  present  time,  and  is  at 
this  time  trustee  and  president  of  the  Board  of  Investment  of 
the  Quincy  Savings'  Bank,  and  president  of  the  Quincy  Stone  Bank. 
The  commission  of  justice  of  the  peace  he  first  received  from  Gov 
ernor  Everett.  Possessed  of  excellent  judgment,  he  has  never  en 
gaged  in  hazardous  speculations,  but  confined  himself  principally  to 
the  legitimate  operations  of  his  vocation.  For  more  than  twenty 
years,  Israel  W.  Munroe,  a  worthy,  upright,  and  efficient  gentleman, 
has  been  associated  with  him  as  partner  in  trade.  By  personal  appli 
cation  to  business,  by  perseverance,  and  economy,  and  unsullied  honor, 
he  has  acquired  for  the  evening  of  his  life  a  competent  estate.  Amidst 
the  cares  and  responsibilities  of  commercial  and  civil  life,  he  has  not 
been  unmindful  of  his  religious  obligations.  He  is  never  absent,  fore 
noon  or  afternoon,  from  the  stated  worship  of  the  Sabbath,  and  both 
he  and  his  lady  are  found  at  the  communion-table  of  Christ.  His 
regular  and  temperate  habits  through  life  have  secured  for  him  general 
health  and  vigor  of  constitution.  In  social  intercourse  he  is  frank  and 
affable.  In  manners,  he  well  illustrates  the  Christian  gentleman. 
Through  life  he  has  given  the  constant  weight  of  his  example  to  the 
cause  of  good  order,  of  sound  morals,  of  virtue  and  piety  in  the  com 
munity.  We  take  pleasure  in  presenting  his  upright  and  successful 
career  to  the  young  men  of  our  country  seeking  the  paths  either  of  mer 
cantile  or  official  trusts  and  preferment.  While  encouraging  them  in 
the  honorable  pursuit  of  wealth  and  outward  reputation,  so  will  it 
especially  teach  them  of  the  only  secure  basis  on  which  outward  repu 
tation  and  success  can  rest — a  character  strong  in  integrity  and  in  that 
fear  of  the  Lord  which  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom. 


THOMAS  NELSON, 


WAS  born  at  Peekskill,  in  Westchester  County,  New- York,  on  the  23d 
of  January,  1819,  and  is,  of  course,  now  in  the  thirty-fourth  year  of  his 
age.  He  is  the  third  son  of  the  Honorable  William  Nelson,  late  a  re 
presentative  in  Congress  from  the  Eighth  Congressional  District  of  New- 
York — a  gentleman  whose  earnest  and  successful  devotion  to  the  labo- 


70  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

rious  profession  of  law  in  early  life,  and  practical  wisdom  as  a  politician 
and  statesman,  as  well  as  his  virtues  as  a  man  of  principle,  have  won 
him  the  suffrages  and  respect  of  a  large  majority  of  his  fellow-citizens, 
who  have  several  times  testified  by  popular  vote  their  confidence  in  his 
principles,  public  spirit,  and  private  worth. 

As  a  youth,  and  during  the  earlier  years  of  boyhood,  young  Nelson 
was  the  subject  of  those  wholesome  family  influences  which  give  the 
rjght  direction  to  moral  character ;  and  to  early  parental  precept  and 
example  may,  doubtless,  be  traced,  in  a  large  measure,  the  germs  of 
that  honorable  and  manly  ambition  which  now  distinguishes  Judge 
Nelson  as  a  public  man. 

Mr.  Nelson  graduated  at  Williams  College,  in  1836,  at  the  early  age  of 
seventeen  ;  and  although  it  has  always  been  with  him  a  matter  of  regret 
since  that  he  entered  college  so  young,  yet  he  distinguished  himself  as 
a  scholar,  and  graduated  honorably  as  a  boy  of  great  promise,  for  he  was 
tiien  but  a  boy.  It  was,  therefore,  thought  advisable,  before  entering 
on  his  clerkship  as  a  student  at  law,  that  he  should  continue  the  scien 
tific  and  literary  habits  he  had  formed  in  college  by  prosecuting  his 
studies  for  some  time  longer  in  the  city  of  New- York.  He  there  chose 
his  residence  in  the  family  of  a  French  gentleman,  a  professor  of  the 
French  language  and  literature,  that  he  might  have  the  opportunity  of 
acquiring  not  only  a  thorough  theoretic  knowledge  of  that  language,  but 
a  correct  idiomatic  use  of  it,  while  at  the  same  time  he  attended,  as  an 
amateur,  a  regular  course  of  lectures  at  the  Medical  College  in  that  city, 
giving  his  attention  chiefly,  however,  to  the  study  of  anatomy  and 
physiology. 

A  love  of  general  knowledge,  and  a  desire  for  liberal  and  elegant 
culture,  have  always  been  marked  characteristics  of  Mr.  Nelson's  mind, 
and  given  scope  to  his  general  reading  and  studies ;  for  though  a  successful 
student  and  practitioner  of  law,  and  not  undistinguished  at  the  bar,  he 
is  still  more  remarkable  as  a  general  scholar,  having  a  full,  ready,  and 
well-furnished  mind,  to  which  refined  culture  has  added  the  grace  of  a 
polished  literary  and  cesthetic  taste. 

Having  completed  this  course  of  medical  lectures,  he  entered  his 
father's  office  as  a  student  at  law,  where  he  continued  until  he  was  of 
age,  when  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  New- 
York  ;  and,  in  due  time,  he  was  also  admitted  as  a  counselor  of  the 
same  court,  a  solicitor  and  counselor  of  the  Court  of  Chancery  of  that 
state,  and  an  attorney  and  counselor  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States. 

After  Mr.  Nelson  had  finished  his  professional  studies,  and  before  en 
tering  on  the  practice  of  the  law,  he  expressed  a  strong  desire  to  visit 
the  old  world.  He  had  in  this  a  twofold  purpose :  one  was  to  in 
crease  his  general  health  by  travel ;  and  the  other,  to  gain  that  knowl 
edge  of  men  and  things  which  books  cannot  give.  In  this  wish  his 
family  and  friends  very  readily  acquiesced.  And  Mr.  Nelson  accord 
ingly  spent  the  greater  part  of  the  year  1842  in  England  and  Conti 
nental  Europe,  making  himself  familiar  with  every  thing  during  his 
travels  which  he  thought  would  be  most  useful  to  him,  as  a  well-read 
and  well-informed  man. 

This  tour  not  only  afforded  him  opportunity  for  personal  observation 


THOMAS   NELSON,  OF  OREGON".  71 

on  the  present  condition  of  European  society  and  institutions,  but  it 
gratified  and  strengthened  that  taste  for  classic  scenes  and  reminiscences 
with  which  his  academic  and  collegiate  studies  had  early  inspired  him. 
As  a  scholar,  however,  Mr.  Nelson's  knowledge  is  by  no  means  limited 
to  the  acquirements  of  a  college  class-room.  He  has  made  himself,  in 
the  broad  sense  of  the  word,  a  scholar,  by  a  critical  study  of  the  English 
classics,  and  an  extensive  acquaintance  with  the  literature  of  modern 
Europe, 

Mr.  Nelson' s^temperament  and  refined  taste,  as  well  as  his  correct 
moral  judgments,  naturally  incline  him  to  a  quick  and  instinctive  admi 
ration  of  beauty,  goodness  and  truth  in  character,  as  well  as  in  art  and 
literature.  This  was  early  manifested  when,  at  the  age  of  seventeen,  he 
chose  for  the  theme  of  the  oration  assigned  him  when  he  graduated, 
"  The  character  of  John  Jay" — a  choice  which  showed  that  young  Nel 
son  had,  from  his  earliest  recollections,  not  only  loved  and  admired  in 
Gov.  Jay  the  scholar,  the  patriot,  the  jurist,  and  the  statesman,  but  that 
he  also  reverenced  the  Christian  as  the  highest  style  of  the  man.  The 
oration  was  well  conceived,  and  delivered  in  an  easy  and  graceful  man 
ner.  As  a  whole,  it  »would  have  been  creditable  to  a  graduate  of 
maturer  years,  for  it  gave  to  all  unmistakable  evidences  that  he  was 
destined,  ultimately,  to  rank  among  the  distinguished  men  of  the  com 
monwealth  and  the  country  as  a  man  of  capacity,  principle,  and  untiring 
industry. 

On  Mr.  Nelson's  return  from  his  European  tour,  he  entered  vigor 
ously  on  his  profession,  (as  a  partner  with  his  father  in  Westchester 
county,)  which  he  pursued  with  great  success  until  he  was  appointed 
Chief  Justice  of  Oregon,  in  January,  1851,  when  he  entered  upon  his 
dudes  as  a  judge  of  that  distant  territory. 

Mr.  Nelson  has,  as  the  lawyers  call  it,  a  good  legal  mind,  clear  and 
discriminating — fond  of  investigation,  and  whilst  he  has  a  dislike  to 
what  is  called  the  drudgery  of  his  profession,  yet  during  his  practice  of 
the  law,  he  invariably  prepared  his  cases  with  such  care  and  research, 
that  he  was  always  ready  for  any  emergency  in  the  progress  of  the  trial 
of  his  causes.  He  was  ardent  and  persevering,  and  invariably  summed 
up  his  causes  before  a  jury  with  ability,  and  not  unfrequently  with 
great  force  and  eloquence. 

At  the  bar  of  the  court  of  his  native  state  he  discussed  questions  of 
law  with  a  clearness  and  ability,  manifesting  a  research  and  a  knowledge 
of  the  reasons  and  principles  of  law  greatly  beyond  his  years.  During 
the  few  years  he  has  been  engaged  in  his  profession,  he  has  earned  a 
reputation  as  a  skilful  advocate,  an  eloquent  speaker,  and  a  lawyer, 
such  as  but  few  of  his  age  have  attained.  His  manners  and  address, 
as  a  public  speaker,  as  well  as  in  his  private  intercourse  with  his  friends 
and  fellow-citizens,  are  modest,  courteous  and  agreeable.  His  social 
and  domestic  character  is  faultless.  His  truthfulness  and  integrity  are 
unquestioned  and  unquestionable.  Few  men  are  held  in  higher  esti 
mation  by  those  who  know  him,  as  a  gentleman  of  refined  manners,  a 
ripe  scholar  and  a  lawyer  of  no  ordinary  attainments. 

As  the  Chief  Justice  of  Oregon,  Mr.  Nelson  has  proved  himself  to  be 
all  that  his  friends  desired  or  expected  of  him,  faithful  to  duty,  capable, 
and  of  unflinching  integrity.  Unfortunately  for  Oregon,  in  the  course  of 


72  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

the  last  year  an  exciting  controversy  sprung  up  among  the  people  of 
that  territory  concerning  the  location  of  its  seat  of  government,  whether 
it  was  by  law  at  Oregon  city  or  Salem.  This  as  a  legal  and  constitu 
tional  question  came  before  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  territory  for  its 
adjudication,  and  a  majority  of  that  court  (Judges  Nelson  and  Strong) 
held  and  so  decided  that  by  law  the  seat  of  government  was  Oregon 
city.  But  a  majority  of  the  members  of  the  legislature  of  that  terri 
tory  chose  to  regard  Salem  as  the  seat  of  government,  and  acted  ac 
cordingly.  This  of  course  produced  much  excitement  and  confusion  in 
Oregon.  Whatever  the  merits  of  the  question  as  to  where  the  seat  of 
government,  as  a  matter  of  expediency,  ought  to  be,  no  sensible  and 
unprejudiced  man,  certainly  no  good  lawyer,  who  had  examined  the  ques 
tion,  could  doubt,  at  the  time  it  was  presented  to  the  court  for  its  adju 
dication,  that  by  law  the  seat  of  government  was  Oregon  city.  And 
the  court  being  called  on  to  decide,  not  from  considerations  of  policy 
or  expediency,  but  by  those  rules  that  should  always  govern  in  settling 
a  legal  and  constitutional  question,  we  cannot  see  how  Judges  Nelson 
and  Strong,  as  intelligent  and  impartial  jurists,  could  have  decided  other 
wise  than  they  did.  And,  indeed,  such  is  the  opinion  generally  ex 
pressed  by  the  best  lawyers  who  have  looked  at  the  subject. 


LEONARD  CHURCH, 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  LEE  BANK,  MASSACHUSETTS. 

THERE  are  two  classes  of  biography :  one,  of  men  of  such  eminence 
in  the  political,  literary  or  religious  world  as  to  awaken  the  admiration 
without  inspiring  the  hopefal  emulation  of  the  reader;  the  other,  of 
characters  in  humbler  walks,  whose  success  in  life  may  serve  to  instruct 
and  stimulate  the  zeal  of  the  most  obscure.  Sketches  of  the  latter  sort, 
though  less  brilliant,  are  often  more  useful.  The  life  of  Normand 
Smith,  the  Hartford  saddler,  will  carry  lessons  of  practical  wisdom  and 
of  sound  Christian  morality  into  the  business  and  bosoms  of  tens  of 
thousands  of  the  sons  of  toil;  while  the  more  eventful  career  of  a  more 
public  man  may  have  fewer  available  lessons  for  the  masses  of  youth 
ful  aspirants  in  the  ordinary  spheres  of  life.  Let  the  models  for  the 
study  of  young  Americans  be  such  as  they  may  safely  and  hopefully 
imitate,  and  their  power  will  be  none  the  less  that  they  are  not  beyond 
their  reach.  The  great  lesson  to  be  instilled  into  the  youthful  mind  is 
that  of  industry  and.  fidelity  in  whatever  position  in  life.  The  faithful 
discharge  of  present  duty  in  an  humble  sphere,  is  the  surest  road  to 
promotion.  An  eminent  man,  who  rose  from  obscurity  by  regarding 
this  principle,  was  once  reminded  that  in  his  boyhood  he  had  blacked 
the  boots  of  one  who  was  mean  enough  to  taunt  him  with  his  humble 
origin.  With  perfect  equanimity  he  replied  :  "  Didn't  I  do  it  well?* 
Here  lies  the  clue  to  wealth,  fame — all  that  is  worth  seeking  in  this 
life,  and  perhaps  all  that  is  valuable  in  immortal  hopes.  The  following 
brief  sketch  will  illustrate  this  thought : 


LEONARD  CHURCH,  OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  73 

LEONARD  CHURCH,  the  successful  merchant,  manufacturer  and  banker, 
was  born  in  East  Hartford,  Conn.,  July  18th,  1800.  He  was  the 
youngest  son  of  Samuel  Church,  a  paper  manufacturer.  His  father's 
family,  consisting  of  nine  children,  removed  in  1806  to  Lee,  Berkshire 
county,  Massachusetts,  which  was  at  that  period  the  far  west.  He 
erected  the  first  paper-mill  built  in  the  county  on  the  spot  still  occu 
pied  by  the  widely-known  firm  of  Owen  and  Hulbert.  Since  that  time 
Lee  has  become  one  of  the  most  extensive  centres  of  this  important 
branch  of  the  manufacturing  interest,  containing  twenty-one  paper  mills, 
including  the  largest  in  this  country.  Mr.  Church,  senior,  was  a  man 
of  great  modesty,  industry  and  uprightness,  and  his  example  contri 
buted  largely  to  the  formation  of  the  character  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch.  He  lived  a  life  of  usefulness  and  died  in  1844,  at  peace  with 
all  men  and  with  his  Maker,  at  the  house  of  his  son  Giles,  Ogden, 
N.  Y.,  aged  84  years.  Mrs.  Church  was  a  woman  of  unusual  energy 
of  character,  and  in  the  training  of  her  household,  sought  to  lay  broad 
and  deep  foundations  in  the  principles  of  morality  and  religion  drawn 
from  the  Holy  Scriptures.  She  lived  to  witness  the  fruits  of  her  ma 
ternal  fidelity,  and  died  in  1830,  at  the  age  of  71  years. 

Leonard  continued  under  the  paternal  roof  till  1817,  when  he  com 
menced  his  clerkship  with  his  brother  Charles,  who  was  the  first  mer 
chant  in  the  town  of  Ogden,  N.  Y.  At  that  period  there  were  but  two 
framed  houses  in  the  town,  and  a  room  in  one  of  these  served  as  the 
store.  The  terms  of  his  engagement  were  that,  besides  his  board,  he 
was  to  receive  the  full  sum  of  fifteen  dollars  for  his  first  year's  services! 
From  his  salary  he  must  proeure  his  clothing,  furnishing  a  lesson  of 
economy  which  was  not  lost  in  after  life.  Soon  after  his  clerkship  be 
gan,  his  brother  threw  the  whole  management  of  the  concern  upon  the 
young  lad,  while  he  went  to  New- York  to  replenish  his  stock.  It  re 
quired  an  absence  of  four  weeks,  in  the  days  of  lumber  wagons  and 
corduroy  roads,  to  accomplish  the  task  of  a  couple  of  days  in  our  own 
times.  Then  it  took  the  six-horse  teams  some  six  weeks  to  go  to 
Albany  and  back  with  the  goods.  During  the  absence  of  the  brother 
the  clerk  was  entrusted  with  the  erection  of  a  new  store,  to  be  com 
pleted  in  time  for  the  new  stock.  At  the  age  of  seventeen,  in  a  new 
place,  and  with  the  new  duties  of  a  merchant  and  an  architect,  his 
powers  were  put  to  the  test ;  but  with  the  promptness  and  fidelity  which 
have  characterized  his  subsequent  life,  the  thing  was  done,  and  "  done 
well." 

It  is  worth  noting,  by  the  way,  that  the  brother  with  whom  this 
clerkship  was  served,  who  commenced  his  business  in  western  New- 
York  without  a  dollar  of  personal  capital,  died  at  Rochester,  in  1850, 
leaving  an  estate  inventoried  at  more  than  $200,000.  He  was  a  man 
of  principle,  energy  and  liberality. 

Returning  to  Lee,  in  1819,  at  the  solicitation  of  his  father,  and  with 
the  aid  of  an  elder  brother  residing  at  Hartford,  he  commenced  mer 
cantile  life.  His  services  were  considered  as  an  offset  to  the  small 
capital  furnished  by  his  brother,  and  the  profits  of  the  concern  were 
shared  jointly.  In  December,  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  he  made  his  first; 
trip  to  New- York  to  purchase  his  stock  in  trade.  The  passage  of  three 
days  was  made  in  a  sloop  from  Hudson.  It  can  now  be  made  in  three 


74  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

hours.  He  examined  the  market  with  all  the  care  that  should  charac 
terize  a  first  independent  enterprise.  His  money  all  expended  and  his 
assortment  completed,  he  returned,  compared  his  bills  and  began  a  suc 
cessful  traffic.  He  has  often  remarked  that  his  first  purchase  was  the 
best  and  most  judicious  of  his  life. 

About  one  year  after  this  beginning,  he  purchased  a  small  paper- 
mill,  which  was  successfully  carried  on  in  the  manufacture  of  bank 
note  paper.  In  1826  he  bought  another  paper-mill.  Meanwhile  his 
mercantile  business  prospered.  He  kept  but  a  single  clerk,  and  for 
many  years  he  had  the'general  supervision  of  his  mills,  purchased  all  the 
stock,  made  all  the  sales,  and  after  the  business  of  the  day  was  closed, 
posted  all  his  books. 

In  1829,  he  erected  a  large  mill  for  fine  paper,  which  is  still  run  by 
Platner  and  Smith.  While  this  was  in  progress  a  new  article  of 
ladies'  gear,  called  the  Navarino  bonnet,  came  into  fashion,  imported 
at  large  prices  from  the  old  world.  It  was  made  of  paper.  With  his 
accustomed  foresight  and  promptness  this  new  placer  was  worked,  with 
more  than  California  success.  He  set  Robert  Hoe  upon  the  manufac 
ture  of  copper  plates  for  tasteful  patterns ;  established  a  steam-mill 
in  New-York,  and  commenced  making  Navarinos  by  the  thousand. 
Finding  water  power  most  available,  his  establishment  was  transferred 
to  Lee,  and  two  of  his  paper-mills  were  driven  on  this  single  article,  turn 
ing  out  two  or  three  thousand  bonnets  daily.  For  a  year  and  a  half,  and 
until  the  fashion  changed,  he  accommodated  the  dealers  in  bonnets  at 
the  market  price,  which  bore  a  strange  proportion  to  the  prime  cost  of  the 
article.  The  net  profits  of  this  single  enterprise  form  no  inconsiderable 
part  of  a  very  considerable  fortune.  In  1846  he  sold  his  interest  in  the 
last  mill  he  erected,  and  closed  his  connection  with  that  branch  of 
business. 

In  1844  he  was  chosen  president  of  the  Lee  bank,  of  which  he  had 
been  a  director  for  ten  years,  and  has  continued  in  that  office  till  the 
present  time,  with  eminent  skill  and  success,  ft  is  enough  to  say  that 
under  his  prudent  management  that  institution  has  not  lost  a  dollar  in 
bad  debts  during  the  last  nine  years. 

Mr.  Church  has  shrunk  from  political  life.  He  was,  however,  re 
turned  to  the  state  legislature  for  the  years  1839  and  '40,  and  accepted 
the  appointment  of  justice  of  the  peace  in  1846. 

He  is  an  exemplary  and  influential  member  of  the  Congregational 
Church,  and  a  generous  friend  of  literary  and  benevolent  institutions. 

A  few  simple  principles  lay  open  the  secret  of  his  successful  career. 
They  will  serve  for  all  who  are  entering  on  a  business  life. 

1.  Strict  integrity.     Doing  right  is  the  way  to  do  well. 

2.  Diligence  and  fidelity  in  every  trust.     It  would  have  been  easy  to 
have  forecasted    the   honorable  result,  when  Mr.  C's.  character  had 
passed  the  first  test  at  Ogden.     "  Seest  thou  a  man  diligent  in  his  busi 
ness  :  he  shall  stand  before  kings ;  he  shall  not  stand  before  mean  men." 

3.  Promptness  and  decision  in  action,     He  has  seized  the  golden  op 
portunities  of  life  as  they  have  presented  themselves ;  and  while  others 
have  mused,  he  has  acted.     Such  a  thing  as  a  protested  note  or  a  suit  at 
law  cannot  be  found  in  all  his  business  history.     Alas,  that  they  should 
ever  needlessly  mar  the  fortunes  and  the  peace  of  men ! 


ANDREW  M.  JANUARY,  OF  KENTUCKY.  75 

4.  Strict  economy.  Not  parsimonious  and  niggardly ;  that  makes 
misers  of  the  wealthy.  But  by  carefully  ascertaining  every  year  the 
gains  of  the  year,  and  always  bringing  the  expenditure  within  the  pro 
fits,  will  render  accumulation  certain  if  not  rapid. 

A  regard  to  such  principles  has  enabled  Mr.  Church  to  amass  all  of 
wealth  that  heart  can  wish;  and  still  higher  principles  seem  likely  to 
control  the  expenditure  of  his  fortune  in  a  way  to  make  him  a  bene 
factor  to  his  race. 


HON.  ANDREW  M.  JANUARY, 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  MAYSVILLE  BRANCH  OF  THE  BANK  OF  KENTUCKY. 

THE  department  of  biography  is  crowded  with  the  lives  of  men  dis 
tinguished  in  war,  politics,  science,  literature  and  the  professions.  All 
the  embellishments  of  rhetoric  and  the  imagination  have  been  essayed 
to  captivate,  stimulate  and  direct  into  these  "  upper  walks  of  life,"  as 
they  are  entitled,  the  youthful  mind  and  ambition  of  the  country.  ,Not 
content  to  make  the  academies  and  higher  educational  institutions  hot 
beds  and  nurseries  to  germinate  and  train  aspirations  for  fame,  military 
and  civic,  the  most  brilliant  achievements  in  the  field,  the  forum,  the  hall, 
and  at  the  bar,  of  the  great  men  of  the  past  and  present,  have  been  ex 
hibited  in  colors  warm  and  glowing,  to  charm  and  inspire.  Example 
has  been  added  to  precept ;  the  teachings  of  the  lecture-room  have  been 
enforced  by  illustrations  from  real  life,  and  the  chaplet  of  glory  and  re 
nown  has  been  held  up  as  the  great  and  only  prize. 

The  result  of  this  system  is  manifest,  and  by  no  means  fortunate. 
The  ranks  of  the  professions  are  filled  and  overflowing.  Pettifoggers, 
quacks,  pedants,  demagogues  and  militia  officers  are  manufactured  by 
wholesale.  Thousands  of  young  men  of  respectable  abilities,  entirely 
capable  of  achieving  competence  and  character  in  the  useful  and  more 
unpretending  employments,  are  annually  allured  into  professions  for 
which  they  are  entirely  unsuited,  and  in  which  they  can  never  succeed. 
Disappointment  and  idleness,  or  charlatanry  and  vice,  are  unfortunately 
the  too  frequent  results,  instead  of  thrift,  independence  and  respectabili 
ty  flowing  from  wiser  counsels. 

To  instill  into  the  minds  and  hearts  of  the  young  respect  for  great 
attainments,  reverence  for  great  virtues,  and  to  excite  the  generous 
emulation,  by  holding  up,  as  examples  for  admiration  and  imitation,  the 
lives  of  the  wise,  and  great,  and  good,  is  commendable  and  right.  But 
the  field  of  example  should  be  extended,  and  lessons  on  industry,  ener 
gy,  usefulness,  virtue,  honor,  the  true  aims  of  life  and  the  true  sources 
of  happiness,  should  be  gathered  and  enforced  from  all  the  various  pro 
vinces  of  human  labor  however  humble.  Our  country  is  eminently  in 
need  of  increased  intelligence  in  commerce,  agriculture  and  mechanism. 

Those  great  divisions  of  labor  should  be  rendered  not  only  lucrative 
and  respectable,  as  they  are  but  honorable  and  attractive  to  the  young 


76  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

in  all  classes  of  society.  The  lives  of  eminent  merchants,  farmers, 
manufacturers,  mechanics — of  all  who  by  honest  labor  have  achieved 
distinguished  success  in  the  different  occupations,  should  be  written  and 
commended  to  the  young  men  of  the  republic.  The  path  of  labor  and 
usefulness  should  be  indicated  as  the  highway  to  honor. 

In  this  view  we  have  selected  the  subject  of  this  sketch ;  a  man  of 
humble  but  honest  parentage,  born  at  the  pioneer  period  in  the  history 
of  Kentucky,  reared  in  the  forests,  with  a  slight  elementary  education, 
and  no  accomplishment  but  his  trade ;  who,  by  the  force  of  high  purpose 
and  invincible  resolution,  industry,  energy,  enterprise,  and  a  bold 
and  vigorous  mind  and  an  honest  heart,  has  not  only  achieved  inde 
pendence,  but  won  a  name  for  sagacity,  public  spirit,  punctuality  and 
probity  amongst  the  foremost  and  most  distinguished  men  of  business 
in  the  west. 

ANDREW  M.  JANUARY  was  born  3d  August,  1794,  in  Jessamine  coun 
ty,  Kentucky,  about  12  miles  from  the  city  of  Lexington.  His  father, 
Ephraim  January,  who  was  born  in  Pennsylvania,  was  the  grandson  of 
a  French  Huguenot.  The  persecution  which  drove  the  emigrant  from 
his  native  land  confiscated  his  estate,  which  was  said  to  be  very  large. 
Ephraim  January  married  Sarah  McConnell,  near  McConnellstown, 
Pennsylvania,  whilst  they  were  both  very  young.  In  1780,  they  emi 
grated  to  Kentucky,  and  passing  down  the  Ohio  River,  with  several 
other  families,  in  small  flatboats  fitted  up  to  resist  the  attacks  of  In 
dians,  landed  safely  at  Louisville  in  the  spring.  They  took  their  little 
property  to  a  fort  called  Spring  Station,  six  miles  from  Louisville,  and 
remained  there  six  months.  They  then  removed  to  the  fort  at  Har- 
rodsburg,  Kentucky,  where  they  lived  twelve  months ;  they  afterwards 
went  to  the  fort  at  Lexington,  and  remained  there  till  the  fall  of  1783. 
Such  was  the  unsettled  condition  of  the  country  at  that  period,  and  the 
character  of  the  savage  warfare  waged  by  the  Indians,  that  a  family  was 
only  safe  when  inside  of  a  fortification.  Andrew  McConnell,  the  grand 
father  of  A.  M.  January,  and  from  whom  he  was  named,  was'killed  at 
the  battle  of  the  Blue  Licks,  which  occurred  in  the  summer  of  1782. 
Although  that  battle  resulted  disastrously,  additional  forces  pressed 
upon  the  Indians  and  drove  them  out  of  Kentucky,  and  an  increase  of  emi 
gration  in  the  course  of  a  year  so  checked  the  incursions  of  the  Indians, 
that  families  were  justified  in  making  locations  of  their  own  in  the  neigh 
borhood  of  Lexington  and  some  other  parts  of  the  territory.  Ephraim 
January  accordingly  obtained  a  pre-emption  right  to  1000  acres  of  land 
in  the  county  of  Jessamine,  built  a  small  log  cabin  on  it  in  the  midst 
of  the  forest,  and  moved  his  family,  consisting  of  his  wife  and  two  young 
children,  into  it  in  1783.  His  nearest  neighbor  was  six  miles  distant. 
There  he  raised  a  family  of  eleven  children — five  sons  and  six  daughters 
— and  there  the  father  and  the  mother  lived  and  died — he,  in  1823,  in 
the  64th  year  of  his  age;  she,  in  1850,  in  her  87th  year.  They  were 
both  persons  of  ardent  piety,  belonging  to  the  Associate  Reformed,  a 
branch  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  gave  great  care  to  the  religious 
training  of  their  children.  The  family  was  large,  and  the  father  unable 
to  provide  capital  to  set  up  his  sons  in  business.  They  all  remained  at 
home  and  worked  on  the  farm  until  they  were  17  or  18  years  old. 
Each  was  then  suffered  to  select  some  mechanical  branch  of  business. 


ANDREW  M.  JANUARY,  OF  KENTUCKY.  77 

In  1812,  Andrew  became  an  apprentice  to  the  silver-plating  business 
in  Lexington,  Ky.,  and  served  in  that  capacity  three  years  and  a-half. 
Being  a  high-spirited  boy,  and  feeling  that  his  father  was  unable  to  fur 
nish  him  with  any  other  than  the  plainest  clothing,  he  applied  himself 
assiduously  to  the  business  and  interests  of  his  employer,  and  soon 
gained  his  confidence  and  good-will.  He  was  allowed  to  do  over-work, 
for  which  he  received  full  price,  and  often  worked  as  late  as  12  o'clock  at 
night.  He  was  soon  enabled  to  make  one  dollar  per  day  for  over-work. 
and  thus  to  present  a  reputable  appearance  in  society  during  his  ap 
prenticeship.  He  found  his  early  religious  training  of  great  service  to 
him  at  this  period.  He  was  beset  by  temptations  from  many  quar 
ters,  but  steadily  resisted  them.  He  had  promised  his  mother,  on  leav 
ing  home,  that  he  would  avoid  all  evil  company  and  the  vices  of  the 
town,  and  he  did  so.  Young  and  inexperienced  as  he  was,  possessing 
only  the  common  English  education  of  that  day,  obtained  mostly  in 
the  winter  season,  and  during  rainy  days,  when  work  could  not  be  done 
on  the  farm,  he  nevertheless  determined  to  overcome  all  obstacles  he 
might  encounter,  fix  his  mark  high,  and  force  his  way  upward  to  fortune 
and  honor. 

In  the  spring  of  1816,  he  commenced  business  on  his  own  account, 
in  Lexington,  and  in  the  ensuing  winter  married  Sarah  Huston,  daughter 
of  William  Huston,  an  old  and  highly  esteemed  resident  of  that  place. 
He  continued  business  there  until  the  spring  of  1818.  It  had  promised 
well  at  first,  but  the  country,  shortly  after  peace  was  declared  between 
the  United  States  and  Great  Britain,  became  flooded  with  goods  and 
manufactured  articles.  The  silver-plating  business  suffered  with  others 
to  such  an  extent  that  ware  could  be  bought  in  the  stores  for  less  money, 
in  many  instances,  than  the  cost  at  home  of  the  rough  material. 

Mr.  January  soon  found  that  the  time  spent  in  qualifying  himself  for 
his  business,  had  been  to  a  <>reat  extent  lost ;  to  pursue  it  was  useless ; 
and  with  that  promptness  and  decision  which  have  ever  marked  his  career, 
he  determined  to  abandon  it.  Maysville,  a  town  in  northern  Kentucky, 
on  the  Ohio  river,  was  then  as  it  has  been  since,  the  great  point  of  ship 
ment  and  distribution  of  the  productions  and  merchandise  of  that  por 
tion  of  the  state.  In  the  summer  of  1818,  he  removed  to  that  place 
and  opened  a  small  grocery ;  and  in  October  of  that  year  he  purchased 
an  interest  in  a  commission  house  conducted  by  his  uncle.  In  the 
spring  of  1819,  he  bought  the  entire  interest  of  the  concern,  and  his 
uncle  retired  from  the  house.  This  was  a  bold  step,  as  he  had  but 
slight  experience  and  very  limited  means.  He  purchased  on  stipulated 
payments  of  one,  two  and  three  years.  Few  persons  under  such  cir 
cumstances  would  have  undertaken  such  a  responsibility ;  but  he  had 
rare  industry,  energy  and  resolution,  and  a  self-sustaining  confidence 
in  his  own  abilities.  Every  payment,  as  it  fell  due,  was  promptly  met. 
He  soon  found  that,  by  close  application  to  the  interests  of  his  cus 
tomers,  his  business  was  increasing  from  year  to  year.  After  paying 
for  his  establishment,  he  had  in  a  short  period  accumulated  quite  a 
handsome  sum,  and  was  in  a  full  tide  of  prosperity,  when  the  whole 
was  suddenly  swept  from  him  by  the  instrumentality  of  an  individual 
in  whom  he  had  unfortunately  confided,  and  he  found  himself  involved 
to  the  amount  of  $3,000.  This  heavy  reverse  did  not  dishearten  him ; 


78  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

tie  met  it  courageously,  and  determined  to  retrieve  his  losses.  He 
continued  his  business,  retained  his  customers,  sustained  his  credit,  and 
in  one  year  realized  enough  to  pay  off  all  demands.  His  business  con 
tinued  to  improve  and  enlarge  under  his  close  application  and  judicious 
management. 

Maysville,  at  that  time,  contained  a  population  of  only  1,200  or 
1,500  inhabitants;  but  few  of  the  streets  were  paved,  there  was  no 
paved  road  to  the  river,  and  the  landing  was  bad.  All  the  roads  to  the 
interior  were  rough ;  poor  even  in  the  summer,  almost  impassable  in 
the  winter  and  spring.  He  therefore  turned  his  attention  to  the  subject 
of  internal  improvements,  and  in  a  few  years,  with  the  assistance  of 
other  enterprising  citizens,  he  succeeded  in  having  all  the  streets  paved, 
and  good  roads  made  to  the  river.  In  1828,  when  there  were  not 
twenty  miles  of  turnpike  road  in  the  state,  a  charter  was  procured  from 
the  legislature  for  a  turnpike  road  from  Maysville  to  Washington,  a 
town  four  miles  from  the  river  in  the  direction  of  Lexington.  The 
stock  was  soon  subscribed,  and  the  road  put  under  contract.  In  the 
summer  of  that  year,  being  sanguine  that  the  road  could  be  extended  a 
distance  of  sixty  miles  to  Lexington,  he  mounted  his  horse,  and  in  com 
pany  with  an  engineer,  explored  the  intervening  country,  and  raised  a 
subscription  along  the  line  to  pay  the  expenses  of  a  survey.  When  at 
Lexington,  he  issued  a  card  for  a  public  meeting,  had  a  conference  with 
Hon.  Henry  Clay,  enlisted  him  in  the  enterprise,  and  induced  him  to 
address  the  meeting  in  its  behalf.  The  meeting  was  successful ;  public 
attention  was  excited,  and  means  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  neces 
sary  surveys  secured.  The  next  winter  a  charter  was  obtained  extend 
ing  the  road  from  Washington  to  Lexington.  As  this  road  subse 
quently  became  famous  in  national  politics,  a  short  history  of  the 
efforts  and  means  by  which  it  was  completed  will  be  pardoned. 

At  that  time  but  few  persons  in  Kentucky  had  ever  seen  a  turnpike, 
still  fewer  appreciated  the  benefits  such  an  improvement  could  confer. 
Very  few  believed  such  a  work  practicable ;  the  cost  was  considered 
beyond  the  resources  of  the  country.  The  state,  up  to  that  time,  had 
contributed  nothing  to  the  cause  of  internal  improvements.  It  was  an 
enterprise  of  great  boldness,  and  required  great  energy,  perseverance 
and  firmness.  Upon  the  petition  of  the  company  to  the  legislature,  a  law 
was  passed  authorizing  a  subscription  of  $25,000  on  behalf  of  the  state 
so  soon  as  $50,000  should  be  subscribed  by  individuals.  By  great  ex 
ertions  on  the  part  of  the  directors  of  the  road,  of  which  Mr. 
January  was  one,  the  requisite  amount  of  $50,000  was  obtained  from 
individuals,  and  the  sum  of  $75,000  thus  secured.  The  road  was  im 
mediately  put  under  contract  to  the  extent  of  that  sum  ;  and  at  a  suc 
ceeding  session,  the  legislature  was  induced  to  subscribe  $50,000  more 
upon  the  condition  that  individuals  should  raise  an  additional  $75,000. 
This  was  done  in  a  few  months  by  extraordinary  efforts,  and  the  $125,- 
000  secured.  It  required  $200,000  more  to  complete  the  road ;  and  as 
it  would  be  used  by  the  United  States  government  for  the  transporta 
tion  of  the  great  eastern  and  western  mails,  the  directory  determined  to 
petition  Congress  for  aid  to  the  amount  of  $150,000.  The  petition  was 
favorably  received,  and  a  bill  was  passed  appropriating  that  sum.  The 
country  recollects  the  fate  of  that  measure.  President  Jackson  struck 


ANDREW  M.    JANUARY,  OF  KENTUCKY.  79 

it  down  with  his  veto,  and  left  the  enterprising  company  to  their  own 
resources.  They  resolved  to  carry  the  work  forward.  The  directory 
negotiated  loans  upon  their  individual  responsibility,  and  issued  the 
scrip  of  the  company  to  the  amount  of  $70,000.  The  whole  road 
was  put  under  contract,  and  the  legislature  appealed  to  for  further  aid. 
It  was  granted  by  a  subscription  of  stock  equal  to  that  of  individuals ; 
and  in  four  years  the  road  was  completed  at  a  cost  of  $426,000,  being 
the  first  good  McAdamized  road  in  the  United  States,  and  the  pioneer 
work  of  internal  improvement  in  the  State  of  Kentucky.  This  import 
ant  enterprise,  commenced  and  completed  mainly  by  the  public  spirit 
and  perseverance  of  four  or  five  citizens  of  Maysville,  including  A.  M. 
January,  gave  a  powerful  impetus  to  the  whole  system  of  internal  im 
provements  in  the  state;  and  is  still  the  best  work  of  the  kind  proba 
bly  in  the  United  States.  That  road  completed,  Mr.  January  engaged 
heartily  in  the  construction  of  two  or  three  other  turnpike  roads 
leading  into  the  interior,  and  at  the  same  time  conducted  with 
great  and  increasing  success  an  extensive  commission  business.  His 
habits  of  business  were  then,  and  still  are,  of  the  most  systematic  and 
laborious  character.  He  neglects  nothing;  he  attends  punctually  to 
everything.  His  correspondence  has  always  been  conducted  chiefly 
by  himself,  and  has  been  so  heavy  and  extensive,  as  for  many  months 
during  the  year  to  occupy  his  time  until  twelve  and  one  o'clock 
at  night.  Situated  at  a  way-port  between  Pittsburgh  and  Cincinnati, 
where  boats  stopped  at  all  hours  of  the  night  to  deliver  and  receive 
freight,  his  life  was  for  many  years  one  of  great  hardship,  trial  and  ex 
posure.  His  whole  life  has  been  spent  in  constant  activity,  and  faith 
ful  and  energetic  attention  to  business.  He  has  been  successful,  and 
has  deserved  success.  He  is  now  fifty-eight  years  of  age,  and 
although  his  constitution  has  been  much  broken  by  exposure  and  over 
work,  he  is  still  a  man  of  great  labor  and  unrelaxing  energy. 

Upon  the  location  of  a  branch  of  the  Bank  of  Kentucky  at  Maysville, 
in  1835,  he  was  appointed  its  president,  which  post  he  fills  at  the  present 
time.  He  is  also  president  of  the  Maysville  and  Lexington  Turnpike 
Road  Company,  having  been  connected  with  that  road  from  its  com 
mencement  in  1828.  He  is  also  a  member  of  the  board  of  directors 
of  the  Maysville  and  Lexington  Rail-road  Company ;  and  no  enterprise 
of  a  public  nature  has  ever  been  undertaken  in  Maysville  for  the  last 
thirty-four  years,  in  which  he  has  not  taken  a  prominent  and  zealous 
part.  And  yet  he  has  never  sought  any  office,  declining  many  indeed 
that  have  been  offered.  He  throws  his  whole  energies  into  whatever 
he  undertakes,  and  success  is  almost  certain  to  attend  his  efforts.  His 
motto  through  life  has  been — "  Whatever  is  worth  doing,  should  be  well 
done." 

Mr.  January,  many  years  since,  attached  himself,  along  with  his  wife, 
to  the  Presbyterian  church.  His  walk  and  conversation  as  a  Christian 
have  been  uniformly  consistent  and  exemplary.  His  benefactions  to 
the  church  have  been  consta'nt  and  liberal — for  the  support  of  his  own 
particular  church,  for  the  erection  of  churches,  and  the  support  of  the 
gospel  at  home  and  abroad.  His  purse  is  ever  generously  open  to 
every  object  of  real  benevolence  or  charity. 

In  his  intercourse  with  his  fellow-citizens  of  all  classes,  Mr.  January 


80  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

is  frank  and  direct,  but  kind  and  courteous.  Perfectly  simple  and  unos 
tentatious  in  all  his  habits  ;  unbounded  in  his  hospitality  ;  warm,  con 
fiding  and  firm,  in  his  friendship  ;  sagacious  and  independent  in  thought ; 
prompt,  practical  and  vigorous  in  action ;  punctual  in  all  his  engage 
ments  ;  modest  and  unassuming,  yet  courageous  and  dignified,  he  bears 
about  him  every  mark  of  the  gentleman  and  the  man  of  business;  and 
presents  as  fair  a  model  as  can  be  found  for  the  encouragement  and 
imitation  of  the  youth  of  the  West  who  have  friends,  fame  and  fortune 
yet  to  win. 


COLONEL  DANIEL  S.  PRINTUP, 

OF  ROME,  GEORGIA, 

WAS  born  January  22d,  1823,  in  Montgomery  county,  New- York. 
His  father  was  of  English  descent ;  his  mother's  parents  emigrated  from 
Holland.  Colonel  Printup's  early  education  was  very  limited,  but, 
like  many  men  who  have  risen  to  eminence  in  the  legal  profession  in 
this  country,  this  defect  in  his  education  only  served  to  call  forth  the 
energies  of  his  mind.  A  common  school  in  his  native  county  furnished 
him  with  the  elements  of  an  education,  and  at  the  early  age  of 'fourteen 
he  left  the  paternal  roof,  and,  with  a  sorrowful  heart,  turned  his  face  to 
the  cold,  calculating  world.  For  the  space  of  two  years  he  engaged  in 
various  pursuits,  which  not  only  afforded  him  a  subsistence,  but  en 
abled  him  to  devote  three  months  of  his  time  to  study,  which  short 
period  was  spent  at  a  select  school  in  the  village  of  Fultonville,  New- 
York.  Much  benefited  by  the  knowledge  he  obtained,  gladly  would 
he  have  prolonged  his  stay,  but  the  want  of  means  prevented  him  at 
this  time.  He  left  this  school  with  the  intention  of  going  to  New- 
York,  which  he  soon  reached,  and  soon  procured  a  situation  as  clerk  in 
a  mercantile  house.  Nob  relishing  this  sort  of  life,  he  determined  to 
relinquish  it ;  and,  accordingly,  in  the  month  of  September,  1839,  'he 
sailed  for  the  "  sunny  south,"  and  arrived  in  Georgia.  Here,  contrary 
to  his  inclination,  he  was  induced  to  accept  of  a  situation  similar  to  that 
he  had  so  lately  and  so  heartily  relinquished,  yet  still  looking  forward 
to  a  brighter  day,  when  he  might  be  enabled  to  complete  his  education. 
While  here,  he  saved  his  salary  with  such  scrupulous  care  that,  at  the 
end  of  two  years,  he  had  a  sufficient  sum  to  warrant  him  in  pursuing  his 
studies.  Accordingly,  February,  1842,  he  entered  an  academy  in 
Paulding  county,  Georgia.  The  principal  of  this  institution  was  a  sound 
scholar  and  excellent  teacher.  He  soon  perceived  that  his  pupil  was  a 
youth  of  more  than  ordinary  capacity,  with  an  ardent  thirst  for  know 
ledge,  consequently  he  afforded  him  every  facility  in  his  power.  The 
student  applied  all  his  energies,  and  with  such  unparalleled  success,  that 
in  the  short  period  of  nine  months  he  was,  in  the  opinion  of  his  pre 
ceptor,  sufficiently  prepared  for  admission  to  college.  The  legal  pro 
fession  he  had  always  liked,  and  at  this  time  made  up  his  mind  to 
qualify  himself  for  the  bar,  if  possible,  his  limited  means  appearing  the 
only  barrier;  he  however  received  such  assurances  of  assistance  from  his 


ROBERT  H.  GOODWIN,  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  81 

brother,  Joseph  J.  Printup,  as  to  induce  him  to  make  the  necessary 
arrangements  for  entering  college.  This  he  accomplished ;  and  in  the 
month  of  April,  1843,  entered  in  advance  Union  College,  Schenectady, 
New- York,  furnished  by  his  excellent  teacher,  Benjamin  T.  Mosley, 
Esq.,  with  a  letter  of  recommendation  to  the  president  of  that  institu 
tion — a  part  of  which  letter  we  here  transcribe.  Mr.  Mosley  says :  "  I  take 
pleasure  in  recommending  to  your  friendly  regards  a  young  gentleman, 
who  possesses  talents  of  a  high  order,  to  the  cultivation  of  which 
(though  neglected  in  early  youth)  he  is  most  ardently  devoted.  He 
comes  to  seek  from  your  institution  that  preparation  which  will 
best  qualify  him  for  the  profession  of  law."  During  his  collegiate 
course  he  sedulously  husbanded  every  hour,  (after  preparing  his  recitations 
and  attending  his  classes,)  and  devoted  himself  to  his  legal  studies.  His 
college-life  was  emphatically  one  of  labor,  but  the  youth  was  now  the 
man,  and  throughout  the  three  years  of  college-course  he  ranked  among 
the  first  in  his  class.  An  incident  occurred  at  the  commencement  of 
the  second  term  of  the  "  senior  year,"  which  serves  to  show  the  position 
he  occupied  in  the  esteem  of  his  class-mates.  This  was  his  election  to 
the  office  of  class-marshal  by  his  fellow-students,  notwithstanding  he  was 
opposed  by  a  young  gentleman,  the  son  of  one  of  the  first  men  in  the 
United  States.  Subsequently  he  was  also  elected  a  member  of  the  Phi 
Beta  Kappa  Society,  and  we  would  state  that  this  honor  is  only  confer 
red  on  persons  of  the  highest  standing  for  scholarship.  Having  gradu 
ated  in  1846,  he  returned  to  Georgia,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of 
that  state  in  April  of  the  following  year ;  his  practice  soon  became 
respectable,  and  at  the  present  time  it  is  quite  lucrative.  Connected 
with  his  legal  practice,  he  has  held  for  years  the  office  of  agent  for  the 
principal  bank  of  the  State  of  South  Carolina.  His  present  residence 
is  Eome,  Georgia. 

Col.  Printup  in  stature  is  at  least  six  feet,  and  of  rather  slender  form 
for  one  so  high ;  his  appearance  is  that  of  a  great  student ;  he  is  thought 
ful  and  grave,  but  very  pleasant  in  conversation.  We  predict  for  him, 
if  he  lives,  a  bright  career  and  an  unenviable  fame ;  and  as  a  lawyer 
and  high-toned  gentleman,  he  richly  deserves  it. 


ROBERT  H.  GOODWYN, 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  BANK  OF  THE  STATE  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA. 

A  tumbling  torrent  rushing  down  a  mountain's  side,  rumbling  and 
roaring  as  its  waters  dash  from  obstacle  to  obstacle  along  its  rocky  bed, 
sending  the  glittering  spray-drops  in  showers  over  the  looker-on,  is  a 
more  attractive  object  to  the  tourist,  retains  a  place  in  his  memory 
longer,  usurps  a  page  in  his  note-book  broader,  than  does  the  noble, 
deep  and  gently  gliding  river  that  bears  upon  its  broad,  bright  bosom, 
the  wealth  of  a  nation.  The  traveler  journeys  toilsome  miles  to  scale 
with  weary  feet  the  jagged  heights  of  rugged  volcanoes,  whose  gloomy, 
cavernous  mouths  open  but  to  belch  forth  death  and  destruction.  The 
fearful  summit  reached,  awe-stricken  he  stands ;  and  feeling  himself  re- 

6 


82  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

paid  by  gazing  upon  the  dreariness  around,  overpowered  by  the  novelty 
of  the  scene,  he  utterly  forgets  the  many  lovely,  luxuriant  valleys,  ra 
diant  with  tropic  fruits  and  flowers,  the  dwelling-places  of  breathing 
plenty,  he.  passed  to  reach  that  grand  but  gloomy  and  desolate  goal. 

As  in  nature  we  find  it  is  not  the  most  truly  useful  nor  the  most  in 
trinsically  charming  and  beautiful  objects  that  attract  the  greatest 
amount  of  attention,  but  nearly  always  those  whose  picturesque  attri 
butes,  or  romantic  or  wonderful  associations  best  please  the  eye  or 
furnish  most  food  for  the  imagination — irrespective  of  any  more  solid 
claims — so  do  we  also  find  the  same  false  standard  governing  men's 
estimate  of  each  other,  and  graduating — how  wrongfully  and  unfairly 
we  daily  see — the  place  that  each  shall  occupy  in  the  temple  of  renown. 
The  Almighty  Creator,  in  his  supreme  wisdom,  has  so  ordered  the 
disposition  of  affairs  in  this  world,  that,  perforce,  the  grand  and  leading 
features  of  his  noble  design  must  be  carried  out.  The  end  to  be  at 
tained  is  fixed ;  but  the  means  by  which  that  end  shall  be  accomplished, 
are,  to  a  certain  extent,  left  to  the  volition  of  the  actors. 

In  the  olden  time,  when  man  was  almost  an  animal,  when  society 
was  in  a  state  of  barbarism,  when  the  softly-beaming  light  of  cheering 
Christianity  was  as  yet  obscured,  and  the  moral  world  was  groping  in 
darkness — in  those  dark  days,  when  the  hand  of  power  was  really  the 
hand  that  was  strongest — in  those  heathen  times,  when  might  was  right, 
and  when  the  keen  arrow  and  the  bright  spear  were  necessary  to  retain 
what  the  sharp  sword  had  won  in  those  bloody  eras,  the  fame  of  the 
warrior  was  justly  entitled  to  the  applause  of  the  multitude,  was  the 
only  renown  coveted  by  the  ambitious,  was  the  only  greatness  that 
could  be  appreciated  by  the  people.  The  soldier  then  was  an  instru 
ment  in  Deity's  hand  working  unwittingly  for  a  purpose.  Mind  then 
was  not  sufficiently  developed,  had  not  been  cultivated  enough  to  re 
ceive  lasting  impressions,  save  through  the  medium  of  its  elder  brother, 
the  body.  Force  then,  was  necessary  to  restrain  the  baser  belongings 
of  the  full-grown  passions,  that  the  moral  qualities  might  have  time  to 
strengthen.  Now,  however,  the  diviner  essence  is  steadily  and  surely 
claiming  its  birthright,  assuming  the  mastery ;  and  though  each  body  is 
not  altogether  controlled  by  the  promptings  of  its  own  mind,  yet  even 
now  mind  does  rule  the  world ;  and  the  voice  of  public  opinion  is 
found  to  be  more  powerful  than  a  vast  army  with  all  the  paraphernalia 
of  war. 

As  one  general  directs  the  operations  of  a  campaign,  so  do  the  bright 
thoughts  of  a  single  mind  control  the  actions  of  hundreds  of  its  fellows; 
and,  therefore,  the  success  of  the  business  of  life  necessitates  a  much 
larger  proportion  of  prompt  and  vigorous  actors  than  it  requires  of  deep 
and  careful  thinkers.  For  this  reason  it  is  that  even  now,  in  our  age 
so  comparatively  enlightened,  we  see  deeds  of  merely  physical  daring 
— actions  almost  the  result  of  accident — men  distinguished  by  scarce 
aught  save  unblushing  effrontery — receive  an  amount  of  adulation,  ac 
quire  a  degree  of  reputation,  complimented  by  a  fulness  of  public  con 
fidence,  that  sober  reason  assures  us  they  are  by  no  means  justly  en 
titled  to. 

No  desire  have  we  to  detract  a  line's  breadth  from  the  fair  fame  or 
deserved  name  of  any  man  or  class  of  men,  for  we  know  that  reckless 


ROBERT  H.  GOODWYN,  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  S3 

courage  is  possessed  by  many  who  are  blessed  by  moral  bravery  also 
in  an  eminent  degree.  We  are  sure  that  the  boldest  warrior  can  also 
be  a  gentle  Christian,  and  we  believe  that  a  politician  may  be  a  patriot ; 
but  just  in  proportion  as  these  nobler  traits  are  found  in  conjunction 
with  the  more  common  attributes,  in  the  same  ratio  are  their  possessors 
entitled  to  increased  honors.  Whilst,  therefore,  we  would  have  a  proper 
meed  awarded  to  all  the  meritorious,  we  only  hope  the  day  will  some 
time  come  when  the  actions  and  sentiments  of  none  but  the  truly  wor 
thy  will  be  held  up  as  beacons  for  the  guidance  of  their  own  and 
succeeding  generations. 

One  bright  and  glorious  feature  of  the  present  era,  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  wherein  it  stands  out  in  bold  relief,  far  in  advance  of  any 
former  period,  and  which,  more  than  aught  else,  proves  the  moral  and 
intellectual  advancement  of  mankind,  is  the  fact,  that  now,  more  than 
ever  before,  is  ready,  cheerful  and  cordial  approbation  accorded  to  those 
real  benefactors  of  their  race,  those  noble-minded,  true  men,  who,  seeking 
not  popular  favor,  striving  not  after  political  power,  craving  not  per 
sonal  aggrandizement,  yet  disinterestedly  devote  the  labor  of  their  great 
minds,  and  the  force  of  their  pure  intellects,  to  the  amelioration  of  the 
condition  of  their  brethren,  and  the  advancement  of  the  happiness,  social 
and  moral,  of  their  fellow-countrymen.  No  easy  task  is  theirs — no 
faint  heart  or  coward  will  is  competent  to  the  fulfilment  of  their  mis 
sion  ;  laboriously  they  toil,  strenuously  they  strive,  courageously  they 
battle,  undismayed  they  suffer,  for  the  sake  of  principles,  which  they 
know  must  result  in  benefactions  to  those  very  maligners  who  hesitate 
not  to  heap  contumely  upon  their  heads  and  slanders  upon  their  names. 
Dauntless,  however,  upheld  by  inward  strength,  still  onward  do  these 
gallant  ones  press,  until  at  last,  triumphing  by  their  virtue's  might,  the 
world  hails  them  conquerors,  society  strives  to  do  them  honor,  and 
their  country  ranks  them  as  its  chiefest  ornament. 

Deserving  of  a  foremost  place  in  the  ranks  of  this  glorious  band,  in- 
titled  to  a  prominent  position  amid  this  noble  brotherhood,  is  the  sub 
ject  of  this  brief  sketch  ;  for  though  we  are  aware  that  his  merits,  great 
as  they  are,  are  exceeded  by  his  modesty,  yet  we  are  confident  that  his 
benevolence  will  induce  him  to  pardon  us  for  giving  voice  to  the  feel 
ings  of  his  friends  and  the  opinions  of  the  public  regarding  his  worth, 
rather  than  to  his  own  too  low  estimate  of  his  abilities. 

For  no  single  dazzling  achievement — for  no  one  act  of  brilliant  reck 
lessness,  flashing,  meteor-like,  red,  lurid,  and  startling,  across  the  path 
way  of  his  life's  sky,  making  an  impression  vivid  and  memorable  only 
in  proportion  to  the  sombre  sameness  that  preceded  and  followed  the 
evanescent  brightness,  is  Robert  H.  Goodwyn  distinguished.  These  are 
the  accidental  and  extrinsic  circumstances  that  have  given  a  place  on 
history's  page  to  too  many  men  of  but  ordinary  abilities,  of  but  doubt 
ful  moral  worth.  But  by  the  intrinsic  and  heaven-bestowed  qualities 
of  bright  intellectual  capacity,  of  strict  integrity,  of  pure  morality,  of 
correct  judgment,  of  wide-reaching  benevolence,  of  disinterestedness, 
and  of  ample  courage  to  do  and  to  dare,  morally  or  physically,  what 
conscience  dictates — by  these,  the  attributes  that  govern  circumstances 
and  control  events — by  these,  the  only  characteristics  that  can  com 
mand  permanent  respect,  ensure  lasting  regard,  and  challenge  universal 


84  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

admiration,  is  Robert  H.  Goodwyn  distinguished  in  a  remarkable  de 
gree.  A  soldier,  a  physician,  a  statesman,  a  banker,  and  a  financier,  has 
he  been;  and  in  each  capacity  has  he  so  truly  played  his  part,  so  excelled 
in  every  sntuation,  that,  for  the  time  he  occupied  it,  each  seemed  his  only 
proper  sphere.  This  is  the  most  severe  as  well  as  the  most  correct  test 
of  human  ability ;  for  the  inward  power  to  be  thoroughly  great  in  one 
capacity  enables  its  possessor  to  be  distinguished  in  aught  to  which  his 
mind  is  directed — energy,  intellectuality  and  honesty  being  alike,  under 
all  circumstances,  the  real  basis  of  true  greatness.  But  few  there  are  to 
whom  this  test  can  be  satisfactorily  applied. 

The  many  noble  examples  to  the  contrary  furnished  by  the  lives  and 
actions  of  citizens  of  our  country,  from  the  earliest  days  of  the  republic 
down  to  the  present  time,  have  conclusively  shown  that  distinguished 
ancestry  is  not  essentially  necessary  to  the  creation  and  development 
of  eminent  and  patriotic  men.  Whilst,  however,  the  lack  of  attainments 
by  his  progenitors  detracts  nothing  from  the  fame  of  him  who  has 
achieved  a  place  and  a  name  upon  the  record  of  his  age,  yet  we  cannot 
avoid  feeling  that  an  additional  charm  is  lent  to  the  character  of  one 
esteemed  for  his  own  worth,  when  we  know  that  his  father  and  his 
grandfather  before  him  were  possessed  of  the  same  excellent  qualities 
for  which  their  son  and  grandson  is  now  admired  and  beloved.  This 
good  fortune  of  having  parent  and  grand-parent,  both  paternal  and  ma 
ternal,  whose  deeds  he  could  emulate,  and  whose  example  he  could 
imitate  with  equal  pride  and  pleasure,  has  been  inherited  by  Colonel 
Goodwyn ;  and  a  rich  and  a  glorious  heritage  will  his  children  enjoy  in 
receiving  as  an  heir-loom  the  character  of  such  a  father  as  theirs — a  dia 
mond  link  connecting  them  with  the  golden  chain  of  the  past. 

CAPTAIN  ROBERT  GOODWYN,  the  paternal  grandfather  of  Robert  H., 
was  a  native  of  Virginia,  but  emigrated  from  the  Old  Dominion  to 
South  Carolina,  when  very  young.  Here  he  settled  a  large  plantation, 
and,  during  a  long  life  of  usefulness,  won  troops  of  friends  by  his  kind 
ness  and  hospitality,  and  crowds  of  admirers  by  his  patriotism  and  de 
votion  to  the  interests  of  his  country  and  adopted  state.  His  wife  was 
Miss  Sarah  Taylor,  a  daughter  of  Captain  James  Taylor,  and  a  niece  of 
Colonel  Thomas  Taylor — both  of  which  gentlemen  were  daring  and 
efficient  officers  during  the  darkest  days  of  our  Revolutionary  struggle. 
Colonel  Thomas  Taylor,  particularly,  was  a  most  active  partisan,  and 
deserves  a  more  conspicuous  place  than  is  allotted  him  in  the  history 
of  those  trying  times.  He  served  with  Marion,  and  with  Sumpter — was 
always  foremost  in  the  actions  against  the  tories,  evincing  on  all  occa- 
ions  the  most  daring  bravery  and  the  coolest  judgment ;  and  also  com 
manded  a  regiment  at  the  siege  of  Charleston.  In  this  regiment  ot 
Colonel  Taylor's,  Captain  Robert  Goodwyn  commanded  a  company, 
and,  after  having  done  himself  great  credit  by  his  conduct  at  the  bom 
bardment  of  Fort  Moultrie,  was  made  a  prisoner  of  war  by  the  British 
upon  the  surrender  of  the  city  of  Charleston. 

John  Goodwyn,  Esq.,  the  father  of  Robert  H.,  was  a  native  and  pro* 
ininent  citizen  of  Richland  District ;  a  gentleman  of  finished  education, 
high  moral  worth  and  great  benevolence,  and  blessed,  too,  with  pecu 
niary  means  sufficient  to  enable  him  to  give  his  feelings  scope,  he  was 
ever  actively  engaged  in  promoting  measures  that  had  for  their  object 


ROBERT  H.  GOODWYN,  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  85 

the  advancement  of  his  state  and  district,  or  the  benefit  of  his  fellow- 
citizens.  Possessing  the  fullest  confidence  of  the  community,  he  was 
several  times  elected  to  represent  their  interests  in  the  state  legislature. 
Although  but  a  lad  when  the  scathing  fires  of  partisan  warfare  were 
desolating  our  land,  yet  John  Goodwyn  proved  that  he  inherited,  in  a 
full  degree,  the  brave  and  patriotic  spirit  that  has  ever  distinguished  his 
family,  by  achieving  a  deed  of  daring,  &c.,  when  but  a  boy  of  fourteen 
years.  This  was  no  less  a  feat  than  shooting  dead  the  notorious  tory, 
Stallings — a  man  of  gigantic  stature  and  a  terror  to  the  neighborhood — 
who  came  within  the  reach  of  the  youthful  patriot's  rifle,  when  John 
was  serving  with  a  volunteer  company  of  whigs,  whom  he  had  run 
away  from  school  to  join.  Mr.  John  Goodwyn  died  about  1809,  leav 
ing  ten  children,  of  whom  the  subject  of  this  sketch  is  the  eldest  son 
now  living. 

Robert  H.  Goodwyn  was  born  in  Richland  District,  July,  1795. 
After  a  thorough  preparatory  course,  he  entered  the  South  Carolina 
College — an  institution  that  has  given  to  the  Union  an  unusually  large 
number  of  distinguished  men — and  here,  such  was  his  industry  and  so 
great  were  his  acquirements,  that  he  graduated  with  honor  when  but 
in  his  seventeenth  year.  This  was  in  the  latter  part  of  1812,  when  the 
last  war  with  Great  Britain  was  in  progress,  and  our  youthful  graduate, 
having  a  strong  natural  ptedilection  for  a  military  life,  and  burning 
with  a  desire  to  lend  what  aid  he  might  to  the  cause  of  his  country, 
eagerly  sought  admission  into  the  United  States  army.  His  applica- 
"tion  was  rewarded  by  a  commission  as  ensign  in  the  10th  regiment  of 
infantry.  Immediately  upon  the  receipt  of  his  appointment  he  hastened 
to  join  his  corps,  which  was  then  serving  under  General  Izard,  on  the 
northern  frontier.  Here  his  talents,  as  an  officer,  were  so  apparent, 
that,  very  shortly  after  his  junction  with  his  regiment,  its  commander, 
the  gallant  Colonel  Clinch,  appointed  the  newly-made  ensign  to  the 
responsible  office  of  adjutant — a  high  and  flattering  compliment  for  so 
young  a  man  and  so  recently  commissioned  an  officer,  but  one  that  was 
fully  deserved  by  the  recipient — and  in  this  capacity  he  served  until 
peace  was  declared  in  1815. 

After  the  cessation  of  hostilities,  many  of  the  regiments  were  dis 
banded  and  the  others  re-organized,  and  young  Goodwyn  was  attached 
to  the  seventh  regiment  of  foot.  At  this  time,  what  is  now  the  wealthy 
State  of  Georgia — dotted  with  handsome  cities  and  flourishing  villages, 
intersected  by  rail-roads,  and  covered  with  valuable  plantations  groan 
ing  under  luxurious  crops — was  then  nothing  but  a  vast  wilderness 
sparsely  inhabited ;  its  woods,  swamps  and  savannas,  infested  by  bands 
of  savage  Creek  and  Seminole  Indians,  whose  unruly  and  predatory 
habits  caused  the  white  citizens  no  small  amount  of  uneasiness  and 
anxiety.  To  keep  these  lawless  inhabitants  within  due  bounds  and 
to  repress  their  outrages,  the  seventh  regiment  was  stationed  in  their 
country.  Here,  for  eighteen  months,  did  young  Goodwyn  remain 
with  his  regiment ;  and,  though  opportunities  for  winning  distinction 
there  were  none,  yet  trials,  privations  and  dangers,  were  plenty.  The 
greatest  peril,  however,  which  officers  in  such  situations — where  the  living 
is  hard,  the  duty  disagreeable  and  female  society  out  of  the  question — 
are  threatened  with,  arises  from  the  natural  craving  for  excitement  that 


86  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

is  implanted  in  an  ardent  breast;  and  the  sparkling  wine-cup  and  allur 
ing  gaming-table,  are  too  often  resorted  to  by  the  mature  in  years  as 
well  as  by  the  youthful  soldier,  to  their  own  ultimate  undoing.  But, 
even  here,  where  the  temptation  was  so  great,  young  Goodwyn  main 
tained  intact  that  moral  integrity  which  has  ever  characterized  him — 
and  succeeded  in  preserving  those  habits  of  strict  temperance  which 
enabled  him  in  after  years,  and  in  an  arduous  campaign,  to  bear  unhurt 
privations  that  wore  out  younger  men. 

The  friends  of  Goodwyn,  seeing  that  an  opportunity  of  his  gaining 
eminence,  as  a  military  man,  had  passed  with  the  termination  of  the 
war,  and  appreciating  his  character  too  justly  to  rest  satisfied  that  he 
should  be  wasting  his  time  in  the  routine  of  camp-life,  so  earnestly  be 
sought  him  to  relinquish  the  army,  that,  although  his  own  strong  pas 
sion  for  the  service  would  have  induced  him  to  remain,  in  hopes  of 
better  days,  he  yielded  to  their  solicitations  and  resigned  his  commis 
sion  in  1817 ;  being  then  in  his  twenty-second  year. 

Debarred  by  circumstances  from  following  his  first  choice  of  a  profes 
sion,  as  soon  as  he  returned  home  from  the  army,  young  Goodwyn  com 
menced  the  study  of  medicine,  and  entered  the  office  of  that  highly-es 
teemed  and  well-known  physician,  Dr.  Edward  Fisher,  of  Columbia: 
Devoting  himself  with  constitutional  ardor  to  the  acquirement  of  the 
Vast  array  of  facts  that  are  necessary  to  be  mastered  by  the  honest 
student  of  the  sublime  science  of  medicine,  he  was,  in  a  brief  while,  pre 
pared  to  attend  with  profit  the  lectures  of  the  schools.  The  Medical 
College  of  New-York — under  such  men  as  Hosack — then  enjoyed  the 
reputation  of  being  the  best  medical  school  in  the  Union  ;  and,  after 
attending  two  courses  of  its  lectures,  from  this  institution,  young 
Goodwyn  obtained  his  diploma. 

A  profession  obtained,  a  permanent  location  and  settlement  prepara 
tory  to  the  actualities  of  life  was  next  to  be  thought  of.  Shortly  after 
the  possession  of  his  doctorate,  therefore,  he  sought  in  marriage  and  ob 
tained  the  hand  of  Miss  Charlotte  Ann  Thompson,  of  St.  Matthew's 
Parish,  the  amiable  and  lovely  grand-daughter  of  the  chivalrous  Colonel 
William  Thompson,  who  so  bravely  commanded  the  land  forces  at  the 
siege  of  Charleston. 

Settling  in  St.  Matthew's  Parish,  Doctor  Goodwyn's  time  was  most 
thoroughly  employed,  and  he  found  full  scope  for  his  natural  industry 
in  the  management  of  his  large  and  valuable  plantation,  superadded  to 
the  laborious  duties  consequent  upon  an  extensive  medical  practice  in 
the  country.  Here,  for  ten  years,  did  he  continue — bestowing  those 
benefits  upon  the  community  in  which  he  resided  which  no  man  has  it 
in  his  power  to  bestow  with  such  a  liberal  hand,  as  has  the  skilful  and 
conscientious  physician ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  setting  an  excellent  ex 
ample  to  his  neighbors  by  the  judicious  manner  in  which  he  conducted 
the  business  of  his  plantation. 

The  requirements  of  his  other  interests  demanding  more  of  his  atten 
tion  than  was  compatible  with  his  professional  engagements,  in  1828, 
after  ten  years'  faithful  service  as  a  physician,  he  relinquished  the  prac 
tice  of  medicine.  This  was  the  year  in  which  the  nullification  question 
first  began  to  be  seriously  advocated  by  the  people  of  South  Carolina ; 
and  Dr.  Goodwyn,  not  pausing  to  count  the  chances,  nor  disposed  to 


EGBERT  H.  GOODWYN,  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  87 

wait  and  discover  which  would  prove  the  popular  side ;  but,  governed 
then,  as  he  has  ever  been,  by  his  own  conscientious  belief,  at  once,  with 
heart  and  soul,  threw  himself  into  the  ranks  of  the  state-rights'  party. 
The  entire  community  having  implicit  reliance  in  Doctor  Goodwyn's 
integrity  of  purpose,  and  entertaining  great  respect  for  his  ability  and 
judgment,  his  influence  and  example  wonderfully  strengthened  the  nul 
lification  interest  in  his  section  of  the  state,  and  by  that  party  he  was 
elected  as  the  most  fearless  and  able  exponent  they  could  find  for  the 
expression  of  their  opinions  and  the  maintenance  of  their  views  in  the 
legislature.  Dr.  Goodwyn  was,  therefore,  an  active  and  influential 
member  of  the  legislature  which  called  the  convention  for  the  purpose 
of  nullifying  the  acts  of  the  general  government.  He  also,  at  this  time, 
was  complimented  by  being  elected  colonel  of  a  regiment  of  riflemen, 
raised  in  Orangeburg  district,  to  act  in  defence  of  the  state.. 

Having  served  two  terms  as  a  representative  with  great  honor  to 
himself,  and  having  vastly  contributed  to  the  advancement  of  the  views 
of  his  constituents,  Dr.  Goodwyn  was,  immediately  after  his  retirement 
from  the  House,  elected  senator  from  St.  Matthew's  Parish.  This  was 
in  1834.  The  Seminole  war  in  Florida  broke  out  in  the  following  year, 
and  the  then  Governor  of  South  Carolina,  the  lamented  and  distinguished 
George  McDuffie,  gave  the  most  unequivocal  evidence  of  his  own,  as  well 
as  the  best  testimony  of  the  public's  high  opinion  of  Dr.  Goodwyn's 
talents,  ability,  and  patriotism,  by  appointing  him  colonel  of  the  mag 
nificent  regiment  of  mounted  riflemen  furnished  by  the  Palmetto  state 
for  service  in  the  Florida  campaign.  True  to  his  country's  cause,  prompt 
to  obey  her  summons,  and  ready  to  devote  his  services  to  his  state  in 
whatever  capacity  he  could  best  subserve  her  interests,  Dr.  Goodwyn 
at  once  accepted  the  tendered  command,  and,  resigning  for  a  season  the 
senatorial  toga,  he  entered  with  all  his  characteristic  enthusiasm  upon 
the  laborious  duties  of  the  soldier. 

The  regiment  of  which  Colonel  Goodwyn  was  commander,  was  com 
posed  of  the  pride  and  flower  of  Carolina's  chivalry  ;  and,  thanks  to 
their  gallant  leader's  thorough  knowledge,  his  untiring  zeal,  and  his  un 
remitting  attention  to  his  own  duties  and  their  necessities,  it  was,  in  a 
very  brief  time,  one  of  the  handsomest  and  most  effective  regiments  in 
the  service.  We  heard  one  who  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  them  say, 
"  that  Goodwyn's  regiment,  nine  hundred  strong,  as  it  performed  its 
evolutions  with  the  precision  of  the  '  old  guard,'  and  with  the  rapidity 
and  fire  that  none  but  freemen  can  exhibit,  was  one  of  the  most  beauti 
ful  and  captivating  sights  he  ever  witnessed." 

The  privations,  the  sickness  and  suffering  endured  by  the  army  during 
that  tedious  Indian  war  ;  the  hardships  of  all  kinds  they  were  compelled 
to  encounter  from  hunger  and  exposure,  from  lack  of  sufficient  camp  equip 
age,  and  from  the  ravages  of  the  climate,  in  addition  to  the  ordinary 
and  usual  troubles  consequent  upon  a  life  of  active  service  in  an  enemy's 
country,  are  historical  facts  with  which  every  one  is  familiar.  Of  all 
these  ills,  and  their  name  was  truly  legion,  the  regiment  of  mounted 
riflemen  received  their  full  share.  But  one  advantage  did  these  noble 
fellows  enjoy  over  their  brave  companions  in  the  army :  in  their  colonel 
they  found  not  only  an  able  and  efficient  officer,  a  worthy  head,  compe 
tent  ever  to  direct,  and  willing  always  to  lead  them  in  the  line  of  duty, 


88  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

but  in  him  they  also  found  a  kind  and  considerate  friend,  a  gentle  com 
panion  in  their  hours  of  sickness,  a  faithful  protector  and  a  prudent  ad 
viser  in  their  dark  and  dreary  days ;  for,  true  to  his  stern  republican 
principles,  then,  as  ever,  acting  as  he  spoke,  practising  what  he  preached, 
Colonel  Goodwyn  only  made  use  of  the  advantages  conferred  upon  him 
by  his  rank  for  the  benefit  of  his  men.  Stinting  himself  with  Spartan 
self-denial  to  contribute  to  the  wants  of  the  sick  and  weak  ones  of  his 
command,  he  fared  as  did  the  poorest  of  his  soldiers,  sharing  with  them 
every  toil,  suffering  every  privation,  bearing  uncomplainingly  every 
discomfort,  and  only  differing  from  his  men  by  the  greater  amount  of 
labor,  anxiety,  and  responsibility,  that  fell  to  his  lot  in  consequence  of 
his  rank. 

The  war  in  Florida,  where  the  foe  were  skulking  savages,  dodging 
from  swamp  to  swamp,  firing  upon  their  adversaries  from  skilfully- 
planned  ambuscades,  or  harrassing  their  flanks  in  the  gloomy  night- 
hours,  was  not  one  calculated  to  afford  the  ambitious  soldier  many 
chances  for  brilliant  display.  But  on  one  occasion  Colonel  Goodwyn 
had  an  opportunity  of  showing  the  quality  of  the  metal  he  was  made 
of,  and  right  clearly  and  truly  did  it  ring ;  proving  that,  if  his  heart  was 
kind,  and  ever  ready  to  throb  at  pity's  call,  his  courage  was  as  bright 
and  polished,  as  firm  and  durable,  as  the  tempered  steel  of  his  sword. 
It  was  a  picture  for  the  pencil  of  an  artist.  The  dusky  twilight  of  a 
summer's  evening  was  beginning  to  envelop  in  a  murky  mantle  the 
face  of  nature.  The  nine  hundred  mounted  men,  defiling  with  lagging 
tread,  wearied  by  a  summer's-day  march,  were  slowly  winding  their 
long  drawn-out  line  along  a  narrow  wood-path,  scarce  wide  enough  to 
permit  two  horsemen  abreast.  In  their  front  a  high  knoll  arose :  its 
sides  and  summit,  save  for  a  space  some  sixty  yards  in  diameter,  stud 
ded  with  high-reaching,  wide-branching,  huge  old  forest  trees.  Here, 
in  the  clearing  on  the  hill-top,  out  in  bold  relief,  out  in  the  bright  light 
beyond  the  shadows,  Colonel  Goodwyn  turned  his  horse  and  paused  to 
view  his  advancing  men.  But  scarcely  had  he  turned,  when,  from  every 
tree,  trunk  and  bunch  of  bushes,  before,  behind,  on  either  side,  flashed 
the  glare  of  discharged  rifles,  and  thick  and  fast  around  him  flew  the 
deadly  leaden  hail  dispatched  by  an  Indian  volley.  By  providential 
interposition,  the  rush  of  hurtling  missiles  passed  him  harmless  by ;  and, 
undisturbed,  undismayed,  undaunted,  there,  exposed  to  volley  after 
volley  from  the  savage  fire,  did  Colonel  Goodwyn  remain  for  at  least 
the  space  of  ten  minutes,  as  coolly  and  collectedly  as  if  he  had  been 
upon  review.  At  last,  his  men  coming  up,  he  charged  upon  the 
cowardly  foe  and  scattered  them. 

So  charmed  was  General  Eustis  with  Colonel  Goodwyn's  admirable 
conduct  under  such  a  galling  fire,  that  he  solicited  him  to  make  a  re 
port  of  the  engagement  to  General  Scott,  then  commander-in-chief;  but 
Goodwyn's  modesty  prevented  him  from  reporting  an  action  in  which 
he  had  borne  such  a  conspicuous  part,  and  he  was  deaf  to  Eustis'  en 
treaties,  mentioning  the  matter,  in  his  official  despatch,  merely  as  a 
slight  skirmish. 

After  returning  from  the  Florida  campaign,  Colonel  Goodwyn  again 
entered  the  Senate,  and  was  at  once  appointed  chairman  of  the  com 
mittee  on  military  affairs.  At  that  time  that  committee  was  the  most 


ROBERT  H.  GOODWYN,  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  89 

important  one  in  that  body,  as  it  was  occupied  in  revising  and  re 
organizing  the  entire  military  system  of  South  Carolina.  The  clear 
intellect,  the  practical  knowledge,  and  the  far-seeing  wisdom  brought  to 
this  task  by  Colonel  Goodwyn,  are  clearly  exemplified  by  the  result 
of  the  labors  of  this  committee,  of  which  he  was  at  once  chairman  and 
chief  director ;  for,  to  their  suggestions  and  recommendations  is  our 
beloved  state  indebted  for  the  perfect  system  of  military  organization 
which  now  distinguishes  her  above  any  of  her  sister  sovereignties. 

In  1837,  the  development  of  his  family  necessitated  the  removal  of 
Colonel  Goodwyn  to  Columbia,  for  the  purpose  of  availing  himself  of 
the  greater  facilities  there  afforded  for  the  thorough  education  of  his 
children,  of  whom  he  is  blessed  with  eight. 

No  sooner  was  he  located  at  the  capital,  than  his  fellow-citizens  be 
came  desirous  of  again  availing  themselves  of  his  tried  ability  and 
known  judgment  and  integrity ;  and  he  was  appointed  by  the  legis 
lature  to  fill  the  responsible  and  arduous  post  of  president  of  the 
Branch  Bank  of  the  State  of  South  Carolina.  This  position  he  has  ever 
since  filled,  and  still  holds,  with  equal  honor  to  himself,  profit  to  the 
state,  and  to  the  pleasure  of  every  citizen  of  the  commonwealth  who  has 
dealings  with  the  institution  over  which  he  presides.  To  show  fully 
how  many  attributes  are  requisite  for  the  possessor  of  the  position 
Colonel  Goodwyn  now  occupies — to  make  clearly  manifest  the  amount 
of  judgment,  of  kindness,  and  of  virtue,  that  one  in  his  situation  must 
be  master  of,  to  enable  him  to  do  his  duty  to  his  fellow-citizens,  his 
state  and  himself — we  will  here  make  a  short  diversion,  and  take  a 
brief  glance  at  the  THE  BANK  OF  THE  STATE  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA. 

Money,  in  one  sense,  as  far  as  the  dictionary  defines  its  uses,  is  but 
a  circulating  medium.  But  money,  in  point  of  fact,  is  really  and  truly 
now  the  visible  type  of  everything  that  man  in  his  unregenerated  con 
dition  craves.  In  itself,  intrinsically,  money,  like  iron,  is  but  an  im 
passive  and  inanimate  metal,  insufficient  for  any  single  necessity  of 
life ;  but  occupying  the  position  a  high  state  of  civilization  has  formed 
for  it,  it  is  the  representative  of  time,  of  power,  of  comfort,  of  inde 
pendence,  of  luxury  ;  indeed,  so  many  desirable  requisites  are  at  its  com 
mand,  that  its  name  is  almost  universally  recognized  by  the  bulk  of 
our  race  as  a  synonym  for  that  undiscovered  something  which  every 
mortal  hopes  for  under  the  title  of  happiness. 

Wherever,  therefore,  a  large  quantity  of  the  precious  commodity  is 
accumulated,  there,  necessarily,  will  a  great  share  of  public  attention 
be  directed ;  and  those  persons  who  have  the  control  of  this  so  keenly 
sought-after  end  and  aim  of  human  effort  and  ingenuity,  will  ever  find 
themselves  subject  to  a  more  than  usual  amount  of  suspicion,  slander, 
and  misrepresentation.  Let  the  motives  that  actuate  them  be  as  pure 
and  as  holy  as  those  that  inspire  the  mother  who  risks  her  own  life  to 
save  her  child's  ;  let  their  actions  be  as  open  as  the  boundless  sky ;  let 
their  private  characters  be  as  spotless  as  an  infant's,  yet  all  will  not 
suffice ;  and  they  must  be  patient  whilst  they  hear  the  purity  of  their 
intentions  doubted,  the  honesty  of  their  deeds  questioned,  and  the  in 
tegrity  of  their  principles  canvassed.  Just  in  proportion,  too,  as  they 
exert  the  power  confided  to  them  for  the  benefit  of  their  fellows — in  an 
exact  ratio  to  the  amount  of  good  they  effect,  in  inverse  measure  to 


90  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

the  degree  of  happiness  they  confer,  and  to  the  misery  and  suffering 
they  avert — will  they  always  and  invariably  find  themselves  be-rated, 
slurred,  and  stigmatized.  At  the  first  glance  this  appears  unnatural, 
unfair,  and  incredible ;  but  facts,  every  day  transpiring,  demonstrate 
its  truth,  whilst  only  slight  observation  is  necessary  to  discover  its 
cause. 

The  passion  of  avarice  is  a  moral  simoon,  that  blights  and  shrivels 
every  finer  feeling  of  the  human  heart  before  its  deadly  breath ;  every 
tender  sentiment  vanishes,  every  gentle  emotion  departs,  every  throb  of 
pity  flies,  every  sprig  of  generosity  dies,  every  bud  of  charity  withers 
and  wilts — leaving  to  the  unhappy  object  over  whom  it  sweeps,  nothing 
but  an  insane  greed  for  gain,  that  will  be  gratified,  regardless  of  all  prin 
ciple  or  moral  law.  These  monomaniacs — we  will  not  call  them  des 
picable,  for  they  are  not  sane — who  so  miserably  mistake  the  means 
for  the  end,  and  so  brutishly  devote  their  energies  and  prostitute  their 
abilities  for  the  purpose  of  heaping  dollars  upon  dollars — merely  to 
leave  when  death  calls  the  gatherer  away — find  their  greatest  harvests 
in  seasons  of  public  calamity,  or  in  cases  of  private  necessity  or  indivi 
dual  misfortune.  Whoever,  then,  interposes  between  this  soulless  class 
and  what  they  consider  their  legitimate  prey,  must  expect — as  they 
will  assuredly  feel — the  full  weight  of  their  unscrupulous  wrath.  This 
is  the  source — the  envenomed  tongues  of  disappointed  usurers — from 
whence  arise  the  first  inuendoes,  the  half-uttered  suspicions,  the  mutter 
ed  misgivings,  that,  fanned  by  their  originators,  cherished  by  their  care 
and  propagated  through  their  influence,  gradually  accumulate  force  and 
volume,  and  eventuate  in  public  slanders  against  those  men  to  whom  the 
people  really  are  under  countless  obligations.  For,  having  the  power, 
the  honest  and  conscientious  controllers  of  money,  governed  by  high 
and  patriotic  notions,  always  avert  public  calamities,  remedy  private 
misfortunes  and  soothe  personal  sufferings — and  others  prevent  these 
traffickers  in  blood  and  tears,  these  dealers  in  human  woe,  from  having 
a  plethora  of  victims,  and  render  it  impossible  for  them  to  realize  vast 
profits  ffom  the  miseries  of  their  fellows. 

Standing,  as  it  does,  a  strong,  embattled  and  impregnable  rampart 
between  the  people  and  the  money-dealers — an  ark  of  safety,  open 
always  to  the  meritorious  necessitous,  affording  them  a  perfect  shelter 
against  the  grinding  exactions  of  the  Shylocks  of  the  land — it  is  most 
natural  that  the  Bank  of  the  State  of  South  Carolina  should  have  been 
slandered,  and  abused,  and  misrepresented,  as  it  has  been  for  years 
past.  But  it  is  now  also  time  that  these  slanders  should  cease,  and 
that  the  intelligence  of  the  people  of  a  gallant  state  should  be  no  longer 
outraged  by  the  propagation  of  falsities,  coined  by  the  heartless  misers 
and  circulated  by  designing  demagogues,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  ad 
vancing  their  own  base  and  selfish  ends,  particularly  when  these  grovel 
ling  aims  can  only  be  accomplished  at  the  expense  of  high-minded  and 
noble-spirited  gentlemen,  and  by  the  prejudice  and  embarrassment  of 
a  glorious  institution,  which  has  contributed  so  eminently  to  the  honor 
and  reputation  of  the  state,  so  generally  to  the  welfare  of  its  citizens, 
and  so  undeniably  to  the  security  of  the  entire  commonwealth. 

Created  by  the  power  of  the  people,  through  their  delegates,  the  legis 
lature  ;  its  capital  furnished  by  the  state,  and  the  credit  of  South  Caro- 


ROBERT  H.  GOODWYN,  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  91 

Una,  in  its  sovereign  capacity,  pledged  for  the  redemption  of  its  liabili 
ties  and  the  fulfilment  of  its  promises,  under  the  constant  supervision 
of  the  public  representatives,  its  officers  are  appointed  by  the  state, 
and  having  no  object  separate  from  the  welfare  of  the  institution,  it  is 
simply  absurd  to  imagine  that  the  interests  of  the  bank  can  be  other 
than  identical  with  the  interests  of  the  people. 

Having  faithfully  and  accurately  kept  books  in  which  every  transac 
tion  is  legibly  recorded  by  competent  and  careful  clerks,  and  these  ac 
counts  open  at  all  times  to  the  inspection  of  the  legislature,  who  annu 
ally  appoint  intelligent  and  disinterested  committees  to  examine  them  ; 
with  such  a  man  as  C.  M.  Furman  as  president  of  the  Mother  Bank ; 
and  with  such  men  as  R.  H.  Goodwyn  and  J.  Salmon  as  presiding  offi 
cers  of  its  branches — each,  too,  acting  by  the  advice  and  with  the  as 
sistance  of  twelve  directors — gentlemen  of  high  social  standing,  unim 
peachable  veracity  and  great  business  ability — all  pledged  to  act  im 
partially ;  with  all  these  requisites,  safeguards  and  appliances,  it  is 
merely  ridiculous  to  suppose  that  the  operations  of  the  bank  can  be  any 
thing  but  honorable,  praiseworthy  and  judicious — because,  for  them  to 
be  otherwise  is  both  physically  and  morally  impossible.  Physically 
impossible,  because  it  must  be  impracticable  and  beyond  the  power  of 
man  to  conceal  deviations  or  prevent  the  discovery  of  peculations. 
Morally  impossible  for  wrong  to  be  done,  or  favoritism  shown,  because 
the  whole  legislature,  the  entire  corps  of  officers  and  clerks,  and  every 
.one  of  the  thirty-six  directors,  would  all,  each  and  individually,  have  to 
be  corrupt,  unprincipled  and  perjured,  before  such  things  could  be  ac 
complished. 

Yet,  in  the  face  of  these  facts,  which  of  themselves  are  sufficient  to 
convince  any  intelligent  and  candid  man,  that  the  stories  current  against 
the  bank  are  merely  malicious  fabrications — yet,  we  repeat,  in  the  face  of 
these  indisputable  facts,  by  the  instrumentality  of  political  aspirants  in 
want  of  hobbies,  backed  by  the  influence  of  thwarted  usurers,  so  many 
tales  have  been  palmed  upon  the  public,  under  so  many  and  such  specious 
guises,  so  often  repeated  and  presented  in  such  multifarious  shapes, 
that  many  worthy  citizens  of  the  Palmetto  state,  who  would  scorn  to 
harbor  an  unworthy  thought,  have  been  made  to  believe  that  the  bank 
of  the  State  of  South  Carolina  is  a  most  corrupt  establishment,  support 
ed  exclusively  as  a  means  of  popular  oppression.  Those  who  thus  be 
lieve,  in  consequence  of  the  misrepresentations  of  designing  ones,  we 
can  readily  forgive  for  the  wrong  they  unintentionally  commit,  but 
what  must  be  the  debasement  of  the  moral  standard  of  those  who  have 
caused  them  thus  to  think  ? 

Our  limits  debar  us  from  making  any  extended  remarks,  either  as  to 
the  bank  or  its  policy,  though  we  are  certain  that  the  few  plain  facts 
we  have  stated  will  carry  more  weight  with  them  the  more  thoroughly 
they  are  investigated  and  the  more  closely  they  are  sifted.  We  can 
not  close,  h  owever,  without  indulging  ourselves  in  the  pleasure  of  stat 
ing  one  or  two  instances  which  came  within  our  knowledge,  that  will 
clearly  and  conclusively  show  both  the  manner  in  which  the  bank  bene* 
fits  the  people,  and  also  how  and  where  it  interferes  with  the  transac 
tions  of  the  usurers,  and  consequently  excites  their  energetic  wrath  and 
active  animosity. 


92  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

The  first  is  the  case  of  an  honest  and  industrious  but  illiterate  farmer 
of  the  up-country.  A  long  life  of  economy  and  toilsome  effort  had 
enabled  him  to  possess  a  small  but  unusually  productive  and  fertile  plan 
tation.  This  was  his  all ;  upon  it  he  lived  and  labored ;  and  in  the 
society  of  his  wife  and  children,  and  in  the  management  of  his  luxuriant 
crops,  his  life  passed  happily  by.  Upon  either  side  of  this  farmer's 
land  were  situated  the  fields  of  two  rich  neighbors,  who,  with  covet 
ous  eyes,  daily  looked  upon  the  poor  man's  smiling  acres,  and  longed 
to  add  them  to  the  thousands  they  already  owned.  Time  and 
again  had  they  endeavored  to  purchase  them,  but  in  vain.  At 
last,  as  he  was  falling  into  the  sere  and  yellow  leaf,  this  hitherto  care 
ful  farmer  contracted  the  fatal  habit  of  indulging  too  freely  with  the 
bottle ;  embarrassments  necessarily  followed,  and  in  a  few  years  he 
found  himself  in  debt,  to  the  amount  of  five  thousand  dollars.  Pay 
ment  of  his  notes  was  demanded,  and,  to  his  astonishment,  he  found 
that  all  his  liabilities  were  in  the  hands  of  his  two  wealthy  neighbors. 
He  asked  them  for  time,  and  offered  unexceptionable  security,  but  they 
would  not  grant  it,  and  insisted  upon  having  the  money  at  once,  or 
threatened  to  sell  him  out  by  the  sheriff.  Almost  heart-broken,  the 
old  man  made  every  exertion  that  he  could  to  raise  the  necessary  funds, 
but  to  raise  large  sums  of  money  in  the  country,  at  particular  seasons  of 
the  year,  is  almost  impossible,  and  all  the  farmer's  efforts  were  unavailing. 
Judgment  was  entered  up;  the  day  of  sale  was  announced;  and  the  old 
man  had  resigned  himself  to  despair,  when  a  sympathizing  friend,  who  had 
a  knowledge  of  business,  asked  the  distressed  farmer  if  he  had  applied 
to  the  bank  for  help.  "No,"  he  answered,  "I  hardly  know  where  the 
bank  is,  and  I  am  not  acquainted  with  a  single  officer  of  the  institution, 
and  know  nothing  about  bank  business."  His  friend  assured  him  that 
this  made  no  difference;  and,  in  consequence  of  this  wise  adviser's 
solicitations,  the  old  man,  in  his  homespun  suit,  made  his  way  to 
Columbia,  and  presented  himself  before  the  president  of  the  branch  bank. 
His  story  was  soon  told ;  the  worth  of  his  plantation  was  ascertained 
to  be  at  least  ten  thousand  dollars,  and  the  directors  immediately  ad 
vanced  him,  upon  the  security  of  a  mortgage,  the  money  necessary  to 
liquidate  his  liabilities.  Joyfully  did  the  relieved  citizen  turn  himself 
homeward,  the  sun  seeming  brighter,  the  way  shorter,  and  the  air 
sweeter,  than  it  had  ever  before  appeared  to  him.  The  next  day  was 
the  time  appointed  for  selling  the  homestead,  but  no  longer  did  he  dread 
its  advent ;  for,  early  in  the  morning,  much  to  the  astonishment,  but 
more  to  the  chagrin  and  disappointment  of  his  creditors,  he  settled  the 
notes  they  held  against  him,  and  prevented  the  execution  of  their  un 
holy  scheme  to  dispossess  him  of  his  home  at  half  its  value  by  a  forced 
sale.  Deep  and  dire  were  the  maledictions  uttered  by  those  rich  men 
against  the  institution  which  enabled  a  poor  man  to  guard  against  their 
machinations.  But  the  heartfelt  praises  of  the  rescued  farmer  more 
than  counterbalanced  them  before  the  tribunal  on  high,  if  they  were 
not  heard  so  loud  on  earth ;  for,  startled  by  the  danger  in  which  he  had 
been  placed,  never  more  did  he  touch  the  ruinous  wine  cup,  but  took  a 
fresh  start  in  energy  and  industry ;  paid  off,  in  a  few  years,  principal 
and  interest  of  the  money  so  opportunely  advanced  ;  and,  thanks  to  the 
wise  liberality  of  the  bank,  instead  of  dying,  as  most  probably  he  would 


ROBERT  H.  GOODWYN,  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  9g 

have  done,  a  degraded  and  homeless  drunkard,  to  be  buried  at  the  ex 
pense  of  the  district,  he  is  living  under  the  shelter  of  his  own  vine  and 
fig-tree,  and  a  respected  and  useful  citizen. 

Another  case :  In  Spartanburg  district,  a  few  years  since,  during  a 
season  of  unusual  business  depression,  and  at  a  time  when  commercial 
difficulties  had  rendered  the  money-market  remarkably  stringent,  a  citi 
zen  died  who  was  possessed  of  a  large  and  valuable  estate,  valued  at 
some  twenty-five  or  thirty  thousand  dollars.  The  executor  had  hardly 
entered  upon  the  duties  of  his  office,  when  to  his  astonishment  he  was 
informed  by  a  noted  money-lender  in  the  vicinity,  that  he  held  a  con 
fession  of  judgment  against  the  deceased  for  the  sum  of  ten  thousand 
dollars.  The  immediate  payment  of  this  large  sum  was  demanded. 
The  executor  reminded  the  holder  of  the  judgment  of  the  great  scarcity 
of  money  throughout  the  entire  country,  and  told  him  that  even  in  the 
cities  the  capitalists  were  all  short,  and  reminded  him  of  the  perfectly 
safe  nature  of  the  security  he  had  for  the  liquidation  of  the  claim.  All 
this  the  creditor  admitted,  but  insisted  upon  having  his  money  without 
delay,  or  he  would  realize  by  selling  the  estate  through  the  sheriff.  The 
executor  knew  that  the  hard-hearted  man  had  the  power  to  do  as  he 
threatened ;  he  also  knew  that  if  the  estate  was  put  up  by  the  sheriff, 
to  be  sold  for  cash,  that  it  would  not  bring,  in  the  then  state  of  the 
money-market,  more  than  one-third  of  its  just  value ;  he  also  was  aware, 
if  things  took  this  course,  that  the  widow  and  orphans  of  his  deceased 
friend  would  be  cast  penniless  and  homeless  upon  the  world ;  and  be 
sides,  he  felt  certain  that  the  object  of  the  money-lender  in  demanding 
a  settlement  then,  was  to  force  the  property  into  market,  so  that  he 
might  become  the  purchaser,  and  add  to  his  already  overgrown  fortune 
at  the  expense  of  the  widow  and  the  fatherless  ones.  Determined  to 
avert  the  threatened  calamity  from  the  heads  of  those  who  had  been 
intrusted  to  his  care,  if  it  were  in  his  power,  he  made  every  exertion 
to  find  the  money.  Individual  after  individual  did  he  apply  to,  but 
without  accomplishing  his  object.  Almost  despairing,  he,  as  a  last  re 
course,  thought  of  seeking  aid  from  the  bank,  though  he  had  but  little 
hope  of  receiving  aid  there,  for  he  knew  how  much  at  that  time  the  in 
stitution  was  straitened.  But  he  applied,  stated  the  case  plainly  and 
fairly  to  the  president  of  the  Columbia  branch,  and  at  once  received  his 
assurance  that,  if  it  were  possible,  the  bank  would  lend  the  requisite 
aid.  The  next  day  the  executor  told  his  story  to  the  board  of  direc 
tors,  and  they,  like  the  president,  sympathizing  strongly  with  the  un 
protected  ones,  at  once  dispatched  a  special  messenger  to  Charleston  to 
lay  the  matter  before  the  mother  bank  and  ask  her  aid,  for  the  branch 
had  received  orders  not  to  let  out  a  dollar.  The  messenger  went  to 
Charleston  and  returned  with  the  necessary  money,  which,  on  the  secu 
rity  of  a  mortgage,  was  handed  over  to  the  executor,  who,  when  hope 
had  become  hopeless,  found  himself  able,  by  the  bank's  generosity,  to 
pay  the  claim  of  the  money-lender,  and  to  preserve  to  the  family  of  his 
departed  friend  the  handsome  competency  which  had  been  bequeathed  to 
them,  but  which,  but  for  the  assistance  of  the  bank,  would  have  been  refc 
from  them.  The  anger  of  the  usurer,  when  he  found  the  prize  he  had 
calculated  upon  as  already  his  taken  from  his  grasp,  was  fearful ;  he 
swore  that  he  would  never  cease  striving  to  have  the  infernal  institu 


94  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

tion  which  had  caused  him  the  disappointment,  put  a  stop  to,  for,  said 
he,  "this  is  the  third  time  it  has  caused  me  to  lose  a  splendid  bargain, 
and  it  is  no  use  to  be  rich  in  South  Carolina  as  long  as  this  blasted  bank 
keeps  a  man  from  taking  advantage  of  hard  times." 

One  more  instance,  and  we  have  done ;  for  though  we  could  cite  simi 
lar  cases  by  the  score,  these  are  enough  to  prove  conclusively  the  real 
spirit  by  which  the  actions  of  this  admirable  institution  are  governed. 
During  a  period  of  scarcity,  a  rich  and  distinguished  gentleman  of  Fair- 
field  district  applied  to  the  branch  bank  for  a  discount  of  one  thousand 
dollars.  For  several  weeks  he  was  unable  to  obtain  the  accommoda 
tion  he  desired,  when,  hearing  that  in  this  interval  several  of  his  neigh 
bors,  who  were  poor,  had  obtained  money  from  the  bank,  he  became 
offended,  and  proceeding  to  Columbia,  requested  of  the  president  an 
explanation  of  the  cause  why  he,  whose  security  was  of  the  first  class, 
could  not  get  what  he  wished,  when  his  comparatively  very  poor  neigh 
bors  could  procure  money."  "That,"  replied  the  president,  "is  the 
very  reason — they  got  it  because  they  were  poor.  The  help  they  wanted 
they  could  obtain  in  no  other  place,  and  it  was  absolutely  essential  to 
prevent'  them  from  suffering.  But  with  you  the  case  is  different ;  you 
can  obtain  credit  anywhere,  and  though  you  may  be  inconvenienced,  you 
cannot  be  injured  by  a  denial  here.  We  have  but  little  money  at  our 
disposal  just  now,  and  the  wants  of  the  community  are  great,  so  we 
help  those  who  most  stand  in  need  of  assistance."  The  force  of  the 
reasoning  and  the  justice  of  the  action  were  at  once  apparent  to  the 
gentleman,  and  he  exclaimed  "  God  bless  the  bank !  and  may  it  ever  be 
preserved  to  benefit  the  state !"  Yet,  this  is  the  institution  which  has 
been  so  vilely  slandered  by  politicians,  writers  and  speakers.  May  it 
hereafter  have  justice  done  it ! 

When  we  remember  that  banks  and  all  other  public  institutions  are  in 
themselves  moral  nonentities,  and  that  it  is  the  officers  and  directors  there 
of  who  are  actually  the  parties  referred  to,  when  the  management  and  ac 
tions  of  corporations  are  spoken  of,  the  necessity  of  introducing  the  fore 
going  remarks  in  relation  to  the  bank  of  the  state  in  this  article,  becomes 
at  once  apparent.  And  the  fact  that  the  subject  of  this  sketch  has  for  so 
many  years  since  given  unqualified  satisfaction  both  to  the  friends  and 
enemies  of  the  institution,  speaks  louder  than  words  in  proof  of  his  pos 
sessing  the  many  admirable  and  uncommon  traits  of  character  which 
are  here  attributed  to  him.  Truly  is  Robert  II.  Goodwyn  a  citizen  of 
whom  any  state  might  be  proud,  a  gentleman  whose  presence  would 
benefit  any  community,  a  man  whose  name  would  reflect  honor  upon 
any  office.  Mentally,  he  is  independent,  firm,  energetic  and  discrimi 
nating  ;  morally,  he  is  conscientious,  upright  and  pure — whilst  socially, 
he  is  the  very  personification  of  a  southern  gentleman — polished  in  his 
manners,  affable  and  conciliatory  in  his  deportment,  hospitable,  generous 
and  benevolent  in  his  domestic  intercourse.  That  he  may  long  be  per 
mitted  to  enjoy  the  vigorous  health  which  a  good  constitution,  tem 
perate  habits  and  a  clear  conscience  now  bless  him  with,  and  that  his 
valuable  life  may  be  spared  for  many  years,  are  the  sincere  wishes  of 
his  countless  friends. 


WILLARD  PHILLIPS,  OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  95 

HON.  WILLARD  PHILLIPS, 

OF   BOSTON,    MASSACHUSETTS 

WILLARD  PHILLIPS  is  one  of  the  many  Americans,  especially  New- 
Englanders,  who  are  the  architects  of  their  own  fortunes,  having  com 
menced  life  under  what  are  usually  esteemed,  and,  to  many  young 
men,  are  in  fact  great  disadvantages  in  the  way  of -obtaining  an  advan 
tageous  social  position.  In  his  case,  as  in  many  others,  the  bearing  up 
against  the  obstacles  from  want  of  pecuniary  means  and  external  helps, 
and  overcoming  them,  constituted,  of  itself,  a  very  useful  part  of  edu 
cation.  Bridgewater,  in  the  county  of  Plymouth,  or  The  Old  Colony, 
as  it  is  more  frequently  called,  in  Massachusetts,  was  his  native  town, 
where  he  was  born  on  the  19th  of  December,  1784.  His  infancy  was 
passed  there,  and  his  childhood  on  the  borders  of  Northampton  and 
Williamsburgh,  in  the  county  of  Hampshire,  where  his  relatives  re 
sided,  and  his  youth,  to  the  age  of  nineteen,  in  the  town  of  Cumming- 
ton  in  the  same  county.  To  that  age  his  only  means  of  education 
were  the  common  schools  of  the  time,  namely,  at  first  that  of  a  school 
mistress  in  summer,  and  a  schoolmaster  for  the  winter  months,  and 
afterwards  only  the  latter,  in  which  Noah  Webster's  spelling-book  was 
the  principal  classic.  At  the  age  of  eighteen,  having  gone  through  the 
usual  transformation  of  New-England  boys  of  any  bookish  propensi 
ties,  from  pupil  to  instructor,  he  took  charge  of  a  school  in  the  neigh 
boring  town  of  Goshen.  He  has  recently,  as  he  relates,  passed  through 
this  same  neighborhood,  which,  after  an  intervening  half  century,  sug 
gested  thick- coming  reminiscences  and  reflections.  He  at  first,  on  re 
visiting  the  scene,  supposed  himself  to  be  alone,  near  his  old  boarding- 
house,  now  going  to  decay,  in  the  midst  of  another  and  strange  genera 
tion,  until  the  past  and  present  were  brought  into  connection,  by  meet 
ing  with  one  of  his  younger  pupils,  whose  vivid  and  affectionate  recol 
lection  of  his  early  teacher  occasioned  a  cordial  greeting,  and  who 
gave  an  account  of  the  fortunes  and  fates  of  those  of  the  former  old 
people,  now  dead,  and  former  young  people,  now  old. 

Young  Phillips  had  always  been  in  the  advanced  rank  among  those 
of  his  own  age  in  the  studies  then  pursued  in  the  public  schools,  the 
attendance  on  which  were  interludes  to  his  agricultural  employment. 
At  the  age  last  above-mentioned,  after  teaching  a  second  time  for  a  few 
months  in  the  town  of  Chesterfield,  he  broke  ground  in  the  Latin  Ian. 
guage  under  the  instruction  of  his  fellow-townsman,  companion  and 
friend  of  the  same  age,  Calvin  Briggs,  who  having  graduated  at  Wil 
liams  College,  was  then  studying  under  Dr.  Bryant,  a  distinguished 
medical  practitioner,  and  father  of  William  Cullen  Bryant,  since  so 
well  known  by  his  literary  reputation  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic. 
Between  the  last  named  and  Judge  Phillips,  a  friendship  subsequently 
sprung  up  and  still  subsists.  Dr.  Briggs,  by  whose  assistance  Phillips 
was  initiated  into  the  rudimental  mysteries  of  Latin,  afterwards  set- 
tied  in  Marblehead,  where  he  continued  in  medical  practice  until  his 
death,  in  the  present  year  of  1852,  between  whom  and  his  former 


06  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

pupil,  a  mutual  regard  was  always  maintained,  although  their  differ 
ent  paths  seldom  admitted  of  their  meeting. 

Phillips  early  decided  on  Harvard  as  the  place  of  his  education. 
The  prospect  was  not  without  its  discouragements.  Education  at  this 
or  any  similar  institution,  cannot  be  obtained  without  a  considerable 
expense  for  one  whose  only  means  are  his  learning  and  his  credit,  but 
he  "  bated  not  a  jot  of  heart  or  hope,"  being  always  cheered  on  by  his 
friends.  He  next  pursued  his  studies  for  a  considerable  time  with  Mr, 
James  Thomas,  of  Bridgewater,  who  had  in  his  youth  been  pronounced 
bachelor  of  arts  by  the  authority  of  the  government  of  Harvard  Col 
lege,  and  by  the  same  authority  commissioned  to  teach  others — a 
privilege  of  which  he  had  availed  himself  to  some  extent,  but  had 
never  made  teaching,  or  either  of  the  employments  sometimes  by 
courtesy  denominated  the  learned  professions,  his  regular  business. 
His  residence  was  on  his  own  grounds,  in  the  midst  of  pleasant 
orchards  and  fields ;  he  kept  large  feathered  flocks,  carried  on  his  farm, 
laboring  himself  withal,  in  which  his  pupil  joined  him  a  part  of  the 
time.  At  this  time  and  afterwards,  until  pretty  well  advanced  in  life, 
Mr.  Thomas  continued  a  bachelor,  not  only  as  far  as  the  arts  and 
sciences,  and  the  commission  issued  by  authority  committed  to  the 
president  of  Harvard  College,  were  concerned,  but  also  in  respect  to 
what  Mr.  Oldbuck  would  call  "  the  woman  kind."  Mr.  Phillips  was 
afterwards  for  a  few  months  the  pupil  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Niles,  of  Abing- 
ton,  finished  his  studies,  preparatory  to  entering  college,  at  the  academy 
of  what  was  at  that  time  the  south  parish  of  Bridgewater,  a  flourishing 
institution  in  a  pleasant  locality  then  under  the  preceptorship  of  Richard 
Sanger,  who  had  been  recently  a  tutor  in  Harvard  College,  and  was 
accordingly  well  versed  in  all  the  learning  necessary  for  matriculation 
there.  While  at  this  institution  Phillips  boarded  in  the  family  of 
Dr.  Noah  Fearing,  the  principal  physician  of  the  place,  whom  he  takes 
pleasure  in  commemorating  as  from  that  time  one  of  his  most  at 
tached  and  kindest  friends,  who  with  one  other  subsequently  advanced 
to  h\m  all  the  means  requisite  (in  addition  to  his  earnings  by  teaching 
and  otherwise)  for  completing  his  education,  solely  on  his  own  personal 
responsibility.  The  debt  thus  contracted  was  finally  discharged  with 
interest,  when  he  said  to  Phillips,  that  soon  after  the  latter  became  an 
inmate  of  his  family,  he  had  resolved  to  become  the  creditor  of  his 
new  acquaintance  to  any  amount  requisite  to  meet  the  expenses  of  the 
university. 

After  filling  the  period  of  two  years  and  a  half  with  study,  and 
teaching  others  in  the  towns  of  Abington,  Easton  and  Marshfield,  with 
other  auxiliary  industry,  Phillips  found  himself  on  horseback  with  Mr. 
Sanger's  certificate  of  his  moral  character  in  his  pocket,  on  the  day  of  the 
annual  commencment  in  the  summer  of  1806,  with  his  face  set  Cam- 
bridge- ward.  The  route  was,  as  he  states,  by  the  way  of  Boston,  on  a 
somewhat  cloudy  evening,  through  streets  rather  perplexing.  The  scene 
was  one  of  an  exhilarating  mysterious  tumultuousness,  to  a  solitary 
wayfarer  in  the  night  time  on  his  first  visit,  if  a  thronged  city  is  new 
to  him,  he  does  not  soon  forget  the  interminable  rows  of  lamps  in  the 
streets  and  on  the  bridges;  throngs  of  people  jolting  each  other,  and 


WILLARD  PHILLIPS,  OF   MASSACHUSETTS.  97 

hurrying  to  and  fro,  seemingly  not  knowing  whither  or  wherefore ; 
rumbling  of  carriages  on  the  pavements  and  on  the  bridges  far  and 
near,  and  sounds  of  voices  and  musical  instruments  in  the  dwellings, 
and  apparitions  in  gay  attire  seen  here  and  there  through  an  open  door 
or  window. 

When  all  these  novelties  were  left  behind,  and  the  uproar  of  the  city 
had  subsided  into  a  distant  "  solemn  roar"  of  the  bells  giving  signal  to 
exemplary  people  to  extinguish  their  lights,  the  scene  changed,  and 
Cambridge  presented  itself  with  tents  arranged  in  the  manner  of 
streets  on  the  common,  with  shows,  music,  dancing,  and  revelries, 
menageries  of  wild  beasts,  jugglers,  and  all  the  antics,  and  frolics  and 
follies  which  constituted  the  fifth  act  of  the  commencement  drama  of 
the  good  old  time. 

On  the  following  day  the  trial  of  the  candidates,  conducted  by  in 
quisitors  in  black  dresses,  being  passed,  Phillips  found  himself  one  of  a 
band  of  sixty-four  admitted  freshmen,  quite  a  large  class  for  those 
times.  A  number  of  these,  then  new  acquaintances,  in  his  case  (as 
often  happens)  have  contributed  very  materially  to  those  sociabilities, 
sympathies  and  mutual  good  offices,  which  go  to  make  up  an  important 
part  of  what  is  called  one's  life,  not  merely  for  the  four  college  years  of 
it,  but  also  the  subsequent  ones.  Among  the  number  were  some  who 
have  since  been  known  to  the  public,  viz. :  Joseph  G.  Kendall,  member 
of  Congress  from  Massachusetts ;  Jas.  G.  King,  of  New-York,  who  has 
-also  been  member  of  Congress  from  New-Jersey  ;  Win.  F.  De  Saussure, 
of  South  Carolina,  member  of  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  in  1852; 
Francis  Boot,  now  of  London,  distinguished  by  his  attainments  in 
natural  history,  and  known  to  every  American  who  visits  England,  as 
a  skilful,  respected,  and  esteemed  physician;  Theodore  Lyman,  of 
Boston,  lately  deceased,  who  published  some  account  of  his  travels  in 
Europe,  also  a  statistical  and  economical  treatise,  who  enjoyed  civil 
distinctions  in  his  own  state,  and  is  commemorated  for  his  donations 
while  living,  and  for  his  bequests  for  charitable  foundations,  especially 
to  the  state  reform  school  in  Massachusetts;  Octavius  Pickering, 
known  by  the  Reports  which  bear  his  name;  Francis  Bassett  and  John 
Davis,  both  successively  clerks  of  the  courts  of  the  United  States ;  Dr. 
William  J.  Walker,  of  Charlestown,  Massachusetts,  highly  distin 
guished  in  his  profession,  particularly  as  a  surgeon  ;  Benjamin  Faneuil 
Hunt,  of  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  known  in  the  profession  of  the 
law ;  John  Cotton,  distinguished  in  the  medical  profession  in  Marietta ; 
Stephen  Fales,  a  member  of  the  senate  in  Ohio ;  Jonas  Wheeler,  who 
was  during  a  session  president  of  the  senate  in  Maine,  and  others  of 
professional  and  civil  distinction,  and  others  again,  some  of  whom  are 
subsequently  mentioned,  less  known  to  the  public,  perhaps,  but  not  less 
meritorious  or  worthy  to  be  remembered,  if  it  were  the  present  purpose 
to  give  a  full  catalogue  of  Judge  Phillips'  intimate  friends. 

There  were,  however,  two  other  of  his  classmates  who  were  fellow- 
graduates  with  him  whom  he  desires  to  be  particularly  mentioned ;  one 
of  them,  his  very  intimate  friend  and  companion,  Joseph  Swasey  Farley, 
of  Ipswich,  Massachusetts,  the  first  scholar  and  most  talented  member 
of  his  class.  Farley  gained  the  first  prize,  and  Phillips  the  second,  for 
dissertations — then,  as  now,  given  to  the  Sophomores.  He  engaged  in 

7 


98  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

mercantile  life,  and  died  early  in  the  East  Indies.  The  other  classmate 
referred  to  was  Edward  Strong,  youngest  son  of  Caleb  Strong,  then, 
and  for  some  years  afterwards,  Governor  of  Massachusetts.  Strong 
was  Phillips'  chum  in  their  senior  year.  He  was  talented  and  accom 
plished,  but  extremely  unpretending,  to  which,  in  some  degree,  was  at 
tributed  his  being  omitted  in  the  distribution  of  parts  for  public  per 
formance  at  the  graduation  of  his  class.  His  friend  and  chum  thereupon 
used  his  influence  with  the  class  to  have  him  elected  to  make  the  ad 
dress  to  them  on  leaving  college,  which  is  usually  assigned  to  one 
holding  a  distinguished  rank  for  scholarship.  Strong  came  off  with 
much  eclat,  and  fully  justified  the  appointment.  He  died  soon  after 
being  graduated,  and  his  memory  is  affectionately  remembered  by  all 
who  knew  him,  especially  by  his  chum. 

Judge  Phillips  relates  that,  after  one  of  the  vacations,  Strong  men 
tioned,  that  Greek  studies  happening  to  be  the  subject  of  conversation 
at  some  time  while  he  had  been  at  home  in  Northampton,  his  father, 
then  considerably  advanced  in  years,  surprised  him  by  incidentally  re 
peating,  unhesitatingly,  from  memory,  some  fifty  lines,  more  or  less,  of 
the  beginning  of  the  Iliad — an  indication  of  early  scholarship  and  of  a 
retentive  memory  which  few  of  his  successors  at  college  could  give. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  on  intimate  terms  of  friendship  with 
most  of  those  above  mentioned,  and  with  some  others  of  the  class  sub 
sequently  mentioned,  and  the  friendship  continued  with  those  who  have  de 
ceased  during  their  lives,  and  still  continues  with  the  survivors ;  and  he 
states,  that  he  does  not  recollect  to  have  had  any  misunderstanding,  or 
reciprocation  of  injuries,  resentments,  or  jealousies,  with  any  of  his  uni 
versity  associates  during  his  life  ;  and  they  have  afforded  him  material 
help  in  his  social,  literary,  professional,  and  business  pursuits,  during  his 
subsequent  years,  which  he  has  been  ready  to  reciprocate. 

In  his  junior  or  senior  year,  there  was  assigned  to  him  the  leading  per 
formance  at  one  of  the  exhibitions,  which,  as  it  happened,  was  the  occasion 
of  his  contracting  one  of  his  most  grateful  and  cherished  friendships.  Mr. 
Peter  Wainwright,  and  Mrs.  Wainwright,  his  wife,  the  daughter  of  the 
distinguished  Dr.  Jonathan  Mayhew,  formerly  of  Boston,  and  mother  of 
Dr.  Jonathan  Mayhew  Wainwright,  of  New- York,  were  then  residing  in 
Cambridge.  Mrs.  Wainwright  happened  to  be  present  at  the  exhibition. 
Something  in  Phillips'  performance,  or  his  manner — not  his  good  de 
livery,  for  he  did  not  speak  set  performances  well — struck  Mrs.  Wain- 
wright's  attention  and  excited  her  interest,  and  she  invited  him  to  her 
house ;  and  from  that  time  until  her  death,  some  twenty  years  after- 
wards,  the  most  intimate,  and  mutually-confiding,  and  never  varying 
friendship  continued  to  subsist  between  them,  and  still  subsists  between 
Judge  Phillips  and  her  surviving  sons.  Mrs.  Wainwright  was,  in  many 
respects,  an  extraordinary  woman.  She  was  of  a  social  disposition,  and 
possessed  surpassing  powers  of  conversation ;  she  was  philanthropic, 
liberal-minded,  and  intellectual ;  somewhat  adventurous  and  specula 
tive,  but  high-toned  in  her  habits  of  thinking;  a  very  considerable 
reader  ;  had  resided  some  years  in  England  ;  had  a  wide  acquaintance 
with  leading  and  distinguished  persons ;  was  a  good  observer,  and  did 
not  forget  what  she  had  learned.  She  was,  accordingly,  an  exceedingly 
interesting  and  useful  friend  to  one  who  was  in  the  period  of  his  social 


WILLARD  PHILLIPS,  OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  99 

noviciate,  when  the  society  of  an  intelligent,  cultivated  female,  of  greater 
age  and  experience,  is  most  material. 

Besides  the  small  fund  of  some  hundred  and  thirty  dollars  with 
which  Phillips  started  at  the  university,  with  such  economy  as  he  could 
practice,  and  such  alleviations  of  the  expense  as  the  college  could  lend, 
and  such  auxiliary  aid  as  teaching  during  the  winter  vacations  would 
afford,  he  found  himself,  on  leaving  college,  encumbered  with  a  liability 
of  some  six  hundred  dollars,  which  it  behooved  him  to  provide  for  while 
he  was  acquiring  his  profession.  He,  accordingly,  immediately  became 
an  assistant  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Asa  Eaton,  in  a  school  in  Boston,  giving 
part  of  his  time  to  professional  studies  by  reading  Coke  upon  Littleton 
with  his  friend  and  classmate,  Kendall.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  year, 
through  the  influence  of  his  classmate  in  college,  and  ever  since  intimate 
friend,  Thomas  A.  Dexter,  Esq.,  he  began  a  school  on  his  own  account, 
which  he  gave  up  before  the  end  of  the  year,  on  being  appointed  tutor 
in  college,  as  teacher  in  Latin  at  first,  and  afterwards  in  arithmetic, 
geometry,  and  natural  philosophy,  during  four  years  in  the  whole. 

In  his  senior  year  his  eyes  had  begun  to  be  weak,  so  that  he  depended 
partly  upon  his  chum,  Strong,  for  reading,  particularly  during  evenings. 
Their  habit  was,  when  the  next  morning's  lesson  had  been  studied  or 
neglected,  and  all  the  preparations  for  sleep  made,  except  extinguishing 
the  light  placed  near  to  Strong's  bed  conveniently  for  reading,  to  give 
the  remaining  hour  to  some  English  classic,  whose  pages  Strong's  melo 
dious  tone,  fluent,  distinct  utterance,  and  graceful  inflexions  and  ca 
dences,  (all  spontaneous,  and  inherited  from  his  father,)  made  more 
interesting.  ^ 

Judge  Phillips'  sight  has  been  occasionally  quite  weak,  and  never 
strong  to  the  present  time,  so  that  he  has  not  usually  been  able  to  use 
his  eyes  for  continuous  reading,  at  most,  over  two  or  three  hours  in  the 
twenty-four.  He  has  accordingly  depended  partly  upon  some  friend 
for  eyesight,  which,  though  it  has  compelled  him  to  total  abstinence 
from  the  delightful  solitary  nocturnal  reveries  of  intemperate  reading, 
to  which  he  might  otherwise  have  had  the  satisfaction  of  addicting  him 
self,  yet  it  has  been  attended,  like  most  troubles,  with  its  compensa 
tions,  for  he  has  most  of  his  life,  since  reading  some  of  the  best  authors 
with  Strong,  to  the  present  time,  had  some  associate  with  whom  to 
read  with  mutual  interest  on  one  subject  or  another,  and  much  of  the 
time  his  companions  have  been  such  that  social  reading  has  been  as 
instructive,  as  well  as  more  agreeable,  than  solitary  could  have  been. 

The  period  of  years  passed  by  him  at  the  university  was  in  the  early 
part  of  Dr.  Kirkland's  presidency,  whose  friendship  towards  Mr.  Phillips 
then  began,  and  continued  during  his  life,  which  the  latter  reckons  as 
one  of  the  most  fortunate  circumstances  of  his  own.  Every  one  who 
was  on  terms  of  intimacy  with  Dr.  Kirkland  cherishes  the  remembrance 
of  him  with  admiration  and  affection.  He  was,  in  person,  well  organ 
ized  and  proportioned ;  his  features,  which  may  now  be  witnessed,  as 
rescued  from  time,  in  the  likeness  painted  by  Stewart,  hanging  in  Har 
vard  hall,  were  of  a  fine  cast ;  his  aspect  was  winning,  and  full  of  be 
nignity  ;  his  manners  were  marked  by  a  gentlemanly,  polished,  serene, 
negligent  ease,  and  civil  frankness.  He  had  an  instinctive  perception 
of  the  characters  of  people,  and  was  quick  to  observe  their  foibles  and 


100  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

weaknesses,  as  well  as  their  excellencies;  and  so  free  was  he  from 
jealousy,  envy,  selfishness,  and  conceit,  that  no  person  more  heartily 
admired  and  applauded  those  excellencies  and  performances  which  came 
most  nearly  in  competition  with  his  own  pretensions.  He  had  read 
largely,  and  remembered  well ;  his  taste  was  accurate ;  he  had  a  keen 
wit,  and  great  felicity  of  phrase.  His  very  deficiencies,  such  as  de- 
sultoriness,  want  of  steadiness,  fixedness,  and  tenacity  of  purpose,  and 
of  a  sustained  sturdy  self-reliance,  helped  to  prevent  those  barriers 
which  are  not  unfrequently  raised  between  persons  of  trancendent  cha 
racter  and  their  intimate  acquaintances,  and  served  to  endear  him  to 
his  friends  rather  than  to  alienate  them.  Such  is  a  fragmentary  sketch 
of  the  characteristics  of  the  distinguished  Dr.  John  Thornton  Kirkland. 
He  treated  Mr.  Phillips  with  the  greatest  kindness,  from  their  first 
acquaintance,  introduced  him  to  some  of  the  leading  men  at  that  time 
in  Massachusetts,  particularly  to  the  Hon.  George  Cabot,  to  whose  kind 
ness  Mr.  Phillips  was  afterwards  greatly  indebted. 

While  Mr.  Phillips  was  instructor  in  Harvard  College  the  system  of  the 
scale  of  merit  since  used  in  that  institution  was  introduced.  It  had  been 
difficult  to  assign  the  performances  at  commencement  and  exhibitions, 
for  each  professor  and  tutor  would,  in  many  instances,  assign  to  the 
same  student  a  different  rank  of  scholarship,  and  a  different  degree  of 
merit  in  other  respects,  and  it  was  not  easy  for  any  one  to  determine 
the  comparative  merit  of  the  students  from  those  different  opinions,  as 
it  was  not  possible  to  understand  from  a  mere  general  statement  how 
much,  on  the  whole,  each  instructor  considered  any  one  to  have  the 
lead  of  others  in  respect  to  whom  the  comparison  was  made,  so  that  no 
notion  could  be  formed  of  the  aggregate  result  of  the  various  judg 
ments.  The  distribution  of  parts  at  some  exhibition  being  in  discus 
sion,  and  the  questions  becoming  more  difficult  to  decide  at  each  suc 
cessive  meeting  of  the  faculty,  Mr.  Phillips  at  length  proposed  that 
each  should  make  a  scale  of  merit  of  the  students  in  question  in  his  de 
partment.  This  was  opposed  by  some,  particularly  one  of  the  older 
professors,  on  the  ground  that  it  would  be  reducing  all  the  depart 
ments  to  an  equality,  to  which  Mr.  Phillips  replied,  that  they  might,  if 
the  majority  chose  to  do  so,  give  different  degrees  of  weight  to  the 
different  departments.  Still  it  was  strenuously  opposed.  In  the  mean 
time  Mr.  Phillips  made  a  list  of  the  different  students  to  whom  the  dis 
cussion  related,  and  asked  one  member  after  another,  separately,  while 
the  desultory  discussion  was  still  going  on,  what  number  to  put  down 
for  each,  and  in  this  way  constructed  a  scale,  and  made  up  the  result 
ing  aggregate,  all  which  was  done  in  the  course  of  half  of  an  hour  or 
less,  without  hindering  the  debate,  which  was  still  proceeding  to  very 
little  p-jrpose.  Mr.  Phillips  then  read  the  aggregate  of  the  different 
responses.  The  process  had  the  effect  of  putting  an  end  to  the 
discussion,  for  each  one  being  thus  furnished  with  a  key  to  the  com 
parative  judgments  of  the  others,  readily  made  up  his  own,  and  the 
matters  in  question  were  quickly  settled,  either  by  an  entire  unani 
mity,  or  by  so  decided  a  majority  as  to  preclude  further  debate. 

The  method  was  so  obvious,  convenient,  and  even  necessary  to  any 
satisfactory  decision,  that  it  has  prevailed  ever  since  in  the  university, 
not  merely  in  reference  to  the  assignment  of  parts  and  awarding  dis- 


WILLARD  PHILLIPS,  OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  101 

tinctions,  but  has  been  carried  too  far  into  the  entire  discipline  in  the 
opinion  of  some  persons  of  weight  and  authority,  so  as  to  cause  the 
marks  about  trivial  matters  to  make  too  great  a  figure,  and  give  the  de 
cisions  too  much  of  a  merely  clerical  character.  They  think  that  the 
scale  should  not  be  carried  to  great  minuteness,  and  that  the  propor 
tionate  weight  of  different  matters  should  be  regarded,  and  that  the 
addition  should  not  be  itself  the  final  judgment,  but  be  subject  to  the 
exercise  of  a  large  discretion. 

Parts  of  Adams's  Roman  Antiquities  were  added  to  the  course  of  in 
struction  in  the  college  at  Mr.  Phillips'  suggestion,  though  his  impres 
sion  is,  that  the  book  was  introduced  after  he  left.  This  branch  has 
since  been  enlarged  and  other  more  recent  text-books  substituted. 

He,  also,  at  the  request  of  President  Kirkland,  made  a  sketch  for  a 
change  in  the  system  of  instruction,  the  main  features  of  which  were, 
first,  that  the  students  should,  during  their  freshman  year,  have  such 
local  accommodations  as  to  give  them  easy  access  to  their  instructors, 
at  all  times  of  the  day,  and  subject  their  conduct  and  studies  to  more 
constant  and  direct  supervision,  while  their  habits  of  study  and  deport 
ment  were  forming,  besides  having  regular  exercises,  as  tests  of  their 
application  and  proficiency;  second,  that,  in  each  different  branch  of  study, 
the  initiatory  training  should  be  much  more  thorough,  and  the  recita 
tions  and  examinations  as  frequent  as  practicable,  but  that,  afterwards, 
when  the  student  had  made  such  progress  as  to  be  able  more  success 
fully  to  instruct  himself,  less  time  should  be  lost  by  a  whole  class  or 
division,  in  waiting  for  abortive  attempts  to  extort  evidence  of  diligence 
or  intelligence  from  pupils  who  have  made  no  attempt,  or  only  ineffec 
tual  ones,  to  learn  ;  third,  that  the  concurrence  and  succession  of  dif 
ferent  branches  of  study  Should  be  modified,  so  as  to  render  one,  in  a 
greater  degree,  a  relief  and  auxiliary  to  another. 

These  propositions  have  not  been  specifically  acted  upon,  and  there 
may  be  less  chance  for  improvement,  and  more  practical  difficulties  in 
the  way,  than  Mr.  Phillips  supposed  on  a  hasty  and  imperfect  investiga 
tion. 

During  this  period,  Mr.  Phillips  made  his  earlier  attempts  in  print. 
One  was  a  pamphlet  printed  during  the  war  of  1812,  entitled,  "An 
Appeal  to  the  Public  Spirit  of  the  Federalists  and  the  Good  Sense  of 
the  Democrats,"  which,  however,  attracted  little  notice,  and  is  probably 
forgotten  by  everybody  but  the  writer,  and  hardly  remembered  by  him. 
It  was  an  exhortation  to  both  parties,  to  united  energy  in  defence  of 
the  country  and  prosecution  of  the  war.  His  other  attempts  were  in 
the  newspapers,  the  most  elaborate  of  which  was  a  review  of  the  works 
of  Robert  Treat  Paine,  published  about  1813,  in  the  Boston  Repertory, 
which  was  more  successful  than  the  pamphlet. 

During  this  second  college  life,  Mr.  Phillips,  after  the  first  year,  pur 
sued  his  professional  and  other  studies  in  company  with  his  classmate, 
Kendall,  then  his  co-instructor  and  constant  companion,  and  ever  after, 
during  the  life  of  the  latter,  his  most  familiar  friend.  In  the  latter  part 
of  this  period,  he  entered  his  name  in  the  office  of  the  late  Honorable 
William  Sullivan,  then,  in  1815  and  1816,  in  large  practice,  an  accom 
plished  gentleman,  of  easy,  polished  manners,  among  the  leaders  in  fash 
ionable  life,  and  also  among  the  leaders,  on  the  federal  side,  in  public 


102  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

affairs  ;  having  then  and  afterwards,  during  his  life,  a  cordial  and  con 
stant  regard  for  his  disciple  in  the  law,  which  was  fully  reciprocated  by 
the  latter. 

During  December,  1814,  and  January,  1815,  while  Mr.  Phillips  was 
still  one  of  the  instructors  of  Harvard  University,  an  association  was 
formed,  consisting  of  President  Kirkland,  Edward  T.  Channing,  since 
professor  in  Harvard,  Mr.  Phillips,  and  others,  for  starting  a  literary 
periodical,  under  the  title  of  the  "  New-England  Magazine  and  Review," 
Mr.  Phillips  being  the  proposed  editor.  Articles  of  association  were 
adopted,  and  sundry  meetings  were  held,  the  records  of  which,  kept  by 
Mr.  Channing,  as  secretary,  he  has  preserved.  In  a  letter  written  by 
Mr.  Channing,  January  5th,  1815,-  he  says  to  his  correspondent,  "How 
you  would  have  laughed  could  you  have  peeped  into  my  snug  office 
for  two  or  three  days  past,  and  have  seen  the  great  men — learned  doc 
tors  of  law  and  of  divinity,  tutors  at  colleges,  editors  and  publishers — 
holding  solemn  debate  on  the  magazine ;  one  writing  a  prospectus, 
another  talking  about  style,  a  third  counting  the  cost  and  chance  of  suc 
cess,  and,  lastly,  your  correspondent  himself  listening  to  all  that  was 
said,  and  recording  it  as  secretary  of  the  meeting." 

When  the  preparations  had  been  made  for  announcing  the  publica 
tion,  the  associates  learned  that  a  similar  one  was  proposed  by  Mr. 
William  Tudor,  then  just  returned  from  his  travels  in  Europe,  and 
since  known  as  author  of  the  Life  of  James  Otis,  and  other  literary 
productions,  and  also  as  American  Consul  at  Rio  Janeiro,  a  gentleman 
in  high  estimation  for  his  manners,  accomplishments,  literary  talents 
and  acquirements.  He  was  a  personal  friend  of  some  of  the  associates. 
The  field  was  thereupon  left  open  to  him. 

The  first  number  of  the  bi-monthly  "  North  American  Review  and 
Miscellaneous  Journal"  accordingly  came  out  under  Mr.  Tudor's  editor 
ship  in  May,  1815,  and  was  continued  during  a  year,  at  the  end  of  which 
period  he  put  it  at  the  disposal  of  Mr.  Phillips,  Mr.  Tudor  voluntarily 
proposing  and  choosing  to  continue  editor  for  one  year  longer  without 
salary. 

In  the  mean  time  Mr.  Phillips  had  commenced  the  practice  of  law,  as 
junior  in  the  office  of  the  Hon.  Benjamin  Gorham,  at  that  time  of  high 
forensic  reputation,  and  subsequently  a  distinguished  member  of  Con 
gress.  The  Review,  at  the  time  of  the  pecuniary  responsibility  being 
assumed  by  Mr.  Phillips,  needed  the  utmost  economy  as  well  as  all  the 
activity,  talent  and  learning  that  could  be  brought  to  its  aid  to  bear 
it  up,  and  Mr.  Phillips,  seeing  that  the  usual  publishers'  commission 
weighed  heavily  upon  its  resources,  had  the  copies  of  the  number  for 
May,  1816,  sent  from  the  printers  to  his  office,  and  a  part  of  them 
were  ther.e  inclosed  and  dispatched  to  subscribers.  Messrs.  Wells  and 
Lilly,  then  the  leading  publishing  firm  in  Boston,  who  had  published 
the  work  the  preceding  year,  very  soon,  and  before  all  the  copies  of  that 
number  had  been  distributed,  liberally  offered  to  publish  it  during  the 
year  free  of  commissions,  which  helped  materially  to  carry  it  through 
that  year. 

On  Mr.  Tudor's  retiring  from  the  editorship  in  1817,  an  association 
of  contributors  was  formed,  consisting  of  some  of  the  old  associates  and 
some  new  ones,  viz. :  John  Gallison,  known  as  the  reporter  of  the  early 


WILLARD  PHILLIPS,  OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  103 

decisions  of  Judge  Story,  a  lawyer  of  early  eminence,  who  died  young, 
much  respected,  beloved  and  regretted ;  Nathan  Hale,  editor  of  the 
Boston  Daily  Advertiser ;  Richard  H.  Dana,  since  well  known  in  the 
literary  world ;  Edward  T.  Charming ;  Mr.  Phillips ;  William  Powell 
Mason,  successor  of  Mr.  Gallison  as  reporter  of  the  decisions  of  Judge 
Story ;  and  Jared  Sparks,  then  tutor  in  Harvard,  whose  name  is  since 
familiar  to  the  public  as  an  author,  and  as  president  of  Harvard  Col 
lege.  Mr.  Sparks  was  editor,  during  that  year,  of  the  fifth  and  sixth 
volumes. 

The  associates  held  weekly  meetings  for  reading  and  deciding  upon 
communications,  and  selecting  and  distributing  subjects  to  be  written 
upon.  These,  though  in  some  sort  business  meetings,  were  kept  up 
with  much  interest,  vivacity  and  harmony,  at  which  the  literary  friends 
of  the  associates  not  unfrequently  attended,  and  the  zeal  and  spirit  of 
the  association  were  by  degrees  infused  into  the  Review,  and  the  effect 
was  manifested  in  reaction  by  subscriptions  and  communications.  At 
the  end  of  that  year,  in  May,  1818,  Mr.  Channing  succeeded  to  Sparks  as 
editor,  at  the  commencement  of  the  seventh  volume,  and  edited  the 
seventh,  eighth  and  ninth  volumes,  until  his  appointment  in  October, 
1819,  as  Boylston  professor  in  Cambridge  University.  With  the  eighth 
volume  the  Review  began  to  be  published  quarterly  instead  of  once  in 
two  months  as  before.  Mr.  Everett  succeeded  to  Mr.  Channing  as  editor. 
The  proprietorship  of  the  Review  was  in  the  same  association  from 
May,  1818,  until  it  was  transferred  to  Mr.  Sparks,  in  1823,  when  he 
resumed  the  editorship. 

Mr.  Phillips  was  a  frequent  contributor  for  some  years,  and  an  occa 
sional  one  subsequently  until  about  1836.  One  of  his  early  articles 
was  upon  Professor  Hedge's  logic,  then  just  published,  and  one  of  his 
later,  on  Lord  Brougham's  ethical  volume,  upon  which  Dr.  Henry 
Ware,  Jr.,  then  professor  in  the  Cambridge  Theological  school,  ex 
pressed  himself  in  quite  commendatory  terms  in  a  note  to  the  writer. 
The  logic  article,  though  favorable  to  Professor  Hedge's  book,  was  not 
entirely  satisfactory  to  him,  because  it  did  not  treat  the  subject  with 
sufficient  gravity.  Most  of  Mr.  Phillips'  articles  were  upon  works  of 
imagination  and  taste,  the  reviewing  of  which  did  not  require  any  special 
preparation,  and  accordingly  did  not  interfere  with  his  professional  and 
other  business  pursuits. 

About  six  years  after  commencing  practice,  Mr.  Phillips  began  to 
collect  materials  for  the  first  edition  of  his  Treatise  on  Insurance,  which 
which  was  published  in  1823,  in  one  volume.  The  materials  for  the 
work  were  collected  entirely  by  resort  to  the  original  authorities.  In 
the  general  distribution  of  the  subjects,  and  the  arrangement  and  order 
of  the  topics,  no  prior  treatise  was  followed,  and  Chancellor  Kent  stated 
to  the  author,  early  after  the  latter  became  personally  known  to  him, 
that  he  had  given  Mr.  Phillips'  division  of  the  subject  the  preference  in 
his  lectures,  now  well  known  as  Kent's  Commentaries ;  the  distribution 
of  subjects  in  which,  however,  varies  considerably  from  Mr.  Phillips' 
Treatise.  This  remark  is  mentioned  here,  because  it  is  some  evidence 
that  Mr.  Phillips  had  not  wholly  failed  in  attempting  the  very  difficult 
labor  of  distributing  the  subjects  and  arranging  tta  topics,  so  much  en 
tangled  and  interlaced  together  in  this  title  of  the  law,  and  because  he 


104  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

cherishes  the  remembrance  of  the  token  of  favorable  opinion  given  then 
by  Chancellor  Kent. 

In  this  treatise,  the  author  availed  himself  of  Valin's  Commentaries 
on  the  French  Ordinance  of  1681,  much  more  largely  than  previous 
elementary  writers  had,  looking  upon  those  commentaries  as  one  of  the 
richest  magazines  of  this  branch  of  commercial  law,  abounding  in  doc 
trines  which  are  applicable  in  all  countries,  and  which  do  not  become 
obsolete ;  esteeming  Emerigon,  though  a  model  in  lucidness,  learning, 
faithfulness  and  accuracy,  less  masterly  and  profound. 

In  preparing  this  treatise  the  author  was  much  indebted  to  the  great 
practical  experience,  science  and  learning  of  the  late  Hon.  George  Cabot, 
who  most  obligingly  permitted  Mr.  Phillips  to  consult  him  in  all  matters 
of  doctrine  and  practice  in  marine  insurance,  and  besides,  always  during 
his  life  in  the  most  friendly  manner  gave  the  author  the  benefit  of  his 
wide  experience  in  affairs  and  great  knowledge  of  men,  communicated 
with  the  affable  dignity,  easy  grace  and  coloquial  fluency  for  which  he 
was  distinguished,  and  which  gave  a  charm  to  his  conversation. 

In  the  preface  to  the  first  edition  of  that  treatise,  the  author  also  ac 
knowledged  his  obligations  to  the  late  Christian  Mayer,  Esq.,  of  Balti 
more,  the  president  of  the  Patapsco  Insurance  Company  of  that  place,  a 
well-informed  and  able  practical  underwriter,  who  obligingly  and  elabo 
rately  replied  to  the  numerous  inquiries  addressed  to  him  relative  to 
the  principles  and  practice  of  insurance ;  and  the  author  was  under  no 
less  obligation  to  his  since  deceased  friend,  Joseph  Balch,  Esq.,  of  Bos 
ton,  former  president  of  the  Merchant's  Insurance  Company,  a  gentle 
man  of  great  ability  and  indefatigable  application  in  studying  and  prac 
tically  applying  the  science  of  marine  insurance,  but  who  through 
modesty  declined  any  public  acknowledgment  by  the  author. 

This  treatise  was  well  received,  and  its  publication  had  a  favorable 
effect  on  the  author's  professional  business,  as  had  also  his  treatise  on 
patents,  published  in  1837,  of  which  Judge  Story  has  spoken  in  very 
favorable  terms  in  some  of  his  judicial  opinions.  Both  of  these  works 
were  introduced  by  Judge  Story  as  part  of  the  ancillary  course  of  read 
ing  in  the  law  school  of  Harvard  College. 

In  1825  and  1826,  Mr.  Phillips  was  a  member  of  the  legislature  from 
Boston  ;  and  in  1827,  on  account  of  his  health  having  been  somewhat 
affected  by  rather  severe  application  in  his  sedentary  pursuits,  he  with 
drew  from  professional  practice  for  a  time,  and  passed  one  season  in  the 
town  of  Palmer,  near  Springfield,  superintending  the  erection  of  build 
ings  and  structures  for  a  manufacturing  establishment,  his  interest  in 
which,  and  other  similar  investments,  in  the  depression  which  followed, 
swept  away  the  fruits  of  his  previous  industry,  and  left  him  to  start  dc 
tiovo  at  the  age  of  forty-two  in  making  provision  for  the  future. 

At  this  period  he  made  a  voyage  to  Cuba  on  business,  with  a  view 
to  the  re-establishment  of  his  health.  His  stay  in  the  island  was  partly 
in  Havana,  with  his  ever  since  intimate  friend,  John  Morland,  and  partly 
in  the  country,  at  the  plantation  of  the  late  Mr.  Nathaniel  Fellows. 
The  climate,  the  objects,  the  people,  and  mode  of  life,  have  a  great  in 
terest  for  a  stranger  from  the  North;  and  Mr.  Phillips,  not unfrequently 
in  conversation,  refers  to  the  scenes  and  incidents  of  the  excursion, 
-which  made  a  greater  impression,  as  his  other  travels  have  extended 


WILLARD  PHILLIPS,  OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  105 

only  from  Portland  to  Washington  on  the  coasts,  and  inland  to  the  in 
terior  of  New- York,  on  visits  to  his,  at  the  time,  surviving  parent,  in 
Broome  County,  and  southwesterly  to  the  valley  of  Wyoming,  in 
Pennsylvania,  and  northerly  to  Niagara  Falls  and  Quebec ;  so  that,  for 
a  person  of  these  times,  his  journoyings  have  been  quite  limited. 

The  reminiscences  of  this  voyage  to  Cuba  furnished  the  materials  for  a 
part  of  an  article  published  some  time  subsequently  in  the  North  Ameri 
can  Review,  on  a  journal  of  a  similar  excursion  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Abbot, 
of  Beverly,  in  which  article  the  incidents  of  the  voyage  were  read  with 
a  gool  deal  of  interest  by  the  late  Dr.  Bowditch,  as  he  himself  stated  to 
the  author,  as  being  a  faithful  description  of  the  sea-faring  life  of  a  pas 
senger. 

In  1828,  Mr.  Phillips  resumed  professional  practice,  taking  as  his  junior 
associate  Richard  Robins,  Esq.,  recently  deceased.  About  1845  he  sub 
stantially  withdrew  from  practice,  though  he  has  continued  to  be  occa 
sionally  consulted  by  his  old  clients,  and  sometimes  by  others,  in  mat 
ters  with  which  he  was  more  particularly  conversant. 

In  1837,  under  an  act  of  the  legislature  of  Massachusetts,  a  commis 
sion  was  issued  by  Governor  Everett,  for  Charles  Jackson,  formerly 
judge  of  the  Supreme  Court,  as  chairman,  and  Mr.  Phillips  and  others 
as  associates,  for  reducing  so  much  of  the  common  law  as  relates  to 
crimes  and  their  incidents  to  a  code.  Judge  Jackson  was  obliged  by 
the  state  of  his  health  to  retire  early  from  the  commission,  whereupon 
Mr.  Phillips  became  chairman.  The  other  members  were  changed  by 
resignation  and  death,  and  new  appointments  from  time  to  time.  In  1839, 
a  preliminary  report  was  drawn  up  by  Mr.  Phillips,  and  a  specimen 
of  the  form  proposed  to  be  adopted,  in  the  preparation  of  which  the  late 
James  C.  Alford,  of  Greenfield,  then  a  member  of  the  commission,  took 
an  active  part.  He  was  at  the  time  elected  member  of  Congress, 
though  prevented  by  his  decease  from  attending  any  session. 

A  code  of  the  law  of  crimes  and  punishments  was  eventually  reported 
by  Mr.  (then  Judge)  Phillips  and  his  friend,  the  Hon.  Samuel  B.  Wal- 
cott.  Judge  Phillips  assiduously  devoted  all  the  time  he  could  com 
mand,  by  early  rising,  and  avoiding  interfering  engagements,  as  much 
as  was  practicable,  for  full  four  years,  to  the  arduous  work  of  preparing 
this  code,  every  part  of  which,  before  being  printed,  had  been  sub 
mitted  to  skilful  and  experienced  lawyers,  not  of  the  commission,  who 
had  given  their  approbation.  The  plan  was  not  to  make  laws  by  pro 
pounding  new  provisions  grounded  upon  speculative  doctrines,  but 
merely  to  express  the  law  as  it  then  existed,  and  introduce  amend 
ments  where  the  books  were  contradictory  or  the  defects  were  palpable, 
the  instances  of  which  were  always  specifically  pointed  out  in  the  notes. 
The  phraseology  was  studiously  selected  and  guarded,  that  it  might  not 
embarrass  jurisprudence,  and  at  the  same  time  should  enable  the  peo 
ple,  who  are  bound  by  the  law,  or  those  whose  profession  it  was  to  give 
legal  counsel  to  others,  to  learn,  at  least,  its  outlines  in  matters  of 
crimes  and  punishments,  which  knowledge  is  not  easily  gained  in  the 
multifarious  repositories  in  common  use.  But  the  greater  part  of  the 
profession  in  Massachusetts  were  then  sturdily  opposed  to  the  codifi 
cation  of  the  common  law,  considering  any  attempt  of  the  kind  to  be 
wholly  experimental,  and  theoretical  and  dangerous — a  sort  of  Jeremy 


106  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

Beutham-ism.  Accordingly,  when  the  reported  code  was  before  the  Se 
nate,  some  one  of  the  members,  after  making  a  few  disparaging  remarks 
on  codification  in  general,  read,  by  way  of  illustration,  the  definition  of 
larceny,  which  seemed  to  him  open  to  the  grave  objection  that  the  sen 
tence  was  a  long  one,  and  thereupon  it  was  voted  to  dismiss  the 
subject. 

Such  for  the  time  was  the  result  in  the  legislature  of  the  four  years 
arduous  labors  of  Judge  Phillips,  besides  those  of  the  other  members 
of  the  commission.  The  reported  code,  however,  has  been  of  import 
ant  use  in  Massachusetts,  and  has  been  sought  for  elsewhere,  and  not  a 
few  testimonies  have  been  given  to  the  fidelity,  elaborateness  and  skill 
in  the  execution  of  the  work,  by  jurists  both  in  and  out  of  Massachu 
setts,  whose  authority  is  of  weight,  and  who  have  examined  it  for  other 
purposes  than  measuring  the  sentences.  Judge  Phillips  had  anticipated 
for  some  time  what  would  be  the  result  in  the  legislature,  but  still  pro 
ceeded  with  unabated  intensity  in  the  execution  of  the  work,  out  of  re 
gard  to  his  own  reputation,  which  had  of  course  become  in  some  degree 
implicated  in  the  issue,  and  which  he  is  understood  to  be  still  willing 
should  rest  upon  that  report. 

While  Mr.  Everett  was  governor  of  the  state,  in  1839,  Mr.  Phillips 
was  appointed  Judge  of  Probate  for  the  county  of  Suffolk,  an  office 
which  he  held  until  December,  1847,  when  he  resigned,  because  he  had 
other  sufficient  and  preferable  occupations,  especially  that  of  president 
of  the  New-England  Mutual  Life  Insurance  Company,  which  had  been 
put  into  operation  in  1843  by  numerous  leading  and  public-spirited 
men  in  Boston,  as  an  institution  much  needed,  and  which  would  be  of 
great  utility,  as  in  fact  it  has  proved  to  be. 

The  object  of  this  sketch  is  not  to  eulogize  the  subject  of  it,  or  to 
say  the  utmost  that  truth  might  justify.  It  may,  however,  be  said 
without  risk  of  the  imputation  of  partiality,  that  Judge  Phillips  dis 
charged  his  judicial  duties,  during  the  eight  years  while  he  held  that 
office,  satisfactorily  to  the  public,  and  generally  to  those  who  had  busi 
ness  in  the  court. 

In  1833  Judge  Phillips  married  Hannah  Brackett  Hill,  daughter  of 
the  late1  Hon.  Aaron  Hill,  who  had  been  many  years  postmaster  in 
Boston.  This  lady  survived  her  marriage  between  three  and  four  years. 
He  married  for  a  second  wife,  Harriet  Hill,  a  sister  of  the  former. 

At  the  time  of  his  judicial  appointment,  he  resided  in  Boston,  where 
he  continued  to  reside  during  the  winter  season,  and  part  of  the  spring, 
so  long  as  he  held  the  office,  passing  his  summer  in  Cambridge,  where 
he  has  since  resided,  though  Boston  is  his  place  of  business  and  cor 
respondence.  Judge  Phillips  is  at  present  occupied  with  a  third  edition 
of  his  Treatise  on  Insurance,  which  will  be  published  soon  after  this 
sketch. 

Besides  the  legal  publications  and  literary  contributions  already  men 
tioned,  Judge  Phillips  contributed  divers  articles,  including  one  on  Poli 
tical  Economy,  to  the  Encyclopedia  Americana,  translated  and  edited 
by  Professor  Francis  Lieber,  now  of  South  Carolina ;  and  made  a  di 
gest  of  the  first  eight  volumes  of  Pickering's  Reports  in  1832,  with 
the  assistance  of  his  friend,  Edward  Pickering,  Esq.,  and  edited  the 
first  American  edition  of  Collyer  on  Partnership,  with  the  assistance  of 


NOAH  POMEROY,  OF  CONNECTICUT.  107 

the  same  collaborator.  He  also  published  a  treatise  under  the  title  of 
"  A  Manual  of  Political  Economy,"  in  1829,  a  great  part  of  which  was 
lost  by  a  fire,  and  in  1850  a  duodecimo  volume  entitled  "  Propositions 
concerning  Protection  and  Free  Trade."  On  this  subject  he  hopes  to 
write  still  more,  if  his  health  and  leisure  permit,  for  the  purpose  of  ex 
posing  what  he  is  well  known  to  consider  the  groundless  and  extraordi 
nary  dogmas  and  assumptions  which  are  current  under  the  title  of  "Free 
Trade,"  and  which  have  been  put  into  circulation  as  a  part  of  the  science 
of  Political  Economy,  and  are  taught  in  our  public  seminaries  as  such. 
On  this  subject  Judge  Phillips  takes  a  deep  interest,  because  he  con 
siders  it  next  to  the  preservation  of  the  Union,  and  hardly  second  to 
it,  the  most  vitally  decisive  of  the  prosperity  and  progress  of  the 
country. 


NOAH  POMEROY, 

OF  MERIDEN,  CONNECTICUT,  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  MERIDEN  BANK. 

UNDER  a  popular  government  like  ours,  where  the  democratic  idea  of 
equality  is  as  fully  developed  as  the  present  imperfect  condition  of 
mankind  will  permit,  we  expect,  as  its  legitimate  fruit,  the  triumph  of 
individual  worth  and  energy  over  all  the  competitors  that  wealth  and 
'class  may  put  against  them. 

The  avenues  to  wealth  and  distinction  are  alike  open  to  all,  but  this 
enhances,  rather  than  detracts  from,  the  merit  of  those  whose  energy 
and  integrity  have  triumphed  over  all  the  obstacles  intervening  between 
friendless  indigence  and  their  attainment.  Poverty  and  labor,  at  no 
time  dishonorable  in  themselves,  never  assume  more  attractive  features 
than  when  the  former  appears  as  the  nurse  of  those  virtues,  which  the 
latter  by  years  of  honest  and  wearisome  toil  transplants  in  a  higher  and 
richer  soil ;  and  the  biographies  of  those  men,  whose  sterling  worth 
and  active  enterprise  have  won  for  them  a  strong  pre-eminence  and 
commanding  influence  in  the  society  in  which  they  move,  must  be  re 
plete  with  those  facts  which  should  encourage  and  instruct  the  young. 
Such  is  the  subject  of  the  following  sketch : 

Noah  Pomeroy  was  born  March  1st,  1786,  in  Say  brook,  Connecticut, 
and  was  the  youngest  of  five  children ;  three  sons  and  two  daughters. 
His  father,  Charles  Pomeroy,  was  a  merchant  of  that  place,  and  died 
a  short  time  previous  to  the  birth  of  his  youngest  child.  If  a  long  and 
honorable  line  of  known  ancestry  had  been  capable  of  conferring  dis 
tinction,  the  subject  of  this  sketch  could  scarcely  have  desired  a  more 
auspicious  birth,  for  his  family  trace  their  ancestry  into  the  eleventh 
century,  to  a  distinguished  Norman  knight  who  fought  at  the  battle  ol 
Hastings  under  William. 

One  of  the  descendants  of  the  knight,  Eltwood  Pomeroy,  emigrated 
to  Massachusetts  in  1630,  from  England,  and  was  well  known  in  the 
early  Indian  wars  of  New-England ;  and  the  history  of  the  Indian, 
French  and  Revolutionary  wars,  bears  honorable  record  of  the  bravery 


108  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

and  patriotism  of  many  of  his  descendants.  Noah  Pomeroy  is  des 
cended  from  Eltwood,  and  his  only  inheritance  was  the  good  name  and 
strong  physical  and  mental  capacities  of  his  ancestors.  After  the  death 
of  his  father,  his  brothers  and  sisters  were  kindly  cared  for  and  educa 
ted  by  his  paternal  grandfather,  a  man  of  considerable  property  and 
good  standing  in  Colchester,  Conn. ;  while  he  from  necessity  remained 
with  his  mother,  who  removed  with  him  to  Meriden. 

When  about  five  years  old  his  mother  contracted  a  second  marriage, 
which  to  him  proved  of  little  advantage.  He  continued  to  live  with 
his  mother  and  father  until  he  was  ten  years  old,  when,  penniless  and 
scarcely  possessing  a  knowledge  of  the  English  alphabet,  he  com 
menced  the  world  for  himself.  His  first  great  object  was  to  secure  an 
education  which  would  enable  him  to  transact  the  common  business 
incident  to  a  life  of  action  and  enterprise,  such  as  his  youthful  percep 
tion  had  already  foreshadowed  as  his.  In  attempting  to  accomplish 
this,  he  was  obliged  to  struggle  with  difficulties  which  those  alone 
can  rightly  estimate  who  have  had  the  same  to  contend  with.  The 
meagre  earnings  of  the  summer  afforded  a  bare  surplus,  with  the  most 
rigid  economy,  to  apply  to  the  purpose  of  his  education  during  the 
winter ;  and  often  this  was  lawfully  claimed  and  obtained  by  his  step 
father. 

At  fifteen  he  commenced  peddling  tinware,  but  this  gave  offence  to 
some  of  his  nearest  relatives,  because  they  regarded  it  as  an  occupa 
tion  which  was  discreditable  to  their  family — an  idea  engendered  by  a 
false  pride — which  finally  leads  to  the  absurd  conclusion  that  all  manual 
labor  is  demeaning.  After  repeated  solicitations  by  other  members  of 
the  family,  he  was  induced  about  three  years  afterwards  to  commence 
an  apprenticeship  with  a  carpenter  and  joiner;  a  trade  in  those  days 
being  esteemed  next  to  a  profession.  He  continued,  however,  but  a 
short  time  in  this  employment.  He  had  already  selected  the  business 
most  congenial  to  his  feelings  for  his  future  occupation,  and  returning  to 
his  peddling  wagon,  he  made  use  of  it  as  the  most  direct  and  honorable 
means  within  his  power,  wherewith  he  could  eventually  make  himself 
master  of  the  business,  and  establish  himself  in  the  manufacture  of  tin 
ware.  Accordingly  at  twenty  he  apprenticed  himself  to  a  tinsmith  for 
six  months,  for  which  he  paid  a  stipulated  sum,  and  in  that  almost  in 
credibly  short  period  gained  such  an  insight  into  the  business,  as  to 
enable  himself  to  become  a  complete  master  of  the  trade  which  usually 
required  four  or  five  years  to  learn.  In  the  succeeding  year  he  engaged 
in  the  manufacture  of  plain  tinware,  with  the  advantage  of  but  about 
two  years'  common  school  education,  which  was  all  he  ever  possessed. 
During  the  same  year  he  married  Miss  Mary  Merriman,  a  lineal  des 
cendant  of  Lieut.  Nathaniel  Merriman,  who  was  one  of  the  first  settlers 
in  Wallingford,  Connecticut,  and  who  commanded  in  the  early  Indian 
wars. 

During  the  eleven  years  succeeding,  he  prosecuted  a  small,  yet  suc 
cessful  business  at  various  localities.  In  the  autumn  of  1807,  he  re 
moved  to  Plymouth,  Conn.,  where  he  continued  his  business  until  1815, 
with  the  exception  of  one  winter  spent  in  Baltimore.  It  was  during 
his  residence  at  Plymouth  that  the  second  war  with  Great  Britain  com 
menced,  of  which  he  was  an  enthusiastic  supporter. 


NOAH  POMEBOY,  OF  CONNECTICUT.  109 

His  strong  judgment,  his  probity  and  resistless  energies,  had  at  this 
time  so  won  upon  the  admiration  of  his  friends,  that  through  them  he 
was  tendered  a  lieutenant's  commission  in  the  regular  army.  Flatter 
ing  as  the  compliment  was  to  his  ambition,  and  strongly  as  it  appealed 
to  his  sense  of  duty  to  his  country,  there  was  with  him  a  still  higher 
duty  which  he  owed  to  his  fast-increasing  family  which  forbade  its 
acceptance. 

He  had  felt  all  the  distressing  pangs  which  penury  could  inflict ;  of 
neglect  and  bitter  scorn,  its  only  heritage,  from  pride  and  wealth  he 
had  been  no  common  recipient,  and  having  virtuously  braved  them  all, 
his  soul  was  filled  with  a  desire  of  burning  intensity  to  attain  a  degree 
of  opulence  which  should  remove  the  children  which  were  gathering 
around  him,  from  not  only  the  privations  but  from  the  frigid  indiffer 
ence,  contempt  and  temptations  which  society  bequeaths  to  indigence ; 
and  all  the  power  of  his  iron  will  was  concentrated  upon  its  honorable 
acquisition. 

In  1815  he  returned  to  Wallingford,  from  whence  he  removed  to 
Meriden  in  1818,  where  he  permanently  established  his  business,  and 
purchased  the  farm  on  which  he  now  resides.  From  this  time  he  con 
tinued  gradually  to  increase  the  yearly  amount  of  his  manufactures,  yet 
not  so  fast  as  to  endanger  his  credit.  He  was  among  the  first  to  engage 
extensively  in  the  manufacture  of  japanned  and  ornamented  tinware  in 
this  country ;  and  while  others,  who  were  engaged  in  it  at  the  same 
time,  failed  entirely,  or  succeeded  but  indifferently,  he  prosecuted  it  with 
complete  success.  Through  all  the  revulsions  by  which  the  business  of 
the  country  was  entirely  prostrated  between  the  years  of  1818  and 
1839,  he  passed  unaffected,  except  in  one  or  two  instances,  where  the 
failure  of  his  friends  for  whom  he  had  indorsed  caused  him  slight  em 
barrassment. 

In  his  strict  economy  and  industrious  and  persevering  habits  may  be 
found  the  secret  of  his  success.  A  useless  waste,  either  of  labor  or  ma 
terial,  had  to  him  an  appearance  of  criminality,  which  he  made  it  a 
constant  care  to  prevent.  Destitute  of  that  arrogance  which  success 
too  often  awakens,  he  knew  no  sympathy  for  those  expenditures  for 
ostentatious  display  which  are  its  accompaniments. 

His  habits  of  industry  have  always  been  remarkable,  and  indolence 
in  others  has  always  been  an  unforgiven  fault  with  him,  and  to  them 
a  sure  guaranty  of  a  loss  of  situation  if  in  his  employ  ;  but  faithfulness 
and  perseverance  have  never  lacked  encouragement  and  assistance  at 
his  hands  whenever  in  a  condition  to  bestow  them.  A  faithful  discharge 
of  every  obligation  has  been  one  of  his  governing  principles.  The  ad 
monition  of  an  elderly  friend,  to  whom  he  applied  for  assistance  in  pay 
ing  the  first  promissory  note  he  ever  gave,  that,  his  "  friends  would 
always  have  money  when  he  wished  to  borrow  if  he  was  punctual  in 
the  payment  of  it,  otherwise  they  wrould  always  be  destitute,"  was  never 
forgotten.  It  has  always  been  his  maxim  to  regard  his  verbal  as  sacred 
as  his  written  promise,  and  his  care  that  neither  was  dishonored. 

In  1839  he  retired  nominally  from  his  business,  which  he  left  to  his 
sons,  and  applied  his  energies,  which  were  not  in  the  least  abated,  to  the 
improvement  of  his  farm,  which  he  found  in  the  lowest  state  of  cultiva 
tion.  Here  his  practical  judgment  and  untiring  activity  wrought  an 


110  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

almost  magic  change,  and  his  farm,  which  was  unsightly,  and  compara 
tively  sterile,  assumed  an  appearance  of  beauty  and  productiveness 
which  elicited  the  second  premium  at  the  New-Haven  County  agricul 
tural  fair  in  1843.  Although  to  the  present  time  he  has  steadily  pur 
sued  his  agricultural  improvements,  it  has  been  more  as  a  pastime  than. 
a  labor,  since  the  first  few  years  of  barrenness  and  stubborn  resistance 
to  his  efforts  were  subdued,  and  its  productiveness  and  susceptibility 
of  easy  cultivation  established. 

Incapable  of  rest,  his  mind  then  reverted  to  the  business  which  had 
brought  him  comparative  affluence,  and  over  the  financial  and  economi 
cal  departments  of  which,  until  the  present  year,  he  has  exercised  a 
general  superintendence  when  not  entirely  absorbed  with  official  du 
ties.  Nor  has  he  been  inattentive  to  the  improvement  of  the  machinery 
necessary  to  its  successful  prosecution.  Possessed  of  much  more  than 
ordinary  mechanical  genius,  he  has  suggested  improvements  and  made 
inventions  which,  in  point  of  facility  for  the  economical  and  rapid  manu 
facture  of  the  articles  to  which  they  are  applied,  place  the  establishment 
at  the  head  of  all  its  competitors. 

Since  his  settlement  in  the  town  in  which  he  now  resides,  he  has, 
during  a  greater  portion  of  the  time,  exercised  a  controlling  influence  in 
its  affairs.  He  has  held  all  the  offices  within  its  gift,  and  that  of  select 
man  repeatedly,  until  he  declined  an  election.  He  has  filled  the  office 
of  justice  of  the  peace,  by  appointment  of  the  state  legislature,  as  long 
as  it  possessed  the  power  to  appoint,  during  his  whole  residence  in 
Meriden,  scarcely  ever  being  removed  by  a  change  of  party  politics; 
and  his  knowledge  of  common  law,  and  his  impartial  judgment,  may 
be  estimated  from  the  fact,  that,  of  all  the  cases  which  were  ever  brought 
before  him,  an  appeal  from  his  decision  was  never  carried  to  the  county 
court. 

An  ardent  advocate  of  progression  and  reform,  and  contending  for 
the  broadest  religious  and  political  liberty,  he  earnestly  urged  the  ne 
cessity  of  calling  the  convention  which  remodeled  the  constitution  of  the 
state,  and  expunged  many  of  those  statutes  which  have  been  known  as 
"  blue  laws." 

In  1832  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives, 
and  in  1837  he  was  chosen  senator  from  the  Sixth  District,  and  in  that 
capacity  exerted  his  influence  for  the  abolition  of  the  law  which  im 
prisoned  for  debt.  From  the  establishment  of  the  Meriden  Bank,  in  1833 
to  the  present  time,  he  has  held  the  office  of  director  without  interims  • 
sion,  and  in  1849,  much  against  his  inclination,  was  chosen  president, 
which  office  he  resigned  about  six  months  afterwards.  Modest  and  un 
ambitious,  he  has  never  sought  political  distinction,  but  when  urged  by 
influential  friends  to  accept  the  nomination,  when  success  was  certain, 
for  congressional  representative,  he  unhesitatingly  declined,  as  he  would 
have  done  had  it  been  any  other  office  within  the  people's  gift,  when 
convinced  that  there  were  others  better  qualified  to  fill  it. 

In  his  politics  he  has  always  been  a  consistent  democrat.  An  ardent 
admirer  of  the  principles  of  Jefferson  and  Madison,  Munroe  was  but  his 
second  choice,  and  the  banking  principles  of  Adams  were  so  entirely 
contrary  to  his  own,  that  he  was  one  of  four  who  supported  Jackson  in 
his  town  in  1828.  In  the  last  presidential  contest,  he  had  the  misfor- 


OLIVER  TEALL,  OF  NEW-YORK.  1 1  *' 

tune  to  differ  from  many  of  his  political  friends  on  the  question  of  southerr 
rights. 

Noah  Pomeroy  is  now  in  his  67th  year,  possessing,  in  a  remarkable 
degree,  the  enjoyment  of  his  mental  and  physical  powers.  In  person 
he  is  about  the  medium  size,  with  a  marked  countenance,  expressive  of 
decision,  firmness,  and  intelligence.  His  naturally  warm  and  benevo 
lent  impulses,  which  a  seeming  austerity  of  manner  partially  conceals, 
are  unmasked  in  the  presence  of  his  intimate  friends,  and,  without  a 
moral  blemish  on  his  character,  he  lives  to  command  the  respect  and 
esteem  of  a  large  circle  of  acquaintances. 


CAPTAIN  OLIVER  TEALL, 

OF  SYRACUSE,  NEW-YORK,  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  ONONDAGA  COUNTY  BANK. 

WHOEVER  has  known  much  of  Syracuse  must  have  known  something 
of  Oliver  Teall.  He  has  been  a  conspicuous  man  in  this  place  from  the 
time  that  the  village  first  made  its  appearance  in  the  Cedar  Swamps, 
through  all  its  stages  of  growth  until  now  that  it  has  become  a  thriving 
city,  spreading  its  skirts  upon  the  surrounding  hills.  Thirty -three  years 
ago  he  was  to  be  seen  early  and  late,  vigorously  directing,  as  general 
superintendent,  the  repairs  and  improvements  on  the  middle  section  of 
the  Erie  canal,  extending  from  near  the  village  of  Rome  to  the  village 
of  Camillus.  This  brought  him  daily  into  contact  with  large  numbers 
of  persons,  and  he  was  extensively  known  for  his  activity,  efficiency 
and  exactness. 

Subsequently,  the  buyers  or  sellers  of  real  estate  have  found  it  con 
venient,  if  not  needful,  to  have  somewhat  to  do  with  Captain  Teall, 
whose  wise  foresight  of  the  future  growth  of  Syracuse  led  him  to  be* 
come  an  owner  of  valuable  lots  in  many  parts  of  what  is  now  the 
city. 

Then,  again,  when  the  municipal  project  to  introduce  good  water  into 
the  village  was  about  to  be  abandoned  to  individual  enterprise,  he  be 
came,  and  was  for  a  number  of  years,  the  almost  sole  proprietor  of  the 
aqueduct ;  and  the  Teall  water  came  to  be  as  familiarly  spoken  of  in 
Syracuse  as  the  Croton  in  New-York,  if  we  may  compare  so  small  a 
matter  with  so  large  a  one.  The  quality  of  the  water,  at  first  so  named, 
was  very  poor,  but  the  indefatigable  man  spared  no  pains  until  he  had 
found  and  become  the  owner  of  a  copious  spring  of  a  pure  article, 
formed  an  able  company,  and  introduced,  by  a  well-made  aqueduct,  an 
abundant  supply  of  water,  which  he  need  never  be  ashamed  should  bear 
his  name.  Every  part  of  the  construction  of  this  valuable  improvement 
was  superintended  by  him  personally,  so  that  t<j  all  the  inhabitants, 
from  the  least  to  the  greatest,  this  public  servant  was  familiarly 
known. 

When  the  Onondaga  County  Bank,  the  first  institution  of  the  kind  in 
Syracuse,  was  established,  Captain  Teall  was  elected  one  of  its  direc 
tors,  and  subsequently  its  president,  in  which  position  he  still  stands. 


112  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

At  certain  hours  of  the  day,  therefore,  he  has  been  generally  seen 
in  or  near  the  house  where  men  having  money,  or  needing  money, 
are  wont  to  congregate,  and  his  shrewdness,  foresight  and  incorruptible 
integrity  have  served  many  a  man  a  good  turn,  who  was  at  his  wit's 
end  to  get  out  of  a  pecuniary  embarrassment,  or  to  make  a  profitable 
investment  of  some  surplus  gains. 

The  cause  of  education  in  Syracuse,  too,  acknowledges  him  to  have 
been  one  of  its  earliest  and  most  earnest  promoters.  Travelers,  who 
pass  over  the  rail-road  by  daylight,  can  hardly  fail  to  notice  an  unduly 
tall  brick  building  at  the  end  of  Syracuse  from  the  east.  If  benevolent, 
they  will  rejoice  to  learn  that  it  is  now  an  asylum  for  orphan  children, 
and  children  worse  off  than  orphans ;  an  institution  well  endowed,  and 
sustained  by  the  united,  cordial  co-operation  of  all  the  protestant  sects 
in  the  city,  giving  a  comfortable  home  and  an  excellent  discipline  to  a 
hundred  destitute  little  ones.  But,  if  they  inquire  into  its  history,  they 
will  be  informed,  that  it  was  not  originally  intended  for  the  charitable 
purpose  to  which  it  is  now  put.  It  was  erected,  about  fifteen  years  ago, 
by  Captain  Teall,  Aaron  Burt,  Esq.,  Hon.  Harvey  Baldwin,  and  others, 
for  an  academy,  and  was  so  used  for  a  dozen  years  ;  but,  being  located 
too  far  from  what  subsequently  became  the  centre  of  the  city,  to  be 
convenient  as  a  day-school,  and  yet  too  near  to  be  resorted  to  as  a 
boarding-school,  it  languished,  notwithstanding  the  exertions  of  its  three 
principal  patrons ;  and  about  five  years  ago  became  the  property  of  the 
Onondaga  Asylum.  It  is,  however,  still  a  monument  to  the  enterprise 
of  Captain  Teall  and  his  associates,  and  of  their  zeal  in  the  cause  of 
education. 

But  it  has  not  been  merely  as  a  man  of  business  and  thrift  that  the 
subject  of  this  memoir  has  been  principally  known  to  his  fellow-citizens 
and  heard  of  throughout  the  state.  He  was  one  of  the  earliest  and  has 
been  of  the  most  steadfast  friends  of  the  Temperance  Reform.  His 
name  will  go  down  to  posterity  as  the  untiring  fellow-laborer  of  E.  C. 
Delavan,  and  Gerrit  Smith,  and  Herman  Camp,  and  Charles  A.  Wheaton, 
and  Chancellor  Wai  worth,  and  other  pioneers  in  this  great  enterprise. 
His  labors  have  not  been  most  conspicuous,  however,  at  public  meet 
ings.  Although  a  frequent  attendant  at  them,  he  has  always  been  a 
diligent  laborer  at  home  and  throughout  his  immediate  neighborhood. 
He  has  not  contented  himself  with  recommending  to  others  a  disagree 
able  and  laborious  duty.  Were  pledges  to  be  obtained  or  memorials 
to  the  legislature  to  be  circulated  for  signatures,  Captain  Teall  has  been 
ever  ready  to  present  them  to  his  neighbors  and  townsmen,  and  press 
them  upon  their  favorable  regards.  There  is  not  a  person,  probably, 
who  has  been  resident  in  Syracuse  a  year,  that  does  not  know  that 
Oliver  Teall  is  an  uncompromising  total  abstinence  man ;  and  few  who 
have  not  heard  this  vital  principle  of  temperance  advocated  by  him. 

His  abstinence,  however,  reaches  farther  than  to  intoxicating  liquors. 
lie  would  include  in  his  proscription  whatever  articles  of  food  or  habits 
of  living  are  known  to  be  prejudicial  to  the  health,  or  mental,  or  moral, 
vigor  of  man.  He  has  canvassed  Syracuse  in  person,  and  appealed  to 
thousands  of  its  inhabitants  to  dissuade  them  from  the  use  of  tobacco. 
It  may  be  too  true  that  his  unwearied  exertions  have  made  but  little 
visible  impression  upon  those  who  were  addicted  to  this  nauseous  weed ; 


OLIVER  TEALL,  OF  NEW-YORK.  113 

but  very  many,  through  his  influence,  are  rejoicing  in  their  exemption 
from  the  offensive  habit.  He  would  never  concede  that  reason  and 
conscience,  and  health,  and  purity,  should  be  subjugated  to  appetite. 
But  he  has  insisted,  with  a  distinctness,  pertinacity,  and  earnestness, 
which  have  evinced  his  deep  sincerity,  and  commanded  the  respect  of 
many  who  have  not  yielded  to  his  appeals,  that  it  is  a  sin  to  violate 
any  of  the  laws  of  life  and  health,  laws  instituted  by  Almighty  God, 
as  plainly  as  those  that  were  proclaimed  by  Moses  from  Mount  Sinai. 
This  great  doctrine  he  has  inculcated  wherever  he  could  get  ears  to 
hear  it,  and  has  enforced  it  by  a  life  eminently  consistent,  and  by  the 
manifestation  in  his  own  person  of  a  degree  of  health,  vigor,  and  power 
of  endurance,  seldom  seen  in  a  man  of  his  years. 

Although  the  temperance  cause  has  received  so  much  attention  from 
Captain  Teall,  and  has  made  such  large  demands  upon  his  time  and  his 
purse,  he  has  also  entered  with  zeal  into  other  important  reforms. 

He  early  engaged,  in  opposition  to  the  law,  by  which  debtors  might 
be  incarcerated  like  felons,  nor  did  he  cease  from  his  efforts  until  that 
law  was  repealed.  In  the  height  of  the  controversy  on  that  reform  he 
was  one  of  a  number  who  went  to  the  Onondaga  county  jail,  paid  the 
jailor's  demands  against  all  the  debtors  in  his  custody,  threw  open  the 
prison  doors,  and  led  them  forth  into  the  light  and  air  of  freedom,  of 
which  misfortune  ought  never  to  deprive  a  man. 

He  was  also  untiring  in  his  efforts  to  procure  the  passage  of  the 
homestead  exemption  law.  Nor  has  he  yet  relinquished  his  labors  on 
that  behalf,  believing,  as  he  does,  that  ar  still  larger  amount  of  property 
should  be  ensured  to  the  families  of  men  against  the  contingencies  of 
trade,  as  well  as  the  rapacity  of  hard-hearted  creditors. 

To  mention  but  one  more  of  the  objects  of  benevolence,  to  which  he 
has  addressed  himself,  the  law  authorizing  married  females  to  hold 
property  independently  of  their  husbands,  was,  in  its  very  inception, 
duly  appreciated  by  Captain  Teall,  and  warmly  advocated.  This  is  an 
important  step  in  the  restoration  of  women  to  that  condition  of  equality 
in  which  they  were  originally  created,  and  to  which  they  have  an  un- 
alienable  right. 

Now,  whoever  knows  anything  of  the  origin  of  human  laws,  will  ac 
knowledge  that  we  are  much  more  indebted  for  our  social  improve 
ments  to  the  wisdom,  benevolence,  and  exertions,  of  private  citizens, 
than  we  are  to  the  final  action  of  legislators,  who  tardily  follow  where 
the  leaders  of  public  opinion  draw  them,  and,  at  last,  merely  give  a 
governmental  sanction  to  what  has  already  become  the  known  will  of 
the  sovereign  people.  Captain  Teall  has  been,  in  fact,  for  the  last 
thirty  years,  one  of  the  law-makers  of  this  state.  Some  of  the  best 
laws  that  have  been  put  upon  our  statute-book,  within  that  time,  have 
been  enacted  by  the  influence  that  he,  and  men  like  him,  have  exerted 
upon  the  public  mind. 

It  will,  therefore,  be  interesting  to  our  readers  to  know  some  of  the 
principal  facts  of  his  personal  history — what  was  his  parentage — what 
the  circumstances  and  discipline  of  his  youth — by  what  influences  his 
character  was  formed,  and  those  mental  and  moral  properties  were  de 
veloped,  that  have  made  him  so  useful  in  his  day  and  his  generation. 
It  will  be  particularly  instructive  and  encouraging,  to  young  men  of 

8 


114  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

limited  means  and  few  literary  advantages,  to  be  informed  that  Captain 
Teall  has  qualified  himself  for  great  usefulness  in  society  by  the  force 
of  good  common  sense,  fidelity  to  every  obligation,  and  the  fearless 
avowal  of  whatever  he  has  believed  to  be  true  and  right. 

Oliver  Teall  was  born  August  5.  1788,  in  the  town  of  Killingsworth, 
Conn.  His  great-grandfather  came  from  Holland,  and  settled  in  this 
country,  a  number  of  years  previous  to  the  Revolution.  His  father, 
with  four  brothers,  served  their  country  in  the  war  for  American  inde 
pendence,  in  all,  nearly  six  years  each.  Eighteen  months  of  his 
term  his  father  spent  as  a  prisoner,  having  been  captured  at  Horse 
Neck,  at  the  time  when  General  Putnam  made  his  almost  miraculous 
escape. 

Soon  after  the  close  of  the  war  his  father,  Dr.  Timothy  Teall,  re 
sumed  his  profession,  and,  about  1791,  removed  with  his  wife  (whose 
maiden  name  was  Phoebe  Hull)  and  several  children  from  Killings- 
worth  into  the  town  of  Manlius,  Onondaga  county.  He  was  one  of 
the  first  settlers  in  this  region.  Being  poor,  he  purchased  a  farm  on 
credit.  It  was  a  tract  of  military  land,  and  he  was  put  to  no  little 
trouble  and  expense  to  get  a  good  title  to  it.  He  pursued  his  medical 
profession  until  called  into  public  life.  He  served  many  years  as  a 
magistrate  and  a  deputy-sheriff,  and  transacted  a  great  deal  of  business 
for  his  fellow-citizens,  in  various  capacities.  Shortly  after  their  re 
moval  into  Manlius,  Mrs.  Teall  died,  leaving  her  husband  with  six 
children,  four  daughters  and  two  sons.  Oliver,  the  subject  of  this  bio 
graphy,  was  then  but  about  four  years  of  age.  The  oldest  child  was  a 
daughter,  of  but  twelve  years,  and  upon  her  devolved  the  principal 
charge  of  the  family,  much  of  the  time,  too,  in  the  absence  of  their 
father. 

Oliver,  so  soon  as  he  was  able,  was  put  to  work  upon  the  farm,  much 
of  it  then  being  yet  unreclaimed  from  the  woods.  And  there  he  con 
tinued  to  toil  until  he  was  17  or  18  years  old,  when  he  was  allowed  to 
deal  for  himself,  with  the  understanding  that  he  was  to  work  on  the 
farm  when  not  otherwise  employed.  His  facilities  for  acquiring  literary 
information  all  this  while  were,  of  course,  very  slender.  He  has  been 
heard  to  say  that  all  his  schooling  did  not  amount  to  more  than  one 
year  at  a  common  district  school.  Yet,  so  soon  as  he  had  been  taught 
to  read,  he  began  to  occupy  his  little  leisure  time  in  the  perusal  of  such 
books  as  were  within  his  reach.  Often  did  he  pursue  his  studies  by 
fire  or  torch  light,  until,  at  about  the  age  of  20,  he  was  thought  to  be 
qualified  to  be  a  teacher.  Instructing  others  is  the  most  profitable 
mental  and  moral  discipline  to  one  who  undertakes  the  task  with  the 
determination  to  be  faithful.  While  thus  engaged,  and  during  the 
winter  months  of  several  years,  before  and  after,  Mr.  Teall  himself  made 
very  rapid  improvement.  About  this  time  he  read  several  of  his 
father's  medical  works,  thinking  that  he  might,  at  a  future  day,  become 
a  physician.  Afterwards  he  read  Blackstone's  Commentaries,  not 
knowing  but  his  preference  would  be  for  the  law.  Before,  however,  he 
was  twenty  years  of  age,  he  concludedUo  take  his  chance  in  the  world 
without  any  particular  profession. 

He  soon  after  engaged  in  various  branches  of  business.  For  a  while 
he  conducted  a  limekiln,  laboring  at  it  himself  very  hard.  Then  he 


OLIVER  TEALL,  OF  NEW- YORK.  115 

entered  into  partnership  in  the  tanning,  currying  and  shoemaking  busi 
ness.  Afterwards  he  engaged  in  iron  smithing,  in  its  various  branches. 
Thus  he  acquired  a  great  deal  of  practical  information  in  a  variety  of 
useful  arts,  which  has  been  of  inestimable  value  to  him  in  subsequent 
life. 

Habits  of  economy  were  commenced  in  him  almost  as  soon  as  his 
habits  of  industry.  When  quite  a  boy,  he  had  earned  twelve  shillings, 
and  that  small  sum  (which  was  then  a  great  one  to  him)  he  put  out  to 
interest  at  7  per  cent.  This  was  the  beginning  of  his  financial  opera 
tions,  a  suitable  prelude  to  that  course,  which  has  led  him  to  become 
the  president  of  a  bank,  and  the  head  of  several  large  pecuniary  invest 
ments. 

At  an  early  period  of  life,  Capt.  Teall  commenced  his  speculations  in 
real  estate,  the  buying  of  water-powers,  erecting  mills,  carrying  them 
on  a  while,  and,  when  he  had  made  them  valuable,  selling  them  to  ad 
vantage.  The  experience  which  he  gained  in  these  transactions,  quali 
fied  him  for  an  enterprise  which,  in  the  event,  greatly  enhanced  his 
property,  and  made  him  more  than  ever  known  and  respected  by  the 
business-men  of  this  part  of  our  empire  state.  In  1818  he  took  what 
was  then  a  large  contract  on  the  middle  section  of  the  Erie  Canal.  The 
whole  work  was  an  experiment.  Many  persons  in  the  state  were  ut 
terly  incredulous  of  its  success.  The  amount  involved  in  the  job  he 
had  taken  was  much  larger  than  he  had  ever  before  attempted  to  man 
age.  Laborers  were  not  so  easily  obtained  then  as  now.  Difficulties 
sprang  up  thickly  in  his  way.  He  became  alarmed  at  the  undertaking, 
and  offered  the  canal  commissioners  $500  to  release  him  from  his  con 
tract.  They  utterly  refused  to  do  so.  This  roused  all  his  energies. 
He  addressed  himself  to  the  work  with  a  determination  that  few  could 
command.  He  accomplished  it  some  time  before  the  day  specified; 
and  disclosed  those  qualities,  that  were  so  appreciated  by  the  commis 
sioners,  that,  at  the  completion  of  the  middle  section  of  the  canal,  he 
was  appointed  superintendent  of  a  portion  of  it,  and  served  in  that 
capacity  for  six  years.  Here  he  was  called  upon  to  direct  important 
improvements  and  repairs,  and  to  expend  very  large  sums  of  money. 
The  thoroughness  of  the  work  done  under  his  supervision,  and  the 
accuracy  of  his  accounts,  inspired  all  who  were  cognizant  of  his  skill 
and  fidelity  with  the  highest  confidence. 

It  was  during  this  period  that  he  invented  the  machine,  called  "  The 
Under-water  Excavator,"  for  deepening  canals.  It  answered  the  purpose 
well,  and  he  obtained  a  patent  for  it. 

But  it  was  at  a  still  earlier  date  that  he  embraced  a  principle,  which, 
could  it  be  universally  adopted  by  the  people  from  Albany  to  Buffalo, 
would  be  an  incomparably  greater  blessing  to  the  state  and  the  country, 
than  this  far-famed  canal  has  been.  In  1819  Capt.  Teall  followed  the 
then  almost  universal  custom  of  furnishing  ardent  spirits  to  his  work 
men,  and  of  drinking  with  them  himself.  It  so  happened,  that  when 
erecting  a  grist-mill  in  the  town  of  Sullivan,  his  foreman  had  hired  a 
man  somewhat  famous  in  that  neighborhood  as  a  hard-drinker.  This 
annoyed  Mr.  Teall.  He  was  willing  to  drink  with  decent  men,  but  to 
join  in  his  potations  with  a  drunkard,  was  mortifying  to  his  self-respect. 
Probably  some  words  to  that  effect  dropped  from  his  lips,  which  were 


116  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

reported  to  the  new-comer.  For,  the  next  day,  when  the  captain  had 
drank  himself,  and,  as  usual,  passed  the  bottle  to  his  workmen,  all  par 
took,  excepting  only  the  man  at  whom  he  had  taken  oflence.  The  re 
puted  inebriate  utterly  refused  the  tempting  draught.  Though  urged, 
he  would  not  be  induced  to  taste  it.  This  unexpected  occurrence 
awakened  in  the  captain's  mind  a  train  of  reflections,  which  led  to  the 
determination  that  he  would  never  again  be  instrumental  to  the  seduc 
tion  of  sober  men,  or  the  temptation  of  those  whom  the  sin  of  intem 
perance  most  easily  beset.  He  at  once  renounced  the  use  of  distilled 
spirits,  and  shortly  after  intoxicating  drinks  of  every  description.  To 
the  resolution  then  formed  he  has  adhered  without  deviation  to  the  . 
present  day. 

His  early  studies  of  the  laws  of  life  and  health,  already  referred  to, 
disposed  htm  the  more  readily  to  refrain  from  an  indulgence  which  the 
slightest  observation  is  sufficient  to  show  is  most  prejudicial  to  the 
physical,  mental,  and  moral  welfare  of  man.  For  the  same  reason,  Mr. 
Teall  abstained  from  the  use  of  tobacco.  Subsequent  observation  and 
thought  have  led  him  to  abandon  the  use  of  tea  and  coffee,  and,  since 
1840,  of  flesh,  fish  and  fowl.  In  these  respects,  many  regard  him  as 
abstemious  overmuch ;  and  are  willing  to  believe  that  he  has  rejected 
what  the  divine  Author  of  all  intended  for  the  food  of  man,  and  what 
therefore  cannot  be  rejected  without  injury.  But  the  subject  of  our 
memoir  is  surely  one  living  witness  against  all  the  common  assump 
tions  on  this  point.  He  is  daily  before  us,  at  the  age  of  sixty-four,  in 
the  enjoyment  of  perfect  health,  free  from  every  kind  of  ache  or  pain, 
able  to  endure  as  much  bodily  exertion  as  any  man  in  the  city,  and  to 
expose  himself  with  impunity  to  all  kinds  of  weather,  seldom  if  ever 
wearing  an  outer  garment.  He  has  not  lost  a  day  by  sickness,  nor  ex 
pended  a  shilling  in  the  purchase  of  medicine  for  many  years.  Indeed 
he  has  come  to  consider  sickness  prima  facie  evidence  of  some  moral 
obliquity.  "  How  is  your  health1?"  we  said  to  him  one  morning. 
"  Very  good,"  was  his  reply ;  "  what  think  you  I  have  been  doing,  that 
I  should  be  sick  ?" 

But  with  all  his  physical  hardihood,  and  his  indomitable  energy  and 
perseverance,  though  he  has  never  been  known  to  relinquish  a  purpose 
he  had  determined  to  accomplish,  Capt.  Teall  has  always  manifested  a 
peaceable  and  friendly  spirit.  So  averse  to  litigation  has  he  ever  been, 
that,  notwithstanding  the  magnitude  of  his  business  transactions,  and 
the  great  number  and  variety  of  persons  he  has  dealt  with,  he  has 
never  in  his  life  had  a  contested  lawsuit.  In  the  settlement  of  his 
father's  estate,  he  left  it  to  be  divided  by  his  brother  and  sisters  as 
they  might  see  best.  And  in  all  his  intercourse  with  men,  at  the  same 
time  that  he  has  been  noted  for  shrewdness,  he  has  been  uniformly  fair 
and  honorable. 

In  1809  Capt.  Teall  married  Catherine  Walter,  a  farmer's  daughter,  in 
the  town  of  MaJilius.  She  was  frugal,  industrious,  gentle,  distinguished 
for  her  general  benevolence,  and  for  her  untiring  devotion  to  her  family. 
She  died  September  30,  1836.  By  her  he  had  five  children,  two  sons 
and  three  daughters.  The  eldest  son  was  educated  at  West  Point 
Academy,  and  has  since  deceased.  His  other  children  are  settled  re 
spectably,  near  him. 


LUTHER  BADGER,  OF  NEW-YORK.  117 

Soon  after  his  marriage,  he  purchased  a  farm  in  Manlius,  and  erected 
a  commodious  stone-house,  which  he  expected  would  be  his  dwelling- 
place  so  long  as  he  should  live  on  earth.  But  on  his  appointment  to  a 
superintendeney  upon  the  Erie  Canal,  he  removed  to  that  part  of 
Syracuse  which  is  called  Lodi,  purchased  of  the  state  the  right  to  the 
surplus  waters  of  the  west  end  of  the  Eome  level,  and  erected  mills, 
which  for  a  number  of  years  he  managed  in  addition  to  his  public 
business. 

Thus  he  became  MI  inhabitant  of  this  place  in  its  infancy.  He  has 
grown  with  its  growth,  and  strengthened  with  its  strength ;  and  he  is 
now  highly  respected  as  one  of  the  conscript  fathers  of  Syracuse. 


HON.  LUTHER  BADGER, 

OF    BROOME    COUNTY,    NEW-YORK. 

PRAISE  is  always  due  to  merit,  and  especially  where  merit  is  the 
product  of  unassisted  toil  and  perseverance.  The  "self-made  man" 
•commands  our  highest  respect.  Those  struggles,  by  means  of  which 
he  has  risen  from  obscurity  to  honorable  distinction,  cannot  fail  to  en 
list  our  sympathy  and  call  forth  our  warmest  applause. 

The  annals  of  our  country  furnish  many  bright  examples  of  this 
kind,  and  among  them  the  subject  of  this  sketch  occupies  a  conspicuous 
place. 

Luther  Badger  was  born  April  10th,  1785,  in  Patridgefield,  (now  the 
town  of  Peru,)  Berkshire  county,  Massachusetts. 

His  father,  Lemuel  Badger,  was  a  volunteer  in  the  Revolutionary 
contest  which  separated  us  from  the  mother  country,  and  bore  a  com 
mission  under  Gen.  Montgomery  in  the  invasion  of  Canada.  In  the 
fall  of  1786,  while  Luther  was  yet  an  infant,  the  family  emigrated  to 
v/hafc  WAS  at  that  time  considered  the  "  far  west,"  and  settled  on  the 
Susquehanna  River,  in  Broome  county,  New- York. 

That  whole  tract  of  country,  now  so  densely  populated,  and  justly 
regarded  as  one  of  the  finest  agricultural  sections  of  the  state,  was  then 
an  unbroken  wilderness,  where  the  whoop  of  the  Indian,  the  scream  of 
the  panther,  and  the  howl  of  the  wolf,  were  sounds  much  more  familiar 
than  the  voice  of  civilized  man. 

There,  amid  the  wild  scenes  of  nature  in  her  primeval  dress,  subject 
to  the  inconveniences,  privations  and  hardships  inseparably  connected 
with  life  in  the  new  settlements,  Luther  Badger  grew  up  to  manhood. 

Few  boys  thus  reared  would  have  had  the  courage  to  face  the  diffi 
culties  that  must  of  necessity  stand  in  the  way  of  literary  pursuits. 
Very  few  thus  situated,  with  no  means  for  acquiring  an  education  but 
such  as  they  were  able  to  procure  by  their  own  industry,  would  ever 
have  attempted  to  scale  the  lofty  barriers  that  surround  the  learned 
professions,  to  gain  a  place  at  the  bar. 


118  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

Bat  with  an  insatiable  thirst  for  knowledge,  noble  ambition,  and  a 
firm  determination  to  rise  in  the  world,  Luther  Badger  looked  out  from 
the  deep  forests,  in  the  shades  of  which  he  had  been  nurtured,  and  re 
solved  that  nothing  short  of  absolute  impossibilities  should  prevent  him 
from  occupying  a  commanding  position  in  society.* 

By  making  the  best  use  of  his  scanty  opportunities,  he  succeeded  in 
gaining  such  an  acquaintance  with  the  common  branches  of  an  English 
education  as  at  the  age  of  nineteen  to  enter  the  Hamilton  and  Oneida 
Academy,  (now  Hamilton  College,)  where  he  pursued  his  studies  two 
years,  though  some  portion  of  this  time  he  was  out  of  the  institution 
engaged  in  teaching  a  common  school. 

In  1807  he  commenced  the  study  of  law  under  the  tuition  of  William 
Eager,  Esq.,  in  Manlius,  Onondaga  county,  New- York,  and  three  years 
afterward  entered  the  law  office  of  Randall  and  Wattles,  in  New-Hart 
ford,  Oneida  county. 

At  the  May  term  of  the  Supreme  Court,  in  1812,  he  was  admitted 
to  the  bar. 

The  examination  on  this  occasion,  which  was  conducted  by  Judge 
Van  Ness,  was  uncommonly  strict  and  critical ;  but  Mr.  Badger  acquitted 
himself 'so  well  throughout,  as  to  gain  the  admiration  of  the  class  and 
the  respect  of  all  present. 

He  now  returned  to  Manlius,  the  place  where  he  commenced  his 
studies,  and  opened  an  office.  There  he  practised  twelve  years  with 
large  and  constantly  increasing  success.  But  though  gifted  with  a  natu 
rally  strong  constitution,  his  close  and  intense  application  to  the  duties 
of  his  profession  so  impaired  his  health,  that  he  was  compelled  to  retire 
from  practice,  which  he  did  not  resume  until  1832. 

In  1824,  soon  after  he  had  retired  from  business,  he  was  elected  by 
the  people  of  Onondaga,  and  represented  them  in  the  19th  Congress, 
though  he  was  not  connected  with  the  strongest  political  party  in  that 
district. 

Mr.  Badger  is  above  the  middle  size,  and  uniting  with  dignified  man 
ners  a  correct  taste,  he  was  fitted  to  adorn  any  circle  in  which  he  was 
called  to  move.  Add  to  this  his  undoubted  integrity  of  character  and 
fidelity  to  all  his  business  engagements,  and  it  will  not  appear  at  all 
strange  that  many  trusts,  both  civil  and  military,  should  have  been 
committed  to  his  keeping. 

He  was,  in  1809,  attached  to  the  staff  of  Colonel  Thaddeus  M.  Wood 
as  serjeant-major,  and  three  years  afterward  was  appointed  quarter- 


*  Mr.  Badger,  in  speaking  of  this  period  of  his  life  says,  that  ke  used  often,  when 
a  boy,  to  ascend  a  bold  promontory  or  cliff  that  was  situated  in  the  rear  of  his 
father's  residence,  and  seating  himself  where  he  had  an  extensive  view  of  the  Sus- 
quehanna  valley  and  the  surrounding  hills,  covered  with  dense  forests,  unbroken,  as 
yet,  except  at  a  few  points,  by  the  axe  of  the  settlers,  he  used  to  muse  and  specu 
late  for  hours  together  as  to  what  would  be  the  ultimate  fate  of  this  region,  and 
what  was  now  the  condition  of  other  sections  of  country.  Would  these  forests 
ever  be  cleared  away  1  Would  these  hills  ever  be  cultivated  1  What  must  be  the 
principal  differences  between  this  and  other  and  older  settlements  1  And,  said  he, 
"  I  determined  that  I  would  know  something  about  the  world,  and  if  there  was 
a  better  country  I  would  try  to  find  it."  This  was  while  he  had  never  seen  airy 
other  section  than  that  in  which  he  lived. 


LUTHER  BADGER,  OF  NEW-YORK.  119 

master  by  Governor  Tompkins.  He  was  several  times  called  out  with 
his  regiment  to  Oswego,  Smith's  Mills,  and  other  points  along  the  lines, 
in  the  last  war  with  Great  Britain,  but  was  not  in  any  engagement. 

In.  1819,  Mr,  Wood  having  been  raised  to  the  rank  of  brigadier- 
general,  made  Mr.  Badger  his  aid-de-camp,  and  the  next  year  Governor 
Clinton  appointed  him  judge-advocate  for  the  twenty-seventh  brigade  of 
infantry  of  the  State  of  New- York.  This  last  office  he  held  eight  years, 
and  then  resigned  it,  and  retired  from  military  service. 

During  several  years  Mr.  Badger  was  engaged  in  the  mercantile  busi 
ness,  but  in  that  calling  he  was  by  no  means  successful. 

In  1832  he  returned  to  the  county  of  Broome,  and  resumed  the  prac 
tice  of  law,  which  he  has  since  continued. 

Of  his  success  as  a  lawyer,  neither  himself  nor  his  friends  have  reason 
to  complain  or  be  ashamed.  In  the  course  of  his  business  he  has  had 
the  management  of  many  important  suits  in  the  Supreme  Court,  in  the 
Court  of  Cha\ieery,  and  in  the  United  States  Courts,  which  he  has  almost 
invariably  managed  to  the  satisfaction  of  his  clients,  seldom  failing  to 
secure  their  rights. 

On  one  occasion,  while  practising  in  Onondaga,  he  was  called  to  de 
fend  a  strongly-contested  suit  in  Oswego.  The  opposing  counsel  were 
several  of  the  most  distinguished  members  of'  the  legal  profession  in 
the  state,  among  whom  was  General  Wood. 

Mr.  Badger,  in  his  defence,  displayed  so  much  ability,  and  such  ma 
ture  acquaintance  with  the  system  of  American  jurisprudence,  that  he 
was  strongly  solicited  by  several  of  the  most  prominent  citizens  of  Os 
wego  to  settle  in  their  village,  and  to  accept  of  the  office  of  first  judge 
of  that  county ;  but  his  engagements  at  the  time  were  such  as  prevented 
him  from  complying  with  their  request. 

The  circumstances  of  his  admission  to  the  Court  of  Chancery  as  a 
solicitor,  which  took  place  in  1819,  are  somewhat  amusing.  Being  in 
Albany,  he  concluded  to  call  and  ask  admission  to  practise  in  that 
court.  He  did  so,  and  was  ushered  by  a  servant  into  the  chancellor's 
room,  Mr.  Kent  was  seated  behind  a  table,  at  the  further  end  of  the 
room,  writing,  with  his  face  turned  towards  the  door  through  which  Mr. 
Badger  entered.  But  he  did  not  stop  writing,  or  look  up,  until  Mr. 
Badger  reached  the  middle  of  the  room,  when  he  arose  from  his  chair, 
and  the  following  dialogue  occurred  : 

Chancellor  Kent. — "  How  do  you  do,  sir  ?  how  do  you  do,  sir  ? 
What  is  your  name  ?" 

Mr.  B.—"  Luther  Badger." 

Chan.—"  Where  do  you  live?" 

Mr.  B.—"  In  Onondaga," 

Chan. — "  You  belong  to  the  learned  profession,  do  you  not  ?" 

Mr.  B.— "I  do.1' 

Chan. — "  Well,  you  have  come  to  be  admitted  to  my  court  ?" 

Mr.  B.—"  That  is  the  object  for  which  I  have  called." 

Chan. — "  Well,  what  do  you  know  about  chancery  f ' 

Mr.  B.—"  I  confess  that  I  know  but  little  about  it." 

Chan. — Well,  how  then  do  you  expect  to  be  admitted  ?  What  have 
you  to  show  1 

Mr.  B. — "  I  have  an  attorney's  license." 


120  SKETCHES  OP  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

Chan. — " Let  me  see  it  ?  [taking  it,  and  eyeing  it  a  moment.]  Yes; 
James  Kent — James  Kent ;  I  signed  that.  Have  you  anything  else  V* 

Mr.  B. — "  I  have  a  counselor's  license."     (Producing  it.) 

Chan, — "  Smith  Thompson — Smith  Thompson.  Yes ;  that  is  his  hand 
writing — I  know  his  signature.  Have  you  anything  else  1" 

Mr.  B. — "  Not  anything." 

Chan. — "  Were  you  ever  thrown  over  the  bar  ?" 

Mr.  B. — "  Not  that  I  know  of." 

Chan.' — "  Well,  suppose  that  I  should  admit  you  as  a  solicitor,  and 
that  a  man  were  to  come  to  you  and  wish  to  commence  a  suit  in  chan 
cery,  what  would  you  do  1 — what  is  the  first  thing  1  How  would  you 
commence  ?" 

Mr.  B. — "  I  would  sit  down  and  draw  a  bill,  and  copy  it,  and  file  a 
copy  in  the  office  of  the  clerk  of  chancery,  and  then  issue  a  subpoena, 
and  cite  the  party  against  whom  the  suit  was  commenced  to  appear 
and  answer  to  it." 

Chan. — "  That  is  right — that  is  right ;  that  is  exactly  the  way  to 
commence  a  suit  in  chancery.  I  will  admit  you.  You  go  down  to 
Gould's  book-store,  and  get  you  a  blank  solicitor's  license,  and  then  call 
on  my  brother,  Moss,  who  is  register,  and  request  him  to  come  down 
with  you  to  my  office,  and  I  will  admit  you." 

All  this  time  the  chancellor  remained  standing  behind  his  table,  and 
Mr.  B.  in  the  middle  of  the  room.  The  incident  brings  out  some  of  the 
peculiar  characteristics  of  both  men. 

Three  years  later  he  was  admitted  as  counselor,  and  in  1840  was  ap 
pointed  by  the  Senate  of  the  State  of  New- York  an  examiner  in  chan 
cery,  on  the  recommendation  of  Governor  Seward. 

He  was  admitted  to  practice  in  the  United  States  courts  in  1826, 
while  he  was  member  of  Congress. 

In  1840  he  was  appointed  Commissioner  of  United  States  Loans, 
which  office  he  held  three  years.  He  afterward  practised  as  proctor, 
solicitor,  counselor,  and  advocate,  in  the  United  States  Courts  of  the 
Northern  District  of  New-York.  The  people  of  Broome  county,  in 
184G,  gave  an  expression  of  their  confidence  in  Mr.  Badger  by  electing 
him  to  the  office  of  district  attorney  for  that  county.  He  resigned  the 
office  in  the  fall  of  1849. 

In  politics  Mr.  Badger  is  a  stanch  and  decided  whig,  and  on  every  suit 
able  occasion  is  ready  to  defend  and  advocate  the  principles  and  measures 
of  his  party.  He  is  a  man  who  keeps  up  with  the  times.  Familiar  not 
only  with  the  leading  papers  that  are  the  acknowledged  organs  of  the 
whig  party  in  this  state,  but  to  a  considerable  extent  also  with  the  cur 
rent  literature  of  the  day,  Mr.  Badger  is  able  to  take  a  comprehensive 
view  of  the  affairs  of  our  country,  and  to  form  conclusions  more  just 
and  reliable  than  most  men  are  competent  to  do.  Among  those  who 
are  best  acquainted  with  him,  his  opinions  are  always  received  with  re 
spect,  and  the  results  generally  show  that  the  confidence  reposed  in 
them  is  not  misplaced. 

Mr.  Badger  was  married,  in  1811,  to  a  daughter  of  Mr.  John  Wells, 
of  East  Hartford,  Conn.  Mrs.  Badger  died  in  1846,  and  he  subsequently 
married  Mrs.  Betsey  D.  Avery,  daughter  of  the  Hon.  Davts  Dimmoek, 
of  Montrose,  Pa.  Judge  Dimmoek  and  his  family  are  well  known  to 


HENRY  H.  FULLER,  OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  121 

the  public.  He  has,  during  many  years,  both  before  and  since  he  was 
raised  to  the  bench,  been  a  very  successful  and  highly-respected  minis 
ter  of  the  gospel  belonging  to  the  Baptist  denomination,  and,  though 
becoming  somewhat  superannuated,  still  continues  to  preach.  His 
daughter,  the  widow  A  very,  was,  when  married  to  Mr.  Badger,  a  mem 
ber  of  the  same  church  with  her  father,  and  Mr.  Badger  has  since  con 
nected  himself  with  that  denomination. 

Since  his  union  with  the  Baptist  Church,  he  has  made  liberal  use  of 
his  property  for  the  support  of  the  various  benevolent  institutions 
patronized  by  the  denomination,  as  well  as  to  sustain  the  ministry  in 
the  church  and  congregation  of  which  he  is  a  member.  At  his  house, 
those  who  were  laboring  to  promote  the  cause  of  religion  as  ministers 
and  agents,  have  often  found  a  welcome  and  a  home.  His  beneficence 
has  not  been  confined  within  denominational  limits.  Being  a  man  of 
strong  feelings,  and  easily  moved,  he  has  ever  been  found  ready  to  re 
spond  to  the  calls  of  the  needy  and  deserving,  and  willing  to  lend  a 
helping  hand  to  all  worthy  enterprises,  so  far  as  consistent  with  his 
means. 


HENRY  H.  FULLER,  ESQUIRE,  /' 

OF  BOSTON,  MASSACHUSETTS. 

THE  subject  of  the  following  notice,  Henry  Holton  Fuller,  was  born 
in  Princeton,  Massachusetts,  on  the  first  of  July,  1790,  and  was  the 
third  son  of  the  Rev.  Timothy  Fuller,  the  first  minister  settled  in  that 
town.  His  father,  although  a  clergyman,  like  most  New-England  cler 
gymen  of  that  day,  in  our  agricultural  towns,  was  also  a  farmer.  He 
accordingly  brought  up  his  sons,  like  those  of  other  farmers  about  him, 
to  engage  in  all  the  labors  of  the  homestead.  Having  relinquished  his 
ministerial  relations  with  his  parish  some  years  previously,  he  removed 
from  Princeton  to  Merrimack,  in  New-Hampshire,  in  1796,  where  he 
died  in  1805. 

Up  to  the  period  of  his  father's  death,  the  son  spent  his  life  upon  the 
farm  at  Merrimack.  Left  at  the  early  age  of  fifteen  years,  without 
father  or  patrimony,  he  was  called  upon  to  decide  for  himself  as  to  his 
future  course  and  profession.  He  had  no  difficulty  in  making  this  de 
cision,  so  far  as  his  inclinations  were  concerned,  having  from  his  earliest 
recollections  conceived  a  preference  for  the  law,  and  a  desire  for  such 
an  education  as  would  best  prepare  him  for  that  profession.  The  death 
of  his  father  rendered  it  doubtful  if  the  son's  preferences  could  be  grati- 


NOTE. — Timothy  Fuller  was  the  third  in  descent  from  Thomas  Fuller,  who  joined 
the  Massachusetts  colony  at  Charlestown,  in  1638.  He  was  one  of  the  thirty-two 
persons  who  founded  the  town  of  Woburn,  in  1640,  under  the  lead  of  the  famous 
poet  and  historian,  Edward  Johnson.  He  afterwards  settled  at  Mills  Hill,  then 
Salem  Village,  now  Middleton. — See  Frothingham's  Hist.  Charlestown,  pp.  106, 
107. 


122  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

fied.  His  anxiety  was,  however,  soon  relieved  by  the  kindness  of  his 
oldest  brother,  then  recently  admitted  to  the  practice  of  the  law  in  Bos 
ton,  and  who  generously  offered  to  furnish  him  the  means  of  obtaining 
a  collegiate  and  professional  education.  Accepting  this  proposal,  Mr. 
Fuller  still  continued  to  be  employed  upon  his  mother's  farm  until 
December,  1806,  when  he  commenced  preparing  for  admission  to  the 
university.  His  father  had  never  permitted  any  of  his  sons  to  attend  the 
public  schools  or  academies,  preferring  to  teach  them  himself  at  home. 
Having  thus  far  received  only  parental  instruction,  Mr.  Fuller  resolved 
to  fit  himself  for  college,  studying  at  home,  and  taking  occasionally  a 
lesson  from  the  minister  of  his  town,  who  lived  a  few  miles  distant. 
He  began  with  the  Latin  grammar,  in  eight  months  went  through  the 
Latin  and  Greek  classics  and  other  studies  required  for  admission,  and 
was  received  into  the  freshman  class  of  Harvard  University  at  Cam 
bridge  in  the  autumn  of  1807. 

Although  self-instruction  has  some  advantages*  in  the  intellectual 
strength  and  acumen  it  gives,  it  has  also  numerous  disadvantages. 
These  latter  Mr.  Fuller  experienced,  to  some  extent,  in  joining  his 
college  class.  He  could  ascertain  the  meaning  of  an  author  not  before 
studied,  and  pursue  a  new  branch  of  study  with  more  certainty  and 
confidence  than  those  accustomed  to  the  assistance  of  a  teacher.  But 
in  the  grace  and  ease  of  rendering  the  classics,  in  the  pronunciation  of 
the  languages,  and  in  composition  and  elocution,  he  found  himself  far 
behind  those  who  had  been  trained  at  the  Latin  school  in  Boston,  or  at 
other  prominent  institutions,  where  young  men  were  then  prepared  for 
college.  These,  however,  were  defects  which  diligence  and  effort  could 
cure,  and  such  the  ambition  and  earnestness  of  him,  who  now  felt  them, 
would  not  permit  long  to  exist.  To  remedy  them,  he  passed  the  win 
ter  vacation,  of  seven  weeks,  which  commenced  at  the  close  of  his  first 
term  in  college,  with  Dr.  Joshua  Bates,  then  a  clergyman  in  Dedham, 
Massachusetts,  afterwards  president  of  Middlebury  College.  During 
these  few  weeks,  he  applied  himself  to  the  study  of  Latin  and  Greek 
authors,  not  required  of  his  class,  desiring  to  supply,  as  far  as  could  be 
done  in  so  short  a  space,  the  deficiencies  of  his  previous  preparation. 

Mr.  Fuller  graduated  in  1811.  Of  his  college  course  it  is  enough  to 
say,  that  he  took  the  second  honor  and  place  in  a  class  eminent  for  the 
number  of  its  distinguished  men.  Among  these  may  be  named,  Hon. 
Edward  Everett,  Hon.  Ebenezer  Lane,  the  late  Chief  Justice  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Ohio,  Benjamin  F.  Dunkin,  present  Chancellor  of 
South  Carolina,  Rev.  Drs.  Samuel  Gillman,  Nathaniel  L.  Frothingham 
and  Joseph  Allen.  This  list  might  be  still  further  extended,  and  em 
braces  several  in  the  foremost  rank  of  their  respective  professions  in 
their  different  localities. 

Immediately  upon  his  graduation  from  col-lege,  Mr.  Fuller  went  to 
Exeter,  New-Hampshire,  where  he  passed  a  year,  as  assistant-teacher 
in  the  academy,  then  under  the  charge  of  the  late  Dr.  Benjamin  Abbott, 
as  principal.  At  that  time,  Exeter  was  the  Athens  of  New-Hampshire, 
and  the  residence  of  a  galaxy  of  distinguished  men  of  the  old  school  of 
politics  and  law.  Amongst  these  were  the  late  Governor  and  Chief 
Justice,  Jeremiah  Smith,  Judge  Oliver  Peabody,  George  Sullivan,  one 


HENRY  H.  FULLER,  OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  123 

of  the  most  accomplished  advocates  and  men  of  the  Granite  state, 
Governor  John  Taylor  Gilman,  and  many  others  well  known  in  the 
history  of  their  own  commonwealth. 

Mr.  Fuller  enjoyed  and  appreciated  the  society  in  which  he  was  here 
introduced,  and  doubtless  some  of  the  political  opinions,  to  which  he 
has  steadfastly  adhered,  received  bias  and  strength,  if  they  did  not  de 
rive  their  origin,  from  the  social  intercourse  of  this  period  of  his 
life. 

Upon  leaving  Exeter,  in  September,  1813,  Mr.  Fuller  became  a  stu 
dent  at  the  law  school,  under  the  charge  of  Judge  Tappen  Reeve  and 
Judge  James  Gould,  at  Litchfield,  Ct.,  which  at  that  time  was  the  only 
institution  of  the  kind  in  the  United  States.  The  idea  of  such  a  school 
was  then  new  in  this  country.  As  soon  as  Mr.  Fuller  ascertained  its 
existence,  he  determined  to  avail  himself  of  its  facilities.  He  entered 
it  at  a  most  interesting  and  exciting  period  of  our  history,  and  found 
himself  a  fellow-student  with  large  numbers  of  young  men  from  nearly 
every  state  in  the  Union,  bringing  with  them  all  shades  and  varieties  of 
opinion  prevailing  in  their  respective  localities.  He  had  hitherto  had 
comparatively  little  intercourse  with  the  world.  He  had  passed  from 
the  quiet  of  his  youthful  home  to  the  seclusion  of  an  assiduous  college- 
life.  The  leisure  hours  of  his  twelve  months  at  Exeter  found  him  in 
the  midst  of  a  refined  and  intelligent  society,  but,  in  its  predominant 
influences,  representing  one  class  of  opinions  only.  There  is  a  vast 
difference,  too,  in  the  effect  upon  the  mind,  between  an  association  with 
those  to  whose  sentiments  age  and  eminence  impart  an  authority,  and 
with  those  of  our  own  age  and  standing,  who  as  equals  bring  to  our 
notice  and  discussion  all  the  diversities  of  sentiment  and  feeling  of  the 
time. 

The  tendency  of  the  one  is  to  the  quiet  reception  of  opinions 
upon  trust;  of  the  other  to  induce  thought  and  independence.  At 
Litchfield,  Mr.  Fuller  enjoyed  a  more  favorable  position  for  enlarging  and 
liberalizing  his  views  and  sentiments  than  he  had  had  before,  and  he  has 
never  failed  to  appreciate  and  acknowledge  the  beneficial  results  which 
his  sagacity  anticipated.  These  and  other  benefits  have  now  so  estab 
lished  law  schools  as  a  necessity,  that  we  hardly  realize  they  were  so 
recently  an  experiment. 

It  had  been  Mr.  Fuller's  design  to  make  the  State  of  New- York  his 
professional  home,  when  he  should  commence  practice.  With  this 
view,  after  remaining  at  the  school  in  Litchfield  one  year,  he  went  to 
Albany  in  September,  1813,  and  became  a  student  in  the  office  of 
Messrs.  Bleecker  and  Sedgwick,  a  distinguished  law  firm  in  that  city. 
At  that  time  the  English  forms  of  pleading  and  practice  were  retained 
in  the  New- York  courts,  and  they  contrasted  so  unpleasantly  with  the 
simplicity  of  the  pleadings  and  practice  in  Massachusetts,  as  to  be 
quite  distasteful  to  Mr.  Fuller.  Such  forms  required  much  manual, 
but  little  intellectual  labor,  and  to  a  young  man,  seeking  an  intellectual 
profession,  they  were  uninteresting  and  irksome.  Mr.  Fuller  was, 
however,  induced  to  abandon  his  purpose  of  settling  in  New-York  by 
other  considerations.  His  oldest  brother,  Timothy,  to  whom  we  have 
before  alluded,  proposed  to  him  to  come  to  Boston,  finish  his  studies. 


124  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

and  become  a  partner  with  him.  The  elder  Fuller*  was  then  in  full 
and  large  practice  in  the  counties  of  Middlesex  and  Suffolk,  and  this 
offer,  both  favorable  and  flattering,  was  accepted. 

Having  completed  his  studies  in  his  brother's  office,  Mr.  Fuller  was 
admitted  to  practice,  September  10th,  1815,  and  then  became  a  part 
ner  with  his  brother  in  professional  business. 

Thus  called  at  once  into  full  practice,  he  had  less  time  for  professional 
and  other  studies  than  he  would  have  desired.  But  this  had  its  com 
pensation  in  a  speedy  familiarity  with,  and  knowledge  of  practice,  and 
the  acquisition  of  large  experience  in  the  trial  and  management  of  causes 
before  juries  and  judges. 

The  first  case  tried  by  Mr.  Fuller  was  one  of  some  interest.  It 
arose  out  of  a  mercantile  adventure  to  the  West  Indies,  entered  into 
immediately  after  the  war  of  1812.  It  was  tried  before  that  eminent 
statesman  and  orator,  the  late  Harrison  Gray  Otis,  then  holding  the 
office  of  Judge  of  the  Boston  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  and  at  the  same 
time  a  senator  in  Congress.  Mr.  Fuller  was  counsel  for  the  plaintiff, 
and  his  opponent  was  the  late  professor  of  rhetoric  and  oratory  in  Har 
vard  College,  some  years  his  senior  in  the  profession.  The  natural 
embarrassments  of  a  young  counselor,  trying  his  first  case,  were  felt 
more  than  they  were  manifested  by  him,  but  they  did  not  prevent  his 
success.  A  verdict  satisfactory  to  his  client  was  obtained. 

From  that  time  to  the  present,  Mr.  Fuller  may  be  said  to  have  been 
in  full  and  lucrative  practice.  The  election  of  his  brother  to  Congress, 
as  the  representative  of  the  Middlesex  district,  in  1818,  devolved  the 
whole  business  of  the  partnership  upon  the  junior  member  of  the  firm, 
for  a  considerable  portion  of  the  year,  which  continued  to  be  the  case 
till  his  dissolution  with  his  brother  in  1823. 

This  called  him  at  once  to  the  performance  of  a  large  amount  of 
professional  labor,  and  developed  the  extent  of  his  powers  and  acquire 
ments.  He  had  not  the  slow  and  useful  training  of  most  young  lawyers, 
struggling  unaided  into  the  practice  of  a  crowded  profession,  but  he 
distinguished  himself  by  a  rapid  acquisition  of  professional  experience 
and  skill  in  the  transaction  of  business,  in  and  out  of  court.  Well 
versed  in  the  elements  of  law,  with  a  quick  and  clear  apprehension,  he 
found  no  difficulty  in  sustaining  and  advancing  his  position  at  the  bar. 
Self-reliant,  cautious  and  persevering,  as  well  as  patiently  laborious, 
his  cases  were  prepared  and  tried  in  a  manner  to  secure  the  confidence 
of  clients  and  commendations  of  courts.  At  the  close  of  the  first  ten 
years  of  his  practice  probably  Mr.  Fuller  had  tried  as  many  and  varied 
cases  as  any  lawyer  of  his  age  in  the  state.  His  business  was  then, 
and  has  ever  been,  mostly  in  the  civil  courts,  although  he  has  tried 
many  causes  in  the  criminal  tribunals,  and  is  well  read  in  the  principles 
of  law  there  administered.  He  was  a  thorough  master  of  the  prin 
ciples  and  technicalities  of  that  great  system  of  special  pleading,  then  in 
full  vigor,  but  now  obsolete  in  Massachusetts,  except  in  the  federal 
courts.  Rarely  did  his  clients  suffer  in  the  practice  of  this  system  in 

*  Father  of  the  late  Margaret  Fuller  Ossoli,  whose  melancholy  fate,  off  Fire 
Island,  on  board  the  bark  Elizabeth,  with  her  husband  and  child,  will  be  remember 
ed  by  our  readers. 


HENRY  H.  FULLER,  OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  125 

his  hands.  His  business  was  not  only  large  in  the  Boston  courts,  but 
then  and  since  was  extensive  in  the  adjoining  populous  and  active 
county  of  Middlesex,  which,  after  Suffolk,  probably  furnishes  the  largest 
law  business  of  any  county  in  the  state. 

Mr.  Fuller's  ambition  has  ever  been  in  the  line  of  his  profession,  and 
to  this  he  has  assiduously  devoted  himself,  allowing  nothing  to  turn 
him  from  its  practice.  He  has,  however,  always  held  and  maintained 
decided  views  upon  the  political  questions  of  his  time,  and  exerted  an 
extended  influence  upon  parties  in  the  commonwealth.  Seeking  no 
office  himself,  sharing  largely  the  confidence  of  his  political  associates, 
he  had  great  tact  and  skill  in  party  management,  and  in  directing  the 
right  measures  and  men  for  success.  Latterly  he  has  retired  from  this 
field,  but  those  whose  recollection  goes  back  a  quarter  of  a  century 
well  know  that  few  men  now  living  at  one  time  exerted  more  in 
fluence  in  his  own  party  in  Boston  and  the  state  than  Mr.  Fuller. 

Mr.  Fuller  was  a  federalist,  and,  in  1824,  a  warm  supporter  of  Mr. 
Crawford  for  president  against  John  Quincy  Adams.  In  that  year  he 
was  elected  a  representative  in  the  state  legislature  from  Boston.  At 
that  session  the  question  of  incorporating  the  college  at  Amherst  came 
up.  Mr.  Fuller  distinguished  himself  in  opposition  to  this  measure, 
and,  by  his  speeches  and  efforts,  made  himself  many  friends,  as  well  as 
many  opponents.  The  matter  assumed  rather  the  aspect  of  religious 
controversy  between  the  friends  of  the  college  and  the  supporters  of 
what  are  termed  liberal  views.  Mr.  Fuller  himself  was  and  is  a  de 
voted  and  active  Unitarian. 

In  1825  the  effort,  which  was  finally  successful,  to  unite  the  fede 
ralists  and  democrats  as  one  party  in  the  commonwealth,  was  made. 
Mr.  Fuller  took  a  very  active  and  decided  part  for  this  union,  on  the 
federal  side,  and  carried  it  in  their  caucus  against  the  strenuous  efforts 
of  some  of  the  most  able  and  distinguished  members  of  the  party. 
That  year  he  was  again  run  for  representative  upon  the  amalgamation 
ticket,  and  lost  his  election  in  Boston,  although  Governor  Lincoln  was 
their  first  elected  governor  on  the  same  ticket  in  the  state,  and  Mr. 
Fuller's  brother,  Timothy,  a  representative  from  Cambridge,  chosen  by 
the  same  party,  was  made  speaker  of  the  house.  Although  defeated 
in  part  in  Boston,  the  ticket  was  successful  in  the  state,  and  a  consoli 
dated  party  formed,  which  held  the  political  power  of  the  common 
wealth  uninterruptedly  for  fifteen  years,  and  with  two  transient  ex 
ceptions,  until  1851. 

In  1828  Mr.  Fuller  was  again  elected  a  representative  from  Boston, 
and  was  chairman  of  the  committee  on  Probate  and  Chancery,  the 
second  committee  in  rank  in  the  house,  until  the  Hon.  Francis  Baylies, 
then  appointed  a  foreign  minister,  resigned  the  place  of  chairman  of  the 
committee  on  the  Judiciary,  the  first  and  most  important  committee, 
when  Mr.  Fuller  succeeded  him  in  that  position. 

In  1832  he  wras  again  elected  a  representative,  and  was  again  chairman 
of  the  committee  on  the  Judiciary.  After  this,  his  health  became  some 
what  enfeebled,  and  hardly  adequate  to  the  demands  of  his  business,  and 
he  declined  all  further  solicitations  or  nominations  tendered  for  a  seat  in 
the  legislature,  until  1850  and  '51,  in  both  of  which  years  some  radical 
changes  in  the  rules  and  practice  of  law  being  contemplated.  Mr 


126  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

Fuller  was  induced  to  be  again  a  candidate,  and  was  elected,  and  is 
now  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives.  In  both  these  years 
the  whig  party,  with  which  Mr.  Fuller  acts,  was  in  the  minority. 

In  1832  Mr.  Fuller,  aided  only  nominally  by  two  individuals,  pro 
jected  and  established  the  Boston  Atlas  newspaper,  now  the  leading 
whig  journal  of  New-England,  and  procured  the  late  Richard  Haugh- 
ton  as  its  editor.  Mr  Fuller  continued  interested  in  this  paper  till 
1835,  when,  it  having  become  well  established,  his  pecuniary  interest 
in  it  ceased. 

In  1826,  Mr.  Fuller  was  married  to  Mary  Buckminster  Stone,  daugh 
ter  of  the  late  Daniel  Stone,  of  Framingham. 

Mr.  Fuller,  from  the  first,  has  taken  great  interest  in  the  cause  of 
internal  improvement  in  Massachusetts.  He  enlisted  only  in  favor  of 
rail-roads,  and  gave  them  his  earnest,  efficient,  and  constant  support,  in 
their  darkest  days.  The  first  charter  for  a  rail-road  in  this  state,  after 
the  short  quarry  road  at  Quincy,  was  drawn  by  him. 

Of  the  area  composing  Boston  proper,  more  than  one  half  has  been 
reclaimed  from  the  sea.  A  large  portion  of  this  reclaimed  land  is  in 
cluded  in  what  is  termed  the  South  Cove,  and  has  been  filled  up  by  a 
company  incorporated  for  that  purpose.  It  is  now  thickly  covered 
with  rail-road  stations,  churches,  warehouses,  and  dwellings.  Its  recla 
mation  has  added  millions  of  dollars  to  the  taxable  property  of  the  city, 
and  most  essentially  advanced  the  prosperity  and  wealth  of  the  citizens. 
Mr.  Fuller  was  among  the  leading  and  active  promoters  of  this  enter 
prise,  and  perseveringly  gave  it  his  time,  energies,  and  influence. 

The  energies  of  Mr.  Fuller  have,  however,  been  mostly  directed 
steadily  to  the  practice  of  his  profession,  when  his  taste  and  his  feel 
ings  inclined  him.  In  this  he  has  enjoyed  from  the  first  an  extended 
and  lucrative  business,  in  all  its  departments,  although  from  his  liberal 
expenditures,  and  some  unfortunate  investments,  that  too  general  mis 
fortune  of  lawyers,  he  has  not  probably  accumulated,  or  at  least  retained 
means  sufficient  to  enable  him  to  quit  entirely  his  devotion  to  the  law, 
did  his  wishes  incline  him  so  to  do.  His  practice  has  been  large  and 
important  in  both  the  state  and  federal  courts  in  Boston,  and  the  ad 
joining  county  of  Middlesex,  and  has  occasionally  extended  to  the  bars 
of  other  counties  of  the  commonwealth.  He  is  still  in  the  same  active 
business. 

For  a  period  of  more  than  thirty  years  Mr.  Fuller  may  be  said  to 
have  been  in  full  practice  in  all  the  courts  at  the  Suffolk  bar.  It  is  no 
derogation  to  any  section  of  our  country  to  say  that  this  bar,  during 
that  period,  has  in  no  respect  been  surpassed  by  that  of  any  portion  of 
the  United  States.  Among  its  eminent  and  brilliant  leaders,  in  the 
earlier  and  later  portions  of  that  time,  were,  or  are :  Otis,  Sullivan, 
Gorham,  the  Dexters,  father  and  son  ;  the  Judge  Hubbard,  the  present 
Chief  Justice  Shaw,  and  Judges  Fletcher,  Curtis,  and  Sprague,  Choate, 
Loring,  C.  P.  Curtis,  Bartlett,  Rand,  Professor  Greenleaf,  and  pre 
eminent  over  all,  he  whose  world-wide  and  peerless  fame  as  a  states 
man  alone  obscures  his  position  as  the  leader  of  the  American  bar, 
Daniel  Webster.  Such  have  been,  or  are  the  leaders,  while  the  younger 
arid  less  distinguished  members  have  ever  pressed  hard  and  earnestly 
upon  their  superiors  and  elders.  In  this  school  Mr.  Fuller  has  been 


HENRY  H.  FULLER,  OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  127 

trained,  and  under  the  standard  of  professional  eminence  and  honor, 
created  by  such  men,  and  amid  the  energetic  competition  of  such  a  bar, 
to  acquire  and  retain  the  position  which,  for  a  generation,  he  has  held, 
evinces  a  power  and  ability,  as  well  as  legal  learning  and  diligence  of 
a  high  order. 

As  a  lawyer  he  is  thoroughly  read,  both  in  the  common  law  and 
equity.  Few  men  are  more  familiar  with  elementary  principles  and 
their  nicer  distinctions,  or  the  cases  in  England  and  America  which  illus 
trate  and  apply  them.  His  reading,  from  the  necessities  of  his  prac 
tice,  has  kept  pace  with  the  progress  of  the  law.  His  diligence  in,  and 
devotion  to  the  quiet  and  unambitious  pursuit  of  his  profession,  has 
been  characteristic.  He  possesses  indomitable  perseverance,  is  of  a 
nervous  and  elastic  temperament,  hopeful,  and  never  depressed  by  the 
adverses  and  unexpected  turns  of  a  cause.  He  prepares  his  cases  with 
care,  and  in  their  trial  is  never  apparently  disturbed  by  any  of  the  un 
foreseen  contingencies  which  the  best  preparation  cannot  always  antici 
pate.  Clear  and  remarkably  quick  in  his  apprehension,  subtle  in  mak 
ing  distinctions,  sometimes  even  more  refined  and  plausible  than  real, 
he  is  rarely  taken  at  a  disadvantage  by  his  adversary,  and  extricates 
himself  from  an  embarrassment  with  dexterity. 

He  is  of  medium  stature,  slender  in  person,  with  a  pale,  intellectual 
look,  quick  in  motion,  and  dresses  with  scrupulous  nicety  and  neatness, 
but  with  some  peculiarities,  evincing  independence,  if  not  a  little  eccen 
tricity.  He  adheres  somewhat  to  the  fashions  of  an  earlier  day,  and 
almost  or  quite  alone  at  the  Boston  bar,  clings  with  unwavering  tena 
city  to  the  simple  but  ministerial  white  cravat  and  plaited  ruffle  bosom. 

Mr.  Fuller  has  a  strong,  logical,  and  practical  mind,  a  retentive  memory, 
and,  as  we  have  already  said,  great  clearness  and  quickness  of  apprehension. 
He  seizes  a  point  at  once,  and  states  it  clearly  and  precisely.  He  has  much 
wit  and  vivacity,  as  well  as  great  power  of  sarcasm  and  invective,  which  he 
sometimes,  as  we  have  thought,  calls  into  too  large  and  frequent  action 
before  the  jury,  and  which  he  unrelentingly  uses  when  he  believes  it  de 
served.  He  is  a  fluent  speaker  and  a  cogent  reasoner,  but  sometimes 
indulges  in  too  much  diffuseness  of  statement.  He  speaks  with  great 
distinctness,  rapidity,  and  rarely  changes  or  hesitates  for  a  word.  The 
compass  of  his  voice  is  not  great,  and  he  has  little  gesticulation,  but 
argues  with  animation,  and  with  unusual  ingenuity  and  force,  and  en 
tirely  exhausts  his  subject.  No  man  treats  his  equals  with  more  cour 
tesy  and  candor,  his  superiors  on  the  bench  or  at  the  bar  with  more  re 
spect  and  deference,  and  his  juniors  and  inferiors  with  more  affability 
and  kindness.  No  young  man,  in  the  inexperience  of  his  first  admission 
to  the  bar,  ever  sought  from  him  favor  or  information  and  met  a  repulse. 
Liberal  and  honorable  in  his  practice  with  his  professional  brethren, 
scorning  all  subterfuge,  trick,  or  unfair  advantage,  he  is  ever  ready  to 
impart,  when  sought,  the  knowledge  which  his  extensive  reading  and 
experience  have  accumulated.  Whensoever  in  his  power,  he  never  fails 
to  aid  and  advance  the  young  and  deserving.  As  a  citizen,  he  is  pub 
lic-spirited  and  generous.  His  hand  is  open  in  charity,  and  his  heart 
responds  to  the  demands  of  suffering  and  misfortune.  He  has  great  con 
versational  powers,  and  is  a  vivacious,  genial,  and  agreeable  companion, 
Keenly  alive  to  the  pleasures  of  social  intercourse,  he  is  more  so  to  those 


128  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

of  domestic  life,  and  finds  his  purest  enjoyment  and  sweetest  hours  in 
the  bosom  of  an  almost  idolized  home,  which,  as  we  write,  is  made  deso 
late  by  the  death  of  the  partner  of  his  life.  He  takes  great  interest  in 
all  that  relates  to  his  religious  denomination,  and  is  a  devoted  and  con 
sistent  member  of  the  Unitarian  Church. 

Mr.  Fuller  is  a  good  classical  scholar.  He  has  also  taken  much  in 
terest  in  biblical  literature  and  studies,  and  is  well  versed  in  them.  In 
connection  with  these,  and  attracted  by  his  tastes,  he  has  devoted  much 
reading  to  the  modern  discoveries  in  Egypt  and  the  East,  and  is  very 
familiar  with  the  works  of  Wilkinson,  the  Champollions,  and  others  who 
have  explored  this  most  interesting  field.  He  also  keeps  himself  well 
acquainted  with  the  current  literature  in  all  departments.  In  1823  he 
delivered  the  annual  address  before  the  Alpha  of  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa 
Society  of  Harvard  University,  at  Cambridge.  He  has  occasionally 
prepared  an  article  or  pamphlet  upon  some  of  the  topics  of  the  day,  and 
writes  with  ease,  energy,  force,  and  elegance.  He  has,  however,  culti 
vated  letters,  as  his  leisure  would  permffc,  rather  in  the  gratification  of 
a  refined  taste  than  as  subservient  to  distinction  out  of  his  profession. 

Upon  the  recent  death  of  the  late  Benjamin  Rand,  LL.  D.,  an  eminent 
counselor,  and  long  the  friend  and  associate  of  Mr.  Fuller  at  the  Suffolk 
bar,  a  meeting  of  its  members  was  called,  and  a  series  of  resolutions, 
expressive  of  their  high  sense  of  Mr.  Rand's  virtues  and  accomplish 
ments,  adopted.  Mr.  Fuller  was  chairman  of  this  meeting,  and,  by  re 
quest,  presented  the  resolutions  to  the  Supreme  Judicial  Court  upon  its 
coming  in  on  the  next  day.  We  cannot  better  close  this  imperfect  me 
moir  than  by  subjoining  the  proceedings  of  that  meeting,  and  Mr.  Ful 
ler's  address,  and  the  reply  of  the  court.  We  do  this  because  the  ad 
dress  is  a  fair  specimen  of  Mr.  Fuller's  style  and  manner  of  speaking, 
although  with  little  preparation ;  while  both  the  proceedings  and  ad 
dress  are  a  just  and  glowing  tribute  to  the  memory,  as  well  as  an 
epitome  of  the  life  of  a  distinguished  practitioner,  whose  too  early  death 
alone  has  prevented  our  assigning  him  in  these  volumes  that  conspicu 
ous  place  which,  up  to  that  time,  he  held,  and  deserved  to  hold,  among 
eminent  living  American  lawyers. 

We  are  indebted  for  these  proceedings  and  for  Mr.  Fuller's  address 
to  the  Monthly  Law  Reporter  for  May,  1852.  We  extract  as  fol 
lows  : — 

"  The  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  Charles  G.  Loring,  Esq., 
whereupon,  H.  H.  Fuller,  Esq.,  was  chosen  chairman,  and  George 
Bemis,  Esq.,  secretary. 

"  Appropriate  remarks  were  made  by  Mr.  Fuller,  on  taking  the 
chair,  and  also  by  E.  H.  Derby,  Esq. 

"The  following  resolutions  were  offered  by  George  S.  Hillard, 
Esq. : 

"  Resolved, — That  the  members  of  the  Suffolk  bar  have  heard  with 
sorrow  of  the  death  of  their  late  friend  and  associate,  Benjamin  Rand, 
Esq. 

"  Resolved, — That  the  professional  life  of  Mr.  Rand,  crowned,  as  it 
was,  with  the  most  various  and  affluent  learning,  dignified  by  a  stern 
sense  of  honor,  and  marked  by  a  single-hearted  devotion  to  the  interests 
of  his  clients,  and  by  an  unselfish  love  of  the  law,  for  its  own  sake  more 


HSITOY  H.  FULLER,  OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  129 

than  for  its  honors  or  its  emoluments — a  life  passed  in  modest  tran 
quillity  amid  the  unambitious  toils  of  the  bar,  and  in  the  calm  atmos 
phere  of  legal  studies — commends  itself  to  the  gratified  and  honoring 
remembrance  of  his  brethren,  and  presents  a  model  for  imitation  to  all 
who  survive  him. 

"Resolved, — That  the  massive  and  copious  learning  of  Mr.  Eand, 
wherein  he  had  no  superiors  and  few  equals,  was  less  to  be  commended 
than  the  manly  and  moral  worth  which  waited  upon  his  daily  profes 
sional  life,  than  that  love  of  truth,  that  intolerant  scorn  of  meanness, 
and  that  generous  disdain  of  unfair  advantages  and  opportunities  which 
were  leading  traits  in  his  character,  sometimes  expressed  more  fervidly 
and  uncompromisingly  than  a  cold  self-interest  would  prompt.  We 
delight  to  honor  the  memory  of  the  lawyer  who,  armed  with  all  the 
weapons  and  resources  of  the  law,  used  and  valued  them  only  as  instru 
ments  to  insure  justice  and  protect  the  right,  who  contended  for  truth  and 
not  for  victory,  and  who  would  have  disdained  a  triumph  bought  at  the 
price  of  self-respect.  If  the  movements  of  Mr.  Rand's  mind  sometimes 
showed  the  effects  of  a  too  exclusive  devotion  to  legal  studies,  his  mo 
ral  sense  passed  unharmed  through  all  the  temptations  which  our  pro 
fession  presents.  His  studies  never  hardened  his  heart,  and  his  prac 
tice  never  warped  his  perceptions  of  right  and  wrong.  His  daily  life 
shone  with  the  light  of  truth,  honor,  courage  and  disinterestedness.  We 
feel  a  melancholy  satisfaction  in  thus  expressing  and  recording  our  sense 
of  the  excellence  of  Mr.  Rand's  personal  and  professional  character,  and 
we  gratefully  and  affectionately  cherish  his  memory. 

"  Resolved, — That  these  resolutions  be  presented  to  the  Supreme  Ju 
dicial  Court,  now  in  session,  with  a  request  that  they  be  entered  upon 
the  records. 

"  Resolved, — That  the  secretary  be  requested  to  transmit  a  copy  of 
these  resolutions,  and  of  the  proceedings  of  this  meeting,  to  the  family 
of  the  deceased,  as  an  expression  of  the  sympathy  of  the  bar  in  the 
great  loss  which  they  have  sustained." 

The  chairman  of  the  meeting  was  requested  to  present  the  above 
resolutions  to  the  Supreme  Court,  upon  its  coming  in  on  the  next 
day. 

Upon  the  coming  in  of  the  Supreme  Court  on  Wednesday  morning, 
April  28th,  Mr.  Justice  Bigelow  presiding,  H.  II.  Fuller,  Esq.,  ad 
dressed  the  court  as  follows : — 

"  May  it  please  your  Honor  : — It  has  become  my  melancholy  duty,  in 
obedience  to  the  request  of  my  brethren  of  the  Suffolk  bar,  to  announce 
to  this  court  the  decease  of  our  brother,  Benjamin  Rand,  Esq.,  one  of 
the  counselors  of  this  court.  A  great  man  has  fallen  in  our  midst — a 
mighty  spirit  has  taken  its  flight  from  this  earthly  sphere  and  winged 
its  way  to  heavenly  mansions,  to  join  that  company  of  kindred  intellects 
whose  works  and  thoughts  were  his  study  and  delight  while  he  remain 
ed  with  us. 

"  Mr.  Rand  died  at  his  residence  in  this  city,  surrounded  by  his  family 
and  friends,  early  on  Monday  morning  last,  of  a  disease  which  had  con 
fined  him  to  his  home  for  some  weeks.  He  was  a  native  of  Weston,  in 
our  neighboring  county  of  Middlesex,  where  he  was  born  on  the  18th 
of  April,  in  the  year  1785.  After  the  usual  academical  preparation  afc 

9 


130  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

Andover,  he  entered  Harvard  University,  and  was  graduated  at  that 
institution  in  the  year  1818.  At  the  close  of  his  collegiate  course, 
having  striven  generously  and  manfully  with  the  master  spirits  of  his 
class,  for  literary  pre-eminence,  he  was  found  standing  foremost  in  the 
front  rank. 

"  After  leaving  the  university,  he  commenced  the  study  of  the  law  in 
the  office  and  under  the  charge  of  Isaac  Fisher,  Esq.,  a  distinguished 
counselor  in  his  native  town,  and  afterwards  he  completed  his  profes 
sional  studies  in  this  city,  in  the  office  of  our  late  judge,  the  Honorable 
Artemas  Ward,  and  was  admitted  to  practice  in  the  courts  of  this 
county.  He  immediately  opened  his  office  here,  and  continued  in  the 
practice  of  his  profession  until  the  close  of  his  life. 

"  During  the  early  part  of  his  professional  life — the  first  eight  or  ten 
years  of  it — Mr.  Rand  had  very  little  encouragement  in  his  profession. 
The  earnings  of  his  labors,  in  that  period,  were  not  sufficient  to  give 
him  a  comfortable  support.  Being  a  man  of  modest  and  somewhat 
diffident  manners,  and  a  stranger  in  our  city,  he  labored  under  many 
disadvantages  in  the  acquisition  of  clients  and  business,  which  were 
only  overcome  after  years  of  toil  and  struggle. 

"  But  this  period  of  inactivity  in  his  profession  was  not  lost  or  wasted 
by  Mr.  Rand.  Indeed,  upon  looking  back  to  that  state  of  things,  which 
"was  painful  and  disheartening  in  the  highest  degree,  and  most  grievous 
to  be  borne  at  the  time,  we  can  now  see  plainly  that  in  it  and  by  it  he 
was  led  to  that  course  of  occupation  and  study  which  laid  the  foundation 
of  his  future  distinction  and  professional  eminence.  During  those 
weary  years  of  melancholy  waiting,  he  not  only  devoted  himself  to  the 
most  thorough  study  of  his  profession,  properly  so  called,  the  com 
mon,  civil,  maritime  and  ecclesiastical  law,  reading  all  writers,  common 
or  rare,  upon  those  subjects,  tracing  the  streams  to  their  fountains,  in  the 
remotest  antiquity  of  the  science  ;  but  he  plunged  into  other  branches  of 
learning  with  an  enthusiasm  and  avidity  which  seemed  to  outside 
lookers-on  as  truly  amazing.  He  made  himself  thorough  master  of  most 
of  the  living  languages  of  Europe,  except  those  of  the  Czar  and  the  Sultan, 
so  that  he  could  readily  read  the  best  authors  and  profit  by  the  best 
thoughts  of  the  great  minds  who  had  used  those  languages.  He  seemed 
to  have  brought  home  to  his  soul,  with  practical  effect,  the  charming 
maxim  of  his  great  Roman  exemplar,  "Omnes  artes,  qua)  ad  humanita- 
tem  pertinent,  habent  quoddam  commune  vinculum,  quo  inter  se  conti- 
nentur;"  and  he  took  it  in  its  most  literal  and  liberal  interpretation. 
During  this  period  he  pursued  the  study  of  medicine,  acquiring  a  vast 
amount  of  learning  in  that  science  ;  he  dipped  into  those  wonderful  dis 
coveries  of  Egyptian  antiquities,  then  just  beginning  to  attract  public 
notice  through  the  labors  of  Dr.  Young,  of  England,  and  of  the  two 
Champollions,  Le  Jeune  and  Figeac,of  France,  and  studied  geology,  min 
eralogy,  (sciences  then  new  amongst  us,)  and  engaged  in  many  other 
branches  of  learning.  Most  of  these  studies  proved  of  wonderful  use  to 
him  in  after  life,  at  a  time  when  his  professional  labors  allowed  him  no 
time  to  acquire  them  for  the  occasion. 

"But  the  period  of  these  luxurious  revellingsin  the  fields  of  learning, 
unlimited  and  unrestrained  by  professional  necessities,  drew  towards  a 
close.  It  was  the  fortune  at  that  time  of  Mr.  Rand  to  be  retained  in  a 


HENRY  H.  FULLER,  OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  131 

suit  involving  all  the  intricacies  and  niceties  of  special  pleading  in  rela 
tion  to  the  breach  of  covenants  under  seal.  It  related  to  a  contract  for 
the  erection  of  certain  private  palaces  for  some  of  our  merchant  princes 
in  this  city.  The  action  lasted  several  years,  involving  many  questions 
of  fact  and  more  of  law,  and  coming  before  the  whole  court  several 
times  upon  those  questions.  For  this  warfare  Mr.  Band  was  already 
armed  and  equipped,  and  possessed  the  consciousness  that  he  was  clad 
in  fresh  armor,  and  that  he  had  at  his  command  all  that  the  books  could 
furnish.  It  is  sufficient  to  say,  that  before  this  controversy  was  fully 
ended,  and  all  questions  therein  were  settled,  Mr.  Rand  found  himself 
amongst  the  foremost  in  the  highest  ranks  of  his  profession,  not  only  in 
the  estimation  of  his  legal  brethren  but  of  the  public  generally. 

"  From  that  time  he  was  rendered  happy  and  placed  at  ease,  both  in 
pecuniary  and  in  all  other  senses.  During  the  remainder  of  his  life  his 
professional  engagements  and  labors  were  incessant,  and  the  rewards 
of  them  were  entirely  satisfactory  to  himself  and  to  his  friends. 

"  From  that  time,  also,  his  true  character  as  a  man  was  freely  devel 
oped  without  fear  or  restraint.  Early  imbued  with  an  ardent  love  of 
learning,  he  now  could  gratify  his  taste  in  this  respect  by  the  purchase 
of  the  best  works  and  by  drinking  at  the  purest  fountains. 

"  But  in  the  midst  of  this  wide  world  of  learning,  the  natural  and  ac 
quired  taste  of  Mr.  Rand  led  him  to  the  law,  not  merely  as  a  business 
or  employment,  but  as  an  intellectual  exercise  and  discipline ;  he  loved 
its  philosophical  precision  and  exactness,  and  its  logical  results,  partak 
ing  so  much  of  mathematical  demonstration  and  certainty.  He  may 
truly  be  said  to  have  loved  the  law,  and  he  wooed  and  won  with  the 
genuine  fire  of  that  passion.  Indeed,  looking  at  his  professional  career, 
he  seems,  after  an  observation  of  the  whole  of  it,  to  have  practised  our 
noble  profession  as  a  mere  amateur  and  for  the  pleasures  it  yielded  in 
its  pursuit.  The  natural  rewards  or  recompense,  in  a  pecuniary  view, 
he  did  not  and  could  not  refuse  to  receive ;  but  he  never  manifested 
the  least  thought  or  care  for  them  until  all  was  over  and  the  client 
naturally  desired  to  know  his  pleasure  in  that  regard.  Indeed,  money 
or  riches  never  seemed  to  be  in  his  thoughts ;  he  could  truly  say,  if  ever 
a  man  could,  "  Nunquam  divitias  Deos  rogavi,  contentus  modicis!" 
And  yet  a  proper  gratification  of  his  tastes,  even  in  his  profession,  re 
quired  large  resources.  When  it  is  considered  that  he  possessed  him 
self  of  the  most  valuable  and  well-selected  private  law  library  which  is 
known  to  exist  in  these  United  States,  the  necessity  of  large  profes 
sional  earnings  is  obvious. 

"  Our  deceased  brother  was  a  man  of  many  and  varied  excellences  of 
character.  Possessed  of  stupendous  learning  in  his  appropriate  pro 
fession,  so  much  so  as  to  have  been  pronounced  by  eminent  judges  and 
jurists  to  have  at  least  as  much  legal  learning  as  any  other  living  man, 
and  that  more  accessible  for  ready  use,  besides  his  acquirements  in 
other  branches  of  learning ;  yet  he  bore  himself  at  all  times  with  the 
unaffected  simplicity  and  ingenuousness  of  early  youth.  It  hardly 
seemed  possible  with  such  manners  that  he  should  ever  have  been  the 
close  and  laborious  applicant  to  study,  so  necessary  for  such  vast  accu 
mulations  of  knowledge.  He  was  remarkable  for  a  noble  generosity 
and  ready  sympathy,  which  opened  his  heart  freely  and  promptly  to 


132  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

every  fellow-creature.  His  learning  seemed  so  natural,  and  sat  so 
easily  upon  him,  that  he  never  appeared  to  consider  that  any  part  of  it 
was  to  be  used  for  lucre  or  gain.  Whenever  a  professional  brother 
needed  aid  in  threading  the  mazes  of  any  legal  question,  if  he  ap 
proached  Mr.  Rand,  instantly,  without  a  selfish  thought  or  impulse,  the 
fountains  of  the  law  were  opened  freely  and  cheerfully  ;  and  so  much 
pleasure  did  he  take  in  imparting  portions  of  his  vast  knowledge,  that 
when  a  proper  opportunity  was  offered  he  would  not  permit  his  brother 
to  depart  till  he  had  pointed  him  to  the  leading  works,  and  even  cited 
the  most  pointed  cases  applicable  to  the  question  in  hand.  There  was 
no  affectation  or  display  in  his  manner  of  doing  this ;  the  whole  resulted 
from  his  irresistible  impulse  to  do  good  and  to  give  pleasure  to  his 
friends  and" fellow  practitioners,  and  the  ease  and  readiness  with  which 
he  could  do  it,  and  give  a  clue  to  all  branches  of  the  law  in  its  most 
recondite  departments,  never  ceased  to  surprise  and  astonish  all  who 
knew  him. 

"  It  was  the  good  fortune  of  Mr.  Rand,  some  eighteen  years  ago,  to 
visit  England, — the  home  of  our  Anglo-Saxon  ancestors,  and  the  native 
land  of  the  common  law.  His  professional  reputation  had  preceded 
him.  He  was  received  with  great  cordiality  and  marked  distinction 
by  the  bar  and  the  bench.  The  acquaintance  formed  by  him  on  that 
occasion  with  the  leading  minds  of  our  profession  in  that  country,  was 
followed  by  a  correspondence  between  himself  and  some  of  those  per 
sons  which  discloses  the  high  appreciation  which  they  had  formed  of 
his  talents  and  learning.  This  visit  was  the  source  of  great  pleasure 
and  enjoyment  to  him.  The  enthusiastic  delight  with  which  he  de 
scribed  his  first  visit  to  that  cradle  of  the  common  law,  Westminster 
Hall,  where  that  wonderful  monument  of  human  learning  and  acumen 
has  been  built  up  by  the  judicial  decisions  and  labors  of  seven  centuries, 
can  never  be  forgotten  by  those  who  have  heard  his  narrative. 

"  But,  sir,  our  friend  has  departed.      He  has  left  us  behind  ;  we  are 
to  follow. 


"  Omnes  eodem  cogimur  ;  omnium 
V  ersatur  urna,  serius  ocius 

£Jnr»a   nvifnrn   " 


Sors  exitura 

"  But  let  us  not  say  this  in  tears,  or  in  sadness.  Death  is  the  gate  of 
Heaven, — it  is  a  station-house  on  the  road  of  an  unavoidable  and  pre 
destined  progress  through  the  ages.  It  is  our  best  friend  and  deliverer 
from,  a  finite  and  limited  existence;  from  a  narrow  world,  which  the 
genius  of  our  race  has  already  learned  to  span  as  with  a  girdle,  and 
speak  around  it,  in  half  an  hour.  It  is  the  only  entrance  to  those 
boundless  mansions  above  the  visible  canopy  which  overshadows  us, 
through  which  we  may  enter,  and  unite  ourselves  with  those  mighty 
intellects,  those  resplendent  spirits,  whose  efforts  and  thoughts  have 
elaborated  and  transmitted  to  us  that  wonderful  fabric  of  Christian 
civilization  and  culture  which  has  transformed  this  terrestrial  abode, 
from  a  place  of  mere  animal  development  and  enjoyment,  into  a  school 
of  intellectual  and  spiritual  discipline  and  progress,  and  thus  made  it 
worthy  of  immortals. 

"  May  it  please  your  Honor : — The  members  of  the  Suffolk  bar  have 
unanimously  adopted  certain  resolutions,  expressive  of  their  sense  of 


I 

DAVID  DEVENS,  OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  133 

the  great  worth  and  distinguished  excellence  of  our  deceased  friend. 
They  have  directed  me  to  request  this  honorable  court  to  cause  them 
to  be  entered  at  large  upon  its  records, — that  they  may  remain,  so  long 
as  the  principles  of  that  noble  science,  the  common  law,  so  dear  to  the 
deceased,  shall  continue  to  be  the  rule  of  decision,  and  the  protection 
and  bulwark  of  our  rights  and  liberties,  as  a  memorial  of  their  feelings 
and  sentiments,  and  a  monument,  such  as  winged  words  may  constitute, 
to  commemorate  the  acquirements,  the  genius,  and  the  virtues  of  a  de 
parted  brother." 

Thereupon,  Mr.  Justice  Bigelow  said  in  substance  : 
"I  regret  that  some  one  of  my  associates  is  not  present  on  this  occa 
sion,  who,  having  been  more  nearly  a  cotemporary  with  Mr.  Rand,  and 
more  familiar  with  his  professional  life  and  character  than  myself, 
would  be  better  able  to  make  a  fitting  response  to  these  resolutions.  I 
have,  however,  known  our  deceased  brother  long  and  well  enough  to 
bear  testimony  to  his  exalted  worth,  and  to  the  great  loss  which  the 
profession  and  the  public  have  sustained  in  his  death. 

"  His  varied  and  profound  learning,  his  uncorruptible  integrity,  his 
honorable  ambition,  the  highest  aim  of  which  was  to  illustrate  our 
jurisprudence,  and  advance  and  elevate  the  profession  to  which  his  life 
was  devoted,  were  the  great  and  shining  qualities,  which  won  for  him 
universal  respect  and  admiration,  and  which  render  the  example  of  his 
life  so  worthy  of  imitation.  To  these  may  be  added  that  beautiful  trait 
of  his  character,  already  alluded  to  by  our  learned  brother,  which  led 
him  to  regard  the  treasures  of  learning  with  which  he  had  stored-  his 
mind,  not  as  means  to  be  used  to  promote  selfish  ends,  but  as  a  com 
mon  stock  in  which  all  were  welcome  to  share.  This  was  shown,  not 
only  by  his  readiness  to  impart  his  knowledge  in  personal  intercourse 
with  his  brethren,  but  by  the  full  and  learned  annotations  with  which 
he  enriched  several  elementary  treatises,  and  the  early  volumes  of  our 
own  reports. 

"  I  can  only  add,  that  I  most  cordially  concur  in  the  resolutions  of 
the  bar,  and  in  compliance  with  the  request  therein  contained,  shall 
order  them  to  be  entered  on  the  records  of  the  court ;  and  as  an  addi 
tional  mark  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  the  deceased,  I  shall  not  pro 
ceed  with  the  business  of  the  court,  but  shall  adjourn  it  to  another  day." 


HON.  DAVID  DEVENS, 

OF  CHARLESTOWN,  MASSACHUSETTS,  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  BUNKER  HILL  BANK. 

MR.  DEVENS  is  descended  from  an  ancient  and  honorable  family  in 
New-England,  and  is  the  grandson  of  the  late  Richard  Devens,  whc 
was  an  active  member  of  the  committee  of  public  safety  in  1775.  His 
parents  resided  in  Charlestown  when  the  war  of  the  Revolution  com 
menced.  Their  property  was  destroyed,  and  they  were  driven  out  by 
the  burning  of  the  town,  on  the  17th  of  June,  1775. 

David  Devens  was  bom  in  Boston  in  1777,  and  removed  to  Charles 


134  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

town  in  1790.  With  a  borrowed  capital  of  only  two  hundred  dollars, 
he  commenced  business  in  1799  as  a  wood  and  lumber  dealer,  and  for 
more  than  forty  years  continued  to  do  business  on  the  same  spot,  dur 
ing  which  period  he  became  a  successful  merchant,  and  was  deeply  con 
cerned  in  navigation  and  commerce,  in  voyages  to  Europe,  the  East 
and  West  Indies,  &c. 

He  has  been  treasurer  of  Charlestown ;  has  been  honored  with  many 
town  and  state  offices ;  is  now  director  in  insurance  offices,  Bunker 
Hill  Monument  Association,  and  other  corporations.  He  is  also  presi 
dent  of  the  Bunker  Hill  bank,  with  which  he  has  been  officially  con 
nected  for  twenty-seven  years. 


HON.  PLINY  MERRICK, 

OF  MASSACHUSETTS. 

MR.  MERRICK  is  a  descendant  from  a  family  of  English  emigrants, 
who  came  to  this  country  soon  after  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims  at 
Plymouth.  His  ancestor,  Thomas  Merrick,  arrived  here  about  the 
year  1630,  and  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  the  town  of  Springfield, 
on  the  Connecticut  River,  where  he  is  known  to  have  resided  in  1636, 
and  until  his  death,  nearly  fifty  years  afterwards.  His  descendants  are 
numerous  and  respectable.  Many  of  them  still  dwell  in  the  valley  ot 
the  Connecticut,  near  the  location  he  selected  for  his  residence,  while 
others  have  found  homes  in  different  and  distant  states  of  the  Union. 

The  father  of  Mr.  Merrick  was  a  member  of  the  legal  profession. 
He  established  himself  at  Brookfield,  a  pleasant  village,  situate  nearly 
midway  between  Springfield  and  Boston,  in  the  midst  of  a  prosperous 
agricultural  community.  He  was  a  good  lawyer  j  but  his  personal  in 
tegrity,  more  than  his  professional  ability,  gave  him  title  to  the  respect 
he  possessed.  He  died  before  his  son  had  completed  his  collegiate 
education. 

Mr.  Merrick  was  born  in  Brookfield  in  1794,  and  was  graduated  at 
Harvard  University  in  1814.  He  maintained  there  a  good  reputation 
for  talents  and  scholarship,  in  a  class  of  which  Professor  Walker,  of 
Cambridge,  William  H.  Prescott,  the  historian,  and  others  well  known 
in  their  respective  avocations,  were  members.  Immediately  after  leav 
ing  college,  he  entered  the  office  of  Gov.  Levi  Lincoln,  of  Worcester, 
one  of  the  most  distinguished  of  the  lawyers  of  Massachusetts,  as  a 
student,  and  continued  under  his  tuition  until  his  admission  to  the  courts 
as  an  attorney  in  1817.  His  subsequent  life  has  been  given  almost 
exclusively  to  his  profession. 

He  brought  to  the  bar  qualities  which,  sooner  or  later,  are  sure  to 
command  success.  A  quick,  clear,  vigorous  mind,  well  trained  and 
enlarged  by  liberal  culture — generous  and  manly  aims — graceful  and 
winning  manners — a  love  of  justice,  and  a  thorough  detestation  of  every 
species  of  craft,  low  cunning,  and  fraud,  could  not  fail  to  be  ultimately 
appreciated  and  rewarded  by  an  intelligent  community. 


135 

He  commenced,  his  professional  practice  in  Worcester,  under  the 
pressure  of  a  considerable  indebtedness,  which  had  been  incurred  in  the 
expenses  of  his  education,  and  from  which  it  cost  him  the  struggle  of 
several  years  to  extricate  himself.  But  he  never  despaired,  and  was 
never  unmindful  that  it  was  one  of  the  first  of  his  duties  to  discharge 
the  pecuniary  obligations  he  was  under  to  those  whose  kindness  had 
afforded  him  assistance.  Anxious  to  make  this  return,  but  not  meeting 
with  the  immediate  encouragement  at  Worcester  which  would  enable 
him  to  effect  it  so  early  as  he  desired,  he  removed,  in  the  hope  of  im 
proving  his  condition,  to  the  county  of  Bristol.  He  remained  there 
until  1824,  being  a  part  of  the  intermediate  time  a  law  partner  of  Gov. 
Marcus  Morton.  He  then  returned  to  Worcester,  where  he  has  ever 
since  resided. 

During  the  early  part  of  his  professional  life  his  business  was  incon 
siderable,  and  his  prospects  were  apparently  unpromising  ;  but,  though 
he  felt  some  solicitude  for  the  future,  he  never  gave  way  to  idle  de 
spondency,  nor  once  thought  of  being  diverted  from  the  course  he  had 
resolved  to  pursue.  He  had  leisure  for  study,  for  observation,  and  for 
the  acquisition  of  practical  knowledge,  and  he  used  it  with  a  wise  fore 
cast.  In  these  years  of  apparent  failure,  he  laid  the  foundation  for  a 
higher  and  wider  success  than  that  which  results  in  mere  accumulation 
of  gain  and  profit.  While  diligently  seeking  to  make  himself  acquainted 
with  the  science  of  the  law,  he  did  not  neglect  more  graceful  and  gener 
ous  studies ;  nor  in  the  seclusion  of  study  did  he  forget  to  qualify  him 
self  for  a  life  of  activity  and  business,  by  obtaining  a  practical  knowledge 
of  men  and  the  affairs  of  society. 

Very  early  after  his  return  to  Worcester  a  great  change  occurred  in 
his  circumstances,  and  happier  prospects  opened  to  his  exertions.  His 
retainers  were  increased,  his  engagements  multiplied,  and  his  rise  from 
that  period  was  marked  and  rapid.  He  entered  then  into  the  higher 
walks  of  his  profession  as  a  counselor  and  advocate.  He  had  now 
ample  use  for  all  the  materials  which  his  previous  diligence  had  col 
lected  ;  and,  almost  at  once,  he  advanced  into  an  extensive  and  varied 
practice ;  limited,  in  fact,  only  by  his  capacity  of  labor  and  power  of 
endurance.  It  frequently  occurred  that  he  was  employed  as  senior 
counsel  in  every  cause  that  was  tried  at  the  terms  of  the  courts  in  the 
county  of  Worcester.  He  was  retained  also  in  important  causes  in 
other  parts  of  the  commonwealth,  and  occasionally  also  in  the  neigh 
boring  states  of  New-Hampshire,  Vermont,  and  Rhode  Island.  His 
habits  of  business  had  become  thoroughly  regulated,  his  perceptions 
were  rapid,  and  his  application  close,  constant,  and  unremitting.  It 
was  by  these  means  that  he  was  enabled  to  bring  the  multifarious  en 
gagements  in  which  he  was  employed  to  a  prosperous  issue.  He 
derived  no  advantage  from  any  system  of  division  of  labor,  for  in  pro 
fessional  practice  in  the  interior  counties  of  Massachusetts  no  such 
division  was  known.  The  advocate  was  there  required  not  only  to  bo 
familiar  with  the  principles  of  law  in  its  various  departments,  but  to  be 
capable  also  of  adapting  himself  to  the  management  of  the  minutest 
details  of  proceeding  in  the  courts,  and  in  the  preliminary  preparation 
for  trial.  To  meet  every  exigency  without  faltering  or  hesitation — tu 
do  all  that  is  rapidly  and  continually  falling  upon  his  hands  with  con 


136  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

summate  tact  and  ability — and  to  add  to  the  work  the  charm  of 
eloquence,  and  the  finish  which  liberal  studies  alone  can  impart — de 
mands  no  trifling  measure  of  original  power,  invigorated  by  the  acquisi 
tions  of  untiring  industry. 

Such  vigor  of  application  and  such  constancy  of  employment  pro- 
duced  their  inevitable  consequences.  Mr.  Merrick  relieved  himself 
from  all  pecuniary  embarrassment,  and  succeeded  to  a  position,  not, 
indeed,  of  affluence,  but  of  ease,  of  competency,  and  independence  ;  and, 
what  to  a  generous  mind  is  of  still  higher  gratification,  he  found  himself 
surrounded  by  friends,  and  sustained  by  the  confidence  of  the  public, 
alike  in  his  personal  and  professional  character. 

While  in  full  private  practice,  he  was  appointed  attorney  for  the 
commonwealth  in  one  of  the  four  districts  into  which  it  was  divided. 
He  retained  the  office,  by  successive  appointments,  until  he  was  trans 
ferred  to  the  bench.  Firm,  but  courteous  and  humane,  intimately 
conversant  with  the  criminal  law,  and  accustomed  to  great  exactness  in 
the  conduct  of  all  his  affairs,  he  made  an  admirable  prosecuting  officer. 
While  he  forbore  no  labor  and  spared  no  pains  to  fix  upon  the  guilty 
the  legal  penalties  of  transgression,  he  was  never  known  to  press  for  a 
conviction  merely  because  an  accusation  had  been  made,  or  an  indict 
ment  presented.  His  labors  in  this  department  of  the  government,  so 
essential  to  the  welfare  of  the  state  and  the  security  of  its  citizens,  were 
rewarded  by  their  constant  and  warmest  approbation. 

In  1843,  Mr.  Merrick  was  placed  upon  the  bench  of  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas,  which,  in  Massachusetts,  is  invested  with  an  extended 
civil  and  criminal  jurisdiction,  and  which  has  been  adorned  by  some  of 
her  best  jurists.  In  accepting  a  judicial  office,  he  assumed  the  discharge 
of  duties  in  which  the  eminent  advocate  is  by  no  means  always  success 
ful.  But  he  was  not  of  the  number  who  fail ;  he  soon  increased  the 
reputation  he  had  acquired  at  the  bar.  He  carried  to  the  bench  the 
manners  of  a  gentleman,  and  presided  in  his  court  not  only  with  dignity, 
but  with  urbanity  and  kindness.  His  clear  and  discriminating  mind, 
his  ready  perception  of  the  true  issues  to  be  investigated,  his  quick 
analysis,  and  his  happy  faculty  of  laying  everything  clearly  and  plainly 
before  the  jury,  enabled  him  to  execute  his  office  acceptably,  and  very 
early  established  a  high  judicial  reputation. 

In  the  autumn  of  1848,  he  was  urgently  solicited  to  come  to  the 
rescue  of  an  enterprise  thought  to  be  of  great  importance  to  the  city  of 
Worcester,  which  had  been  commenced,  but  was  then  laboring  under 
the  severest  depression  and  embarrassment.  He  yielded  somewhat 
reluctantly  to  that  solicitation,  and,  resigning  his  judicial  office,  was 
chosen  president  of  the  Worcester  and  Nashua  Rail-road  Company. 
To  the  new  species  of  labor  to  which  he  was  thus  called,  he  applied 
himself  with  vigor,  and  evinced  in  it  sound  discretion  and  great  practi 
cal  intelligence.  His  energy,  perseverance  and  personal  influence  over 
came  all  obstacles  in  its  way.  He  carried  forward  the  work  of  the 
corporation,  till  their  road  was  done,  their  buildings  completed,  and 
their  cars  running  on  the  track ;  and  he  then  chose  to  withdraw  from 
the  company,  and  leave  their  operations  to  be  conducted  by  those  who 
had  a  more  direct  and  immediate  interest  in  its  prosperity. 

But  though  he  was  thus  temporarily  diverted  from  his  own  appro- 


PLINY  MERRICK,  OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  137 

priate  avocations,  he  was  unwilling  long  to  be  absent  from  those  pursuits 
to  which  it  had  been  his  constant  purpose  to  devote  his  life.  Having 
brought  the  enterprise  in  which  he  had  been  engaged  to  a  prosperous 
termination,  he  turned  again,  with  undiminished  zeal  and  unabated 
power,  to  his  chosen  profession.  His  services  were  promptly  sought 
for  in  the  circle  of  his  former  labors  with  eagerness  and  avidity,  and  he 
was  renewing  a  full  career  of  employment  in  the  courts,  when  a  vacancy 
occurred  upon  the  bench  he  had  left.  The  seat  was  tendered  to  him  by 
Gov.  Briggs,  and  was  accepted ;  being  the  only  instance  in  Massachu 
setts  in  which  an  individual  has  been  re-appointed  to  a  judical  office  from 
which  he  had  once  voluntarily  retired.  This  second  appointment  was 
the  more  honorable  to  him,  as  it  was  conferred  by  a  chief  magistrate  to 
whom,  politically,  as  the  representative  of  the  predominant  party  in  the 
state,  he  had  been  long  and  constantly  opposed. 

Judge  Merrick  has  been  seen  but  little  in  political  life.  The  demo 
cratic  party  with  which  he  is  associated  have  not  often  secured  the  as 
cendency  in  Massachusetts,  and  it  has  not  therefore  been  in  its  power 
to  confer  distinction  upon  its  members  by  party  patronage.  But  he 
has  enjoyed  the  confidence  of  his  political  friends,  who  have  accorded 
to  him  such  manifestations  of  respect  and  attachment  as  a  minority  can 
bestow.  He  has  often  been  their  candidate  for  places  of  trust  and  posts 
of  honor  and  responsibility,  and  under  their  nomination  he  was  elected, 
in  1849,  to  the  Senate  of  the  Commonwealth.  As  one  of  the  most 
prominent  members  of  the  party,  he  occupied  an  important  position  in 
the  legislature,  and  exercised  an  effective  and  salutary  influence  over 
the  proceedings  of  the  body  to  which  he  belonged.  Had  he  been  con 
tinued  in  that  sphere  of  action,  valuable  results  might  have  been  antici 
pated  from  his  wide  experience  and  judicious  counsels ;  but  before  the 
occurrence  of  another  session  of  the  legislature,  he  was  again  in  judicial 
office  under  his  second  appointment. 

It  is  in  his  professional  character,  as  an  advocate  and  as  a  judge,  that 
he  is  chiefly  known,  and  will  be  hereafter  remembered.  As  an  advo 
cate,  he  was  eminently  successful ;  yet  it  was  against  no  feeble  minds 
that  he  achieved  his  distinction  at  the  bar.  Better  lawyers  are  seldom 
seen  in  our  courts  than  John  Davis,  now  a  senator  in  Congress  from 
Massachusetts  ;  and  Samuel  Hoar,  of  Concord,  whose  solid  learning  and 
inexhaustible  ingenuity  are  themes  of  praise  wherever  he  is  known.  It 
was  with  such  men  that  he  had  to  contend,  and  he  proved  himself  equal 
to  the  contest.  Always  buoyant  and  indefatigable,  he  never  failed  to 
be  ready  at  the  commencement  of  the  race,  nor  exhibited  fatigue  till  ho 
had  reached  its  close.  One  must  have  heard  his  addresses  to  a  jury, 
fully  to  have  understood  his  merits  as  a  jury  lawyer.  His  approaches 
to  them"  were  in  the  gentlest  terms,  and  he  secured  a  lodgment  in  their 
hearts  before  he  began  his  appeal  to  their  understanding.  His  manner 
was  easy  and  graceful ;  fluent  in  his  delivery,  his  voice  was  clear,  rich 
in  its  tones,  and  admirably  modulated.  He  had  a  singular  felicity  in 
the  command  of  language  :  copious  without  redundancy,  the  right  word 
always  fell  in  the  right  place.  He  saw  distinctly  the  point  in  issue 
which  he  was  to  reach,  and  he  went  directly  to  it.  In  grouping  facts, 
seemingly  remote  and  disconnected,  and  in  bringing  them  to  bear  with 
combined  effect  upon  the  designed  end,  his  talent  and  ingenuity  some- 


138  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

times  seemed  wonderfully  great.  He  reasoned  with  the  caution  and 
closeness  of  a  logician.  But  his  powers  of  persuasion  surpassed  even 
his  force  of  argument;  and  his  eloquent  and  touching  appeals  to  the 
hearts  of  his  hearers,  revived  in  his  own  county  the  memory  of  Francis 
Blake — a  brilliant  genius  of  an  earlier  day,  of  whose  superior  merits  too 
little  is  remembered,  and  of  whose  productions  too  few  have  survived 
him  to  ensure  the  durability  of  the  fame  he  deserved. 

Judge  Merrick  has  been  of  counsel  in  many  causes  which  will  have 
a  lasting  remembrance.  But  of  his  forensic  efforts  few  were  ever  re 
ported,  and  no  written  trace  remains  of  arguments  which,  in  the  hour  of 
their  delivery,  held  listening  audiences  in  admiring  attention.  Of  the 
inconsiderable  number  of  those  which  have  been  preserved,  allusion 
may  be  made  to  his  defence  of  Professor  Webster.  The  report  of  his 
argument  on  that  occasion,  contained  in  the  full  and  accurate  report  of 
the  trial  published  by  George  Bemis,  Esq.,  one  of  the  counsel  for  the 
government,  fully  sustains  the  opinion  expressed  of  it  by  those  who 
were  present  at  its  delivery.  No  criminal  trial  has  occurred  in  the 
United  States  which  attracted  such  universal  attention  or  excited  so 
intense  and  painful  an  interest.  Nor  was  there  ever  one  in  which  coun 
sel  for  the  accused  discharged  their  duty  under  a  pressure  so  severe 
and  terrible.  It  is  impossible  for  those  at  a  distance  from  the  scene  to 
appreciate  its  force.  They  who  were  spectators,  who  carefully  watched 
the  whole  proceedings,  and  who  felt  as  well  as  saw  the  fatal  character 
of  the  evidence  growing  hourly  in  irresistible  conclusiveness,  witnessed 
also  the  devoted  ability  and  skill  with  which  it  was  met  and  contested. 
They,  and  among  them  were  some  of  the  most  distinguished  and  dis 
criminating  citizens  of  the  commonwealth,  bore  the  strongest  testimony 
to  the  vigor  and  ingenuity  with  which  the  prosecution  was  resisted  ;  and 
gave  assurances  in  various  ways  to  Judge  Merrick,  that  his  closing  ad 
dress  to  the  jury  was,  under  the  distressing  and  overwhelming  circum 
stances  against  which  he  had  to  contend,  one  of  the  ablest  and  most 
eloquent  arguments  ever  heard  in  the  courts  of  Massachusetts. 

The  life  of  Judge  Merrick,  as  an  advocate  merely,  is  undoubtedly 
finished.  He  is  now  upon  the  bench  under  his  second  appointment,  en 
joying  the  confidence  of  all  parties,  and  the  cordial  esteem  and  respect 
of  the  bar.  By  those  who  are  the  more  immediate  witnesses  of  his 
course  in  that  responsible  station,  a  gratifying  testimonial  has  been  re 
cently  tendered  to  him  ;  and  the  hope  emphatically  expressed,  that  his 
life  and  health  may  be  preserved,  and  the  public  permitted  for  many 
years  to  enjoy  the  benefit  of  his  judicial  labors. 


HON.  ANGUS  PATTERSON, 

OF  BARNWELL  DISTRICT,  SOUTH  CAROLINA, 

Is  the  son  of  Alexander  and  Elizabeth  'Patterson,  who  were  of 
Scotch  extraction.  They  belonged  to  a  colony  of  Highlanders  who 
emigrated  to  North  Carolina  before  the  Revolution,  and  settled  in  the 


ANGUS  PATTERSON,  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  139 

counties  of  Cumberland,  Moore,  Eichmond,  and  Robeson.  Angus  was 
born  in  the  latter,  on  the  5th  day  of  December,  1790.  His  parents 
were  as  well  educated  as  the  times  and  the  then  state  of  the  country 
admitted ;  they  were,  in  common  with  most  of  their  neighbors  and 
countrymen,  poor  but  moral,  religious,  contented,  industrious,  economi 
cal,  and  anxious  for  the  education  and  advancement  of  their  children. 
They  could,  though  they  did  not,  generally  speak  the  Gaelic  language, 
which  at  that  time  was  the  common  dialect  of  the  elder  inhabitants  of 
the  Scotch  settlement.  They  were,  as  were  all  their  countrymen,  rigid 
Presbyterians,  and  a  branch  of  the  Kirk  of  Scotland ; — no  clergyman 
was  allowed  to  preach,  permanently  at  least,  in  their  churches,  who  was 
not  sent  out  and  recommended  by  the  Kirk — the  ability  to  preach  in 
Gaelic  being  an  indispensable  qualification.  His  paternal  grand-parents 
were  Daniel  and  Mary  Patterson ;  the  maiden  name  of  the  latter  was 
McMillan ;  they  emigrated  twelve  or  fifteen  years  before  the  Revolu 
tion,  and  first  settled  in  Cumberland,  but  soon  removed  to  the  Raft 
Swamp  in  Robeson  county,  where  a  few  of  their  descendants  still  re 
side.  His  maternal  grand-parents  were  John  and  Isabel  Patterson.  They 
lived  and  died  at  a  very  advanced  age  in  Moore  county,  near  the  head 
of  Rockfish,  a  tributary  of  the  Cape  Fear.  John  Patterson  was  16  years 
of  age  when  he  came  to  America,  and  must  have  been  amongst  the 
first  emigrants,  as  he  had  acquired  considerable  property,  and  had 
several  children  grown  at  the  commencement  of  the  Revolutionary 
war.  His  maternal  grandmother,  whose  maiden  name  was  McDuffie, 
spoke  Gaelic  imperfectly,  and  was  born  in  America ;  her  family,  or 
rather  her  brother,  Archibald  McDuffie,  the  only  portion  of  her  family 
we  ever  heard  of,  lived  in  Cumberland,  near  Fayetteville.  The  family 
is  now  extinct,  or  removed  to  parts  unknown.  His  father  was  too 
young  to  take  part  in  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  both  his  grandfathers 
were,  as  were  most  native  Scotchmen,  neutral.  A  brother  of  his 
mother  served  in  the  American  army  at  Guilford,  and  probably  in 
other  engagements.  His  father's  and  mother's  maiden  name  were 
pronounced  alike,  but  the  families  were  not  connected,  and,  besides, 
they  spelled  the  name  differently,  one  with  one  t,  arid  the  other  with 
two.  His  grand-parents,  on  both  sides,  left  a  numerous  offspring,  who 
have  generally  removed  to  the  west,  south,  and  south-west,  and  are  to 
be  found  in  every  state,  from  the  Cape  Fear  to  the  Rio  Grande.  His 
father,  as  far  back  as  he  can  recollect,  worked  with  one  or  two  slaves 
on  his  farm  in  summer,  and  for  two  years  in  winter  taught  a  small 
school,  a  little  more  than  a  mile  from  his  residence.  To  this  school 
our  subject  was  carried,  sometimes  by  his  father,  and  sometimes  by 
a  servant.  He  must  have  been  young,  and  could  have  learned  but 
little. 

About  1803  or  1804,  several  young  Scotchmen,  having  acquired  a 
classical  education,  became  Presbyterian  ministers,  and  opened  several 
academies  in  the  Scotch  settlement.  To  one  of  these,  located  at  Solemn 
Grove,  in  Moore  county,  in  charge  of  the  Rev.  Murdoch  McMillan, 
Mr.  Patterson  was  sent,  where  he  remained  nearly  two  years,  boarding 
gratuitously  in  the  family  of  a  maternal  uncle  who  lived  in  the  neigh 
borhood.  There  he  made  some  progress  in  Latin,  and  reviewed  English 
Grammar. 


140  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

About  this  time  he  became  sensible  that  he  would  have  to  shift  for 
himself;  that  for  further  progress  in  obtaining  an  education  he  would 
have  to  rely  on  his  own  exertions.     Though  his  father  had  increased 
his  property  a  little,  he  had  a  number  of  children,  by  three  marriages, 
of  whom  Angus  was  the  oldest.      He '  saw  that  he  could  expect  no 
material  pecuniary  aid  from  him.     When  he  left  Solemn  Grove  he 
was  invited  by  his  kinsman,  Kenneth  Black,  to  act  as  his  assistant  in 
the  Lumberton  Academy,  of  which  he  had  charge.     Mr.  Patterson  in 
structed  the  lower  classes  during  school  hours,  for  which  he  received 
a  small  salary,  scarcely  sufficient  to  pay  for  board  and  clothing,  and  had 
the  privilege  of  joining  a  class.     Mr.  Black  was  a  pretty  accurate  classi 
cal  scholar,  and  afforded  his  pupils  every  facility  he  could.    Mr.  Patter 
son  read  portions  of  Ovid,  Virgil,  Horace,  and  Cicero's  Orations,  and 
managed  to  keep  up  with  his  class,  but  it  may  be  supposed  that  he  did 
not  indulge  in  much  sleep.     He  could  understand  Horace  best,  and  he 
was  his  favorite  author.     He  made  a  little,  and  but  little,  progress  in 
Greek.     Here  Mr.  Patterson  resolved  to  direct  all  his  efforts  to  the 
acquisition  of  a  collegiate  education.     His  plan  was  to  obtain  the  neces 
sary  funds  by  teaching  school ;   and,  accordingly,  in  December,  1808, 
failing  to  get  employment  nearer  home,  he  came  to  South  Carolina, 
and  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  school  in  Colleton  District,  near  Patter 
son's  Bridge.    He  had  a  Virgil  and  Horace,  and  spent  most  of  his  time, 
when  not  in  school,  in  reading  them.     Not  liking  the  manners  of  the 
neighborhood,  he  gave  up  his  school  at  the  end  of  the  first  quarter, 
and  obtained  employment  as  a  private  tutor  in  the  family  of  Mr.  John 
Witsell,  in  the  same  district,  near  Jacksonborough,  then  the  seat  of 
justice  of  Colleton  district.     There  he  remained  a  year  in  charge  of 
three  boys,  who  improved  but  little  under  his  instruction.     He  at 
tended  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  as  a  spectator,  and  became  ac 
quainted  with  one  or  two  lawyers,  who  suggested  the  idea  of  giving 
up  going  to  college,  and  to  read  law.     Having  conceived  a  fondness 
for  forensic  proceedings,  be  readily  adopted  this  suggestion,  and  borrow 
ing  a  copy  of  Blackstone's  Commentaries,  read  it  through,  and  portions 
several  times,  while  living  in  the  family  of  Mr.  Witsell.     Near  the  end 
of  his  engagement  with  Mr.  Witsell,  he  received  an  offer  from  the  late 
Johnson  Hagood,  Esq.,  of  Barnwell  District,  to  understand  the  nature  of 
which  it  is  necessary  to  premise,  that  Mr.  Hagood  had  been  a  lawyer  of 
considerable  practice,  but  having  become  a  planter,  was  withdrawing 
from  the  profession.     He  had  a  good  library,  both  law  and  miscellane 
ous.     The  proposal  was  to  instruct  a  few  children  certain  hours,  for  a 
small  pecuniary  compensation,  and  the  use  of  the  library  and  office. 
This  situation  was  well  adapted  to  his  views.     Mr.  Hagood  still  had 
some  professional  business,  which  he  soon  left  almost  entirely  to  Mr. 
Patterson's  management,  visiting  the  office  occasionally,  when   Mr. 
Patterson  requested  his  advice.     He  issued  writs,  drew  declarations,  and 
prepared  cases  for  trial,  by  noting  the  facts  and  looking  up  the  law. 
He  had  ample  time,  and  took  no  step  without  consulting  every  book  in 
the  office  treating  of  the  matter  under  investigation.     In  this  way  he 
became  pretty  well  acquainted  with  the  rules  of  pleading  and  evidence. 
Special  pleading  in  those  days  was  countenanced,  if  not  encouraged,  by 
the  bench  and  the  bar,  though  it  is  quite  different  now, — the  declaration 


ANGUS  PATTERSON,  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.          141 

is  seldom  looked  into,  and  a  special  demurrer  is  regarded  with  little 
favor.     Besides  books  of  practice,  he  read  Burlamaqui  on  Natural  Law, 
Montesquieu's  Spirit  of  Laws,  Vattel  on  International  Law,  Fearne  on 
Contingent  Remainders,  Foublanque's  Equity,  and  some  history,  bio 
graphy,  and  poetry.     He  was  advised  by  most  persons  whom  he  con 
sulted,  as  to  the  proper  course  of  reading,  to  study  Coke  on  Littleton 
attentively.     He  accordingly  commenced  the  task  several  times,  but 
never  could  get  more  than  half  through  the  book.     He  began  with  Mr. 
Hagood  in  July,  1810,  and  in  November,  1812,  he  went  to  Charleston 
and  entered  the  office  of  the  late  John  S.  Richardson,  then  attorney- 
general  of  the  state,  and  for  many  years  subsequently  a  judge  of  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas.     He  now  bid  adieu  to  the  business  of  school 
master,  having  succeeded  in  it  but  poorly.      To  him  it  was  a  labor  of 
necessity,  and  not  of  love.     His  principal  employment  in  the  office  of 
Mr.  Richardson  was  drawing  indictments  and  declarations,  but  he  made 
shift  to  look  into  many  of  the  then  modern  cases,  such  as  are  reported 
in  Burrows,  Douglas,  &c.     For  the  principles  established  in  the  old  re 
ports  he  relied  on  Comyn's  Digest,  and  Viner's  and  Bacon's  Abridge 
ments.     Here  he  first  resorted  to  the  practice  of  acquiring  a  general 
knowledge  of  the  contents  of  a  book  without  reading  it^  which  proved 
of  much  advantage  to  him  when  pressed  for  time,  in  subsequent  life. 
While  in  Charleston,  he  attended  a  session  of  the  circuit  and  appeal 
courts,  and  was  complimented  by  the  late  Judge  Calcock  for  his  at 
tention.     From  that  time  that  able  judge,  and  amiable  man,  as  long  as 
he  lived,  was  his  personal  friend.     In  May,  1813,  he  was  admitted,  by 
the  court  of  appeals  in  Columbia,  to  practice  in  the  courts  of  law.     He 
forthwith  opened  an  office  in  the  village  of  Barnwell,  and  Mr.  Hagood 
having  died,  in  the  mean  time,  he  purchased  his  law  library,  and  fell 
heir  to  some  of  his  cases  and  clients.     Mr.  Patterson  had  but  little 
local  competition.     The  late  Hon.  William  D.  Martin  had  studied  law 
in  Barnwell,  where  he  had  respectable  connections,  and  was  deservedly 
personally  popular.      He  had  been  admitted  some  months,  perhaps 
a  year,  before  Mr.  Patterson,  and  settled  in  the  adjoining  district  of 
Beaufort,  but,  through  a  partnership,  had  an  extensive  and  increasing 
practice  in  Barnwell.     With  that  gentleman  Mr.  Patterson  practised 
long  and  pleasantly.     The  transient  bar  was  numerous,  considering  the 
quantity  of  business,  and  formidable  for  talents.     The  principal  mem 
bers  were — Robert  Stark,  solicitor  of  the  circuit ;  Richard  Gantt,  after 
wards    Judge  Gantt,   Edmund  Bacon,  John   J.  Chappell,  Etheldred 
Simpkins,  and  John  M.  Felder.     The  three  last  named  have  since  been 
members  of  Congress  and  of  the  state  legislature.     By  these  gentlemen 
he  was  treated  with  marked  kindness,  particularly  by  Mr.  Stark,  who, 
not  only  gave  Mr.  Patterson  his  countenance  and  advice,  but  aid.    All 
these  gentlemen,  except  Col.  Chappell,  have  "  shuffled  off  this  mortal 
coil." 

There  is  nothing  a  young  man  remembers  so  long  or  so  gratefully  as 
the  courtesies  of  his  senior  brethren.  Mr.  P.  came  to  the  bar  a 
stranger — an  inexperienced  youth,  without  money,  and  with  no  friends 
except  a  few  whose  confidence  he  had  gained  in  the  office  of  Mr. 
Hagood.  These  adhered  to  him  as  long  as  they  lived,  and  he  has  had 
the  pleasure  of  rendering  important  professional  service  to  some  of 


142  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

their  descendants.  Before  his  admission  he  lived  very  retired,  avoid 
ing  rather  than  seeking  society;  and  was  bashful  to  an  unreasonable 
degree.  Conscious  of  having  made  all  the  preparation  he  could,  he  did 
not  lack  confidence  in  himself;  yet  he  was  so  timed,  excitable  and  ner 
vous,  that  after  an  argument,  he  could  scarcely  recollect  a  word  uttered. 
Nothing  but  necessity  enabled  him  to  overcome  this  timidity.  His 
business  increased  rapidly,  and  by  1818  he  was  in  full  practice.  From 
1820,  as  long  as  he  continued  an  active  member  of  the  bar,  he  had  as 
much  and  sometimes  more  business  than  he  could  do  justice  to.  In 
1818  he  first  appeared  as  counsel  in  the  Court  of  Appeals. 

He  early  commenced  investing  a  portion  of  his  income.  He  first 
became  a  farmer.  In  1827  he  began  to  plant  with  a  moderate  capital, 
which  was  increased  from  time  to  time.  In  common  with  most  pro 
fessional  men,  at  least  of  the  South,  he  was  passionately  fond  of  agri 
cultural  pursuits,  but  never  permitted  them  to  interfere  with  his  pro 
fessional  engagements,  and  therefore  had  to  divide  the  proceeds  of  his 
planting  interest  with  agents  and  managers. 

In  1818  he  was  elected  to  the  House  of  Representatives,  re-elected 
in  1820,  and  after  serving  four  years  in  that  house,  was  elected  to  the 
Senate  in  1822 — and  re-elected  every  four  years  until  he  retired  in 
1850.  The  sessions  of  the  legislature  of  South  Carolina  are  so  short, 
never  more  than  twenty  days,  that  a  seat  in  it  does  not  interfere  with 
professional  duty.  While  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate  he  acted  as  chair 
man  of  one  of  the  working  committees,  at  the  same  time  serving  as  a 
member  on  several  others.  At  the  session  of  1832  he  was  appointed 
chairman  of  the  special  committee  to  which  the  ordinance  of  nullifica 
tion  was  referred,  and  of  which  the  Hon.  A.  P.  Butler  and  the  Hon. 
James  Gregg  were  members.  A  similar  committee  was  raised  in  the 
House  of  Representatives,  of  which  the  Hon.  B.  F.  Dunkin,  now 
Chancellor  Dunkin,  was  chairman,  and  the  Hon.  Wm.  C.  Preston  and 
other  gentlemen  since  distinguished,  were  members.  In  the  nullifica 
tion  contest,  party  spirit  ran  high,  and  was  in  some  instances  bitter. 
Though  his  political  course  was  decided,  he  retained  throughout  the 
contest  many  personal  friends  in  the  ranks  of  political  opponents. 
While  in  the  Senate,  he  had  the  happiness  to  be  associated  with  many 
of  the  most  distinguished  men  who  appeared  on  the  political  stage  in 
the  state  during  the  present  century.  They  have  now,  with  a  few  excep 
tions,  passed  away.  In  December,  1838,  he  was  elected  president  of 
the  Senate,  and  being  re-elected  every  two  years,  occupied  that  office 
while  he  continued  a  member  of  that  body.  On  the  adjournment  of 
the  session  of  1849,  he  became  engaged  in  preparing  for  the  Court 
of  Chancery,  which  was  to  sit  early  in  February.  About  the  middle  of 
January  his  health  suddenly  gave  way.  In  a  few  days  he  became  so 
feeble  as  to  be  scarcely  able  to  walk,  had  a  troublesome  cough,  and  lost 
his  voice  almost  entirely.  As  advised,  he  went  directly  to  East 
Florida.  By  this  movement  he  escaped  the  cold  of  February,  March 
and  April,  and  his  health  improved  a  little,  more  probably  from 
the  repose  enjoyed,  and  which  he  stood  much  in  need  of,  than  from  any 
other  cause*  It  is  doubted  whether  the  climate  was  favorable  to  his 
case.  On  returning  home  he  purchased  a  residence  in  the  town 
of  Aiken,  which  he  intends  to  make  his  principal  place  of  abode. 


GEORGE  W.  NORTON,  OF  KENTUCKY.  143 

His  health  has  gradually  improved,  his  voice  is  in  some  measure 
restored,  but  he  is  still  feeble. 

In  1819  he  married  a  daughter  of  the  late  Francis  Tratti.  His  wife 
is  of  Italian,  Greek  and  Irish  descent.  Their  union  has  been  one 
of  uninterrupted  happiness.  Of  eleven  children,  two  died  in  early 
infancy,  a  third  left  an  infant  a  few  days  old,  now  grown  ^  to  be  a 
promising  boy,  and  supplies  to  some  extent  the  place  of  his  mother 
in  the  affections  of  the  family. 


GEORGE  W.  NORTON,  ESQ., 

OF  RtJSSELLVILLE,  KENTUCKY,  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  SOUTHERN  BANK  OF 
KENTUCKY. 

WILLIAM  NORTON,  the  father  of  George  W.  Norton,  removed  from 
Harrisburg,  Pennsylvania,  to  Russellville,  Kentucky,  in  1811,  and  is 
now  one  of  the  oldest  residents  of  that  town.  In  1813,  he  married  Miss 
Mary  Hise,  a  lady  distinguished  for  her  intelligence,  energy  and  prac 
tical  good  sense.  He  is  universally  esteemed  for  probity  and  industry. 

George  W.,  who  is  the  oldest  child,  was  born  and  educated  in  Rus 
sellville,  and  is  now  in  his  thirty-eighth  year.  In  his  fifteenth  year,  he  went 
into  a  dry-goods  store  as  a  clerk  ;  by  industry  and  attention  to  his  du 
ties  gained  the  confidence  and  regard  of  his  employers,  and  was  enabled 
to  begin  business  on  his  own  account  in  his  nineteenth  year.  He  was 
actively  and  successfully  engaged  in  commercial  pursuits  until  the  au 
tumn  of  1849,  when  he  determined  to  retire  from  active  employments 
until  his  naturally  feeble  constitution  and  usually  feeble  health  could  be 
somewhat  restored. 

The  charter  of  the  Southern  Bank  of  Kentucky,  with  a  capital  of  two 
millions  of  dollars,  having  been  amended  by  the  recent  legislature  of 
his  state,  the  friends  of  the  institution,  in  the  spring  of  1850,  determined 
to  put  it  into  operation  at  once.  Upon  the  organization  of  the  board  of 
directors,  at  the  very  urgent  solicitations  of  the  stockholders  and  di 
rectors,  Mr.  Norton  was  induced  to  accept  the  presidency  of  the  bank. 
His  success  in  commercial  pursuits  gave  confidence  to  the  community 
that  the  bank  would  be  prudently  and  judiciously  managed — expecta 
tions  which  have  not  been  disappointed.  The  Southern  Bank  of  Ken 
tucky  has  the  confidence  of  the  public  to  an  extent  not  surpassed  by 
any  similar  institution. 

In  his  intercourse  with  his  fellow-men,  he  has  endeavored  to  be  influ 
enced  by  strict  integrity — as  a  consequence,  he  has  the  confidence  and 
esteem  of  all  who  know  him. 

At  the  age  of  about  18,  he  became  a  member  of  the  Church,  and  has 
endeavored  to  live  the  life  of  a  Christian. 

In  1847,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Martha  Stewart  Henry,  daughter  of 
the  late  Major  M.  W.  Henry,  of  Kentucky. 


144  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

BENJAMIN  FANEUIL  HUNT, 

OF  CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA. 

[We  have  been  furnished  with  the  following  memoir  from  the  pen  of  a  literary 
friend  and  cotemporary  of  Col.  Hunt,  in  Charleston. — EDITOR.] 

THE  subject  of  this  memoir  was  born  on  the  29th  day  of  February, 
1792,  at  Watertown,  near  Boston,  Massachusetts.  His  father  was  the 
descendant  of  a  clergyman,  who  emigrated  with  the  early  settlers  of  the 
state.  Having  completed  his  education  at  Harvard  University,  on  the 
morning  of  the  day  of  Bunker's  Hill,  his  father  accompanied  General 
Warren,  at  that  time  his  guest,  to  the  battle-ground,  where  his  conduct 
merited  such  approval  as  to  induce  General  Washington,  on  his  arrival 
in  Massachusetts,  to  appoint  him  quarter-master  in  the  American  army. 
His  original  books  remain  in  the  possession  of  his  son,  and  contain 
many  curious  details  of  that  interesting  period.  After  the  war  he  com 
menced  his  career  as  a  lawyer,  and  became  extensively  engaged  in  busi 
ness,  which  continued  until  his  death  in  1804. 

Maternally,  the  subject  of  this  memoir  is  equally  well  related.  His 
mother  was  a  daughter  of  George  Bethune  of  Brighton,  and  Mary  Fa- 
neuil,  a  descendant  of  the  Huguenots,  who  left  France  at  the  revocation 
of  the  Edict  of  Nantes.* 

At  the  death  of  his  father,  in  1804,  Mr.  Hunt  was  left  to  complete  his 
education  and  prepare  himself  for  business,  Apt  to  learn,  he  became 
ambitious  of  receiving  a  liberal  education,  and,  such  was  his  determined 


*  The  name  of  Faneuil  is  thus  derived,  as  appears  by  a  communication  in  the 
Boston  Evening  Transcript :  "  In  1685,  at  the  period  of  the  revocation  of  the 
Edict  of  Nantz,  there  were  living  in  or  near  Rochelle,  in  France,  three  brothers  and 
two  sisters  of  the  Faneuil  family.  When  the  persecution  commenced,  so  ably  and 
touchingly  described  by  James  Saurin,  two  fled  for  safety  to  foreign  lands.  An 
drew,  the  elder  brother,  escaped  into  Holland,  and  took  up  his  abode  in  Amsterdam, 
where  he  married  that  pre-eminently  beautiful  lady  whose  portrait  is  now  in  the 
possession  of  Col.  Benjamin  Faneuil  Hunt,  whose  mother  was  Jane  Bethune,  a 
daughter  of  Mary  Faneuil.  Andrew,  before  many  years,  came  to  this  country  as 
early  as  1709.  In  Holland  he  acquired  his  passion  for  flowers,  which  he  gratified 
in  his  seven-acre  Eden.  He  acquired  a  large  estate,  which  he  distributed  among 
the  public  funds  in  France,  England  and  Holland.  He  died  February  13th,  1737. 
Benjamin  Faneuil,  his  brother,  was  closely  associated  with  that  little  band  of  Hu 
guenots,  who  clustered  around  about  the  town  of  Narragansett,  at  the  very  close 
of  the  17th  century.  In  1699,  he  married  a  French  lady,  Anne  Bureau.  The 
transcript  is  thus,  in  French  (translation):  'The  28th  July,  1699,  Benjamin  Fa 
neuil  and  Anne  Bureau  were  married  at  Narragansett,  in  New-England,  at  tbe  house 
of  Mr.  Peter  Ayross,  by  Mr.  Peter  Daille,  minister  of  the  French  church  in  Boston. 
Benjamin  Faneuil,  the  praepositus  or  stirps,  became  the  father  of  eleven  children  by 
his  wife,  Anne  Bureau,  all  born  in  New- Rochelle,  in  the  State  of  New- York.  Peter, 
who  was  the  donor  of  Faneuil  Hall,  was  born  20th  June,  1700.'  Benjamin,  his 
brother,  and  maternal  grandfather  of  Col.  Hunt,  was  born  December,  1701.  He 
was  a  merchant  and  frequented  England  and  France.  Peter  died  in  1742-43, 
and  left  a  large  possession,  which  fell  to  his  brother  Benjamin,  who  survived  until 
October,  1785,  when  he  also  died.  He  resided  at  Brighton,  near  Boston,  and  was 
two  months  less  than  eighty -four  years  old  when  he  died.  He  had  for  many  years 


BENJAMIN  F.  HUNT,  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  145 

purpose  and  confidence  of  future  success,  that  his  mother  was  induced  to 
furnish  the  necessary  means  to  defray  the  expenses  of  his  academical 
and  collegiate  education.  Accordingly,  in  1806,  he  entered  Harvard 
University,  and  four  years  afterwards,  in  his  twentieth  year,  graduated. 
His  health  being  delicate,  and  his  family  physician  advising  that  a 
warmer  climate  could  alone  save  him  from  consumption,  a  disease 
which  had  carried  off  all  his  brothers,  he  removed  to  Charleston,  South 
Carolina,  which  has  ever  since  been  the  place  of  his  abode.  On  the  first 
day  of  November,  1810,  Mr.  Hunt  reached  this  city.  He  brought 
with  him  a  good  education,  a  few  letters  of  introduction,  a  mother's 
blessing  and  a  determination  to  succeed.  His  reception  was  marked  by 
the  proverbial  hospitality  and  kindness  of  the  place ;  but  intending  to 
become  a  citizen,  he  at  once  determined  to  put  aside  the  claim  of  guest 
and  take  his  place  on  an  equality  with  others  in  the  competition  of  use 
fulness  and  honor.  The  late  Keating  Lewis  Simons  was,  at  that  time, 
a  distinguished  lawyer  at  the  Charleston  bar.  Mr.  Hunt  entered  his 
office  for  instruction,  and,  during  the  time  of  his  studies,  no  student  per 
haps  ever  worked  more  faithfully.  With  classical  studies  he  was  fami 
liar,  from  the  excellent  training  of  his  particular  tutor,  the  late  Profes 
sor  Frisbey.  After  two  years'  study,  Mr.  Hunt  applied  for  admission 
to  practice  law,  and  was  duly  admitted  to  the  bar.  To  a  less  resolute 
and  hopeful  mind,  the  opening  prospect  would  have  proved  anything 
but  inviting.  Eminent  men  crowded  the  Charleston  bar  ;  and,  for  most 
of  them,  family  wealth  and  parentage  had  done  quite  as  much  as  in 
trinsic  merit.  Mr.  Hunt  saw  this,  and  his  friends  were  so  discouraged 
at  his  prospect,  that  they  even  advised  him  to  abandon  the  vain  hope  of 
breaking  through  such  an  array  of  established  practitioners  and  leave 
the  metropolis  for  some  less  thronged  theatre. 


prior  to  his  death,  adopted  his  grand-daughter,  Jane  Bethune,  the  mother  of  Col. 
Hunt,  who  became  his  reader  and  amanuensis,  and  thus  acquired  an  early  know 
ledge  of  the  realities  of  life,  and  acquired  those  clear  and  strong  views  of  its  obliga 
tions  and  duties  that  so  peculiarly  marked  her  character  and  rendered  her  one  of  the 
best  examples  of  '  an  old-time  lady.'  On  the  birth  of  her  son,  she  gave  him  the  name 
of  her  venerated  grandfather."  The  following  description  of  this  patriarch  is  taken 
from  a  description  attributed  to  a  distinguished  writer  of  the  article,  •'  Dealings 
with  the  Dead."  Speaking  of  Benjamin  Faneuil,  hesays  :  "This  veteran  had 
been  a  generous  liver  all  his  days.  He  was  not  a  man  whose  devotion  was  ab 
dominal,  whose  God  was  his  belly.  He  was  no  anchorite  in  this  species  of  devo 
tion,  but  as  an  advocate  for  social  worship,  he  was  pre-eminently  hospitable.  For 
more  than  forty  years  from  the  period  when  Peters  death  afforded  him  the  means, 
his  hospitality  had  been  a  proverb,  a  by-word,  but  never  a  reproach.  There  was  a 
refinement  about  it.  It  was  precisely  such  hospitality  as  Apicius  would  have  prac 
ticed  had  Apicius  been  a  bishop.  His  appetite  never  forsook  him.  He  died  sud 
denly  ;  ate  a  cheerful  dinner  on  the  day  of  his  death,  and  went  not  to  his  account 
on  an  empty  stomach,  a  nephritic  malady  occasioned  his  decease." 

His  grand-daughter  also  attained  the  venerable  age  of  eighty-three,  and  lived  to 
see  her  son  and  her  son's  sons  gathered  around  her,  and  retained  her  early  acquired 
habit  of  reading  until  a  few  months  of  her  death,  in  1846.  She  was  a  lady  of  un 
usual  firmness  and  good  sense,  and  of  great  decision  of  character.  She  continued 
even  m  the  evening  of  her  days  an  example  of  the  dignified  manners  of  the  age  in 
which  she  was  educated,  and  her  mansion  was  the  cherished  resort  of  her  relatives 
and  friends,  young  and  old,  and  she  carried  to  her  tomb  the  love  and  veneration  of 
her  posterity  and  the  profound  respect  of  the  community  which  she  adorned  by 
her  excellent  judgment  and  uniform  kindness  and  benevolence. — EB. 

10 


146  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

He  differed  with  them  however,  and  argued  that  the  ability  of  his 
antagonists  would  rather  tend  to  sharpen  than  discourage  his  faculties 
and  stimulate  his  exertions ;  that  the  people  were  his  family,  and  he 
could  always  find  relations  enough  among  them  to  supply  the  necessary 
amount  of  professional  business.  Nor  was  he  mistaken.  Just  at  this 
time,  a  new  order  of  things  was  taking  place  in  South  Carolina.  The 
agricultural  interest,  though  not  less  extensive  than  before,  was  not  the 
only  one  of  importance.  Family  influences,  if  not  passing  away,  were 
then  becoming  less  material,  and  Mr.  Hunt  felt  that  he  had  that  within  him 
which,  in  the  legal  conflicts  likely  to  arise,  would  enable  him  to  become 
a  bold  and  efficient  advocate.  Such  a  reliance  implied  great  mental 
courage  on  his  part.  It  will  be  seen  that  he  neither  misjudged  himself 
nor  mistook  events.  Soon  after  his  admission,  Mr.  Hunt  found  oppor 
tunities  of  coming  into  collision  with  some  of  the  most  distinguished 
members  of  the  bar,  and  instead  of  lingering  for  years  on  the  outskirts 
of  the  profession,  he  was  almost  at  once  entrusted  with  the  management 
of  important  cases.  It  is  a  truth,  now,  as  then,  that  lawyers  and  doc 
tors  are  employed  not  so  much  from  favor,  as  a  security  to  the  lives 
and  estates  of  those  who  employ  them,  and  when  either  of  these  is  at 
stake,  those  interested  are  not  slow  in  discovering  where  the  most  avail 
able  assistance  is  to  be  found.  Mr.  Hunt  was  already  pointed  to  as 
one  of  those  young  men  who  had  determined 

*  To  scorn  delight  and  live  laborious  days," 

and  his  fellow-citizens  did  not  miscalculate  in  supposing  that  their  busi 
ness  would  be  properly  managed  when  entrusted  to  his  care.  Unusual 
success  attended  his  efforts,  and,  while  the  profession  were  literally 
bewildered  to  learn  why  such  favorable  issues  attended  most  of  his 
cases,  the  public,  not  regarding  the  reason,  but  only  looking  at  the  re 
sult,  steadily  increased  its  patronage.  Envy  and  malice  are  the  sha 
dows  which  usually  follow  success,  and  the  former  redouble  as  the 
latter  increases.  Such  was  Mr.  Hunt's  case.  The  young  man,  whom 
it  was  safe  to  smile  upon,  while  struggling  up  the  professional  ladder, 
was  now  reaching  too  crazy  a  height,  and  professional  brethren  were 
not  wanting  who  were  willing  to  bring  him  back  to  reason  by  stopping 
his  too  rapid  ascent.  "  Kill  or  cure,"  was  the  practice  suggested  for  the 
patient ;  nor  were  those  wanting  who  were  ready  to  administer  the  pre 
scription.  As  Mr.  Hunt  had  been  brought  up  in  a  society  where  "  pri 
vate  war"  was  seldom  resorted  to,  his  forbearing  temper  was,  perhaps, 
too  much  relied  upon.  It  became  necessary  to  disabuse  his  opponents 
on  this  point  at  once.  Accordingly,  he  made  up  an  issue  with  them, 
invited  them  to  the  field,  and  proving  the  better  marksman,  his  weapons 
have  been  permitted  to  rust  ever  since,  and  he  has  prided  himself  upon 
healing  ihe  controversies  of  his  friends  by  an  open,  candid  admission 
when  wrong,  united  with  a  firm  resolve  to  suffer  no  injustice  himself  nor 
permit  others  who  confided  in  him  to  do  so. 

Mr.  Hunt  now  found  that  he  had  taken  a  vantage  ground,  to  maintain 
which  demanded  ceaseless  vigilance  and  industry.  If  dangers,  however, 
surrounded  him — if  sometimes  he  doubted  whether  friends  would  stand 
true  to  him,  he  did  not  quail,  but,  falling  back  upon  himself,  he  sus- 


BENJAMIN  F.  HUNT,  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  147 

tained  himself  in  the  rule  of  the  wise  man — "  Take  counsel  of  thine  own 
heart,  for  none  can  be  more  faithful  unto  thee." 

In  1818,  Col.  Hunt's  popularity*  had  increased  so  much  that  he  was 
elected  to  represent  Charleston  District  in  the  state  legislature.  In  this 
capacity  he  has,  at  intervals,  served  his  fellow-citizens  to  the  present 
time.  Nor  have  his  services  been  without  eminent  advantages  to  the 
jurisprudence  of  the  state.  The  act  of  1822,  requiring  the  legislature  to 
sanction  every  act  of  emancipation,  has  wisely  brought  the  whole  mat 
ter  under  the  control  of  the  whole  state,  and  put  an  end  to  the  death 
bed  follies  which  servants  were  able  to  induce  by  working  upon  the  im 
becilities  of  owners.  The  wisdom  of  this  act  has  been  abundantly  mani 
fested  in  the  increased  peace  and  order  of  the  slave  in  his  relations  with 
those  around  him. 

Mr.  Hunt  was  also  successful  in  procuring  the  abolition  of  the  old 
common  law  rule,  confining  debtors,  admitted  to  jail  bounds,  to  within 
a  hundred  yards  around  th'e  jail  walls — a  cruelty  perfectly  gratuitous, 
as  it  moved  the  unlucky  debtor  from  his  home,  and  compelled  him  to 
remain  in  idleness  and  want,  and  without  the  power  of  exertion.  He 
finally  succeeded  in  having  the  limits  extended  to  the  boundaries  of  the 
judicial  district — an  amelioration  which  has  greatly  diminished  the  suf 
fering  of  the  unfortunate  without  impairing  the  rights  of  any  one.  But 
to  proceed  with  Mr.  Hunt's  professional  career.  To  the  well-read  lawyer, 
Mr.  Hunt's  numerous  legal  triumphs  are  familiar.  A  brief  review  of 
some  of  them,  however,  may  not  prove  unininteresting. 
.  The  State  v.  Antonio,  for  coining,  was  among  the  first  cases  that 
established  his  reputation  at  the  bar.  From  design  or  blunder,  the  re 
porter  has  placed  another  name  instead  of  Mr.  Hunt's  as  the  counsel 
engaged  in  the  management  of  the  suit.  The  case  was  tried  in  the  Ap 
peal  Court  as  early  as  1816,  while  as  yet  Mr.  Hunt  had  only  been  three 
years  at  the  bar.  At  that  day,  instead  of  a  simple  "  concurrence,"  each 
judge  was  required  to  deliver  his  own  separate  reasons  for  his  decision. 
Antonio  was  indicted  for  coining  a  silver  dollar,  the  current  coin  of  the 
United  States.  Coining,  under  the  state  law  of  1785,  anterior  to  the 
constitution  of  the  United  States,  was  punishable  with  death,  but  the 
act  of  Congress  punished  the  offence  with  only  imprisonment.  To  save 
the  life  of  the  prisoner,  it  became  important  to  remove  the  case  from 
the  state  to  the  United  States  Court.  Mr.  Hunt  made  the  attempt, 
which  was  considered  almost  ridiculous  by  a  majority  of  the  bench  and 
bar.  His  argument,  however,  arrested  the  attention  of  that  acute  and 
able  ornament  of  the  Carolina  bench,  Judge  Nott,  who,  against  the  opi 
nion  of  all  the  other  judges,  sustained  Mr.  Hunt's  position,  not  only  as 


*  On  the  declaration  of  war  in  1812,  Mr.  Hunt  aided  in  organizing  a  company, 
which  was  drafted,  during  the  war,  into  the  service  of  the  United  States,  and 
throughout  its  continuance  faithfully  fulfilled  the  responsible  duties  of  his  com 
mand.  He  successively  rose  through  the  intermediate  grades,  and  about  the  year 
1818,  was'promoted  to  the  colonelcy  of  the  sixteenth  regiment,  and  served  in  that 
capacity  nearly  twenty  years.  Since  then,  Mr.  Hunt  has  been  popularly  and  fami 
liarly  known  as  "  Colonel  Hunt."  In  his  military  position  he  has  always  manifested 
the  characteristic  traits  of  energy,  fearlessness,  and  ability,  both  as  a  soldier  and  a 
tactician,  that  have  so  singularly  distinguished  him  as  a  lawyer  and  a  legislator. 


148  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court,  but  for  a  new  trial.  This  opinion  being 
overruled  by  a  majority  of  the  court,  Antonio  was  sentenced  to  be 
hanged.  But  Mr.  Hunt  was  bent  upon  saving  the  prisoner,  and  he  was 
not  to  be  baffled  in  his  purpose.  Casting  about  for  a  remedy,  he  fear 
lessly  entered  a  prosecution  against  his  client  in  the  United  States  Court, 
charging  him  as  guilty  of  counterfeiting  the  current  coin  of  the  United 
States,  and  caused  application  to  be  made  to  Judge  Johnson,  of  the 
Federal  Court,  for  Antonio's  arrest.  The  application  was  granted,  and 
a  collision  arose  between  the  marshal  of  the  United  States  and  the 
sheriff  of  South  Carolina  as  to  who  should  hold  the  prisoner;  the  former 
to  have  him  tried,  and  the  latter  to  have  him  hanged.  The  case  was  a 
novel  one,  and,  from  the  daring  position  taken  by  so  young  a  practitioner, 
and  from  the  ability  with  which  he  fortified  it,  great  excitement  was 
created.  In  this  dilemma  the  pardoning  power  of  the  governor  was  ap 
pealed  to,  when  he,  appreciating  the  correctness  of  Mr.  Hunt's  position, 
granted  a  free  pardon  to  the  condemned,  and  the  necessity  of  executing 
the  Habeas  corpus  ad  subjiciendum  was  prevented. 

In  Nott  and  McCord's  Reports  for  the  year  1819,  page  546,  is  the 
case  of  the  State  v .  Hey  ward,  for  perjury.  Mr.  Hunt's  argument  shows 
how  scientifically  he  had  studied  his  profession.  So  strong  and  well 
sustained  was  his  position,  that  Judge  Cheves  reversed  his  own  decision 
on  circuit,  and  arrested  the  judgment. 

In  the  same  Reports,  page  132,  is  another  important  case,  displaying 
Mr.  Hunt's  legal  ability.  The  question  involved  the  liability  of  the 
owner  of  goods  received  at  an  intermediate  place  for  pro  rata  freight. 
Mr.  Hunt  obtained  a  verdict  for  his  client  against  Lorent  and  Steinmetz. 
From  this,  Mr.  Simons,  his  former  preceptor,  appealed,  and,  although 
opposed  by  such  formidable  talent,  Mr.  Hunt  sustained  his  verdict. 

In  the  case  of  Gough  v.  Walker,  (Nott  and  McCord's  Reports,  page 
469,)  involving  the  question,  "  whether  a  renunciation  of  dower  must 
be  recorded  to  render  it  valid,"  Mr.  Hunt  did  not  only  succeed  in  re 
versing  the  circuit  decree,  but  evoked  from  Judge  Cheves,  in  his  dis 
senting  opinion,  a  high  encomium  on  the  argument  of  counsel. 

The  Reports  of  Nott  and  McCord  for  the  years  1819  and  1820,  con 
tain  a  large  number  of  cases  involving  a  variety  of  complex  questions, 
in  most  of  which  Mr.  Hunt  had  a  part,  and  always  appeared  to  advan 
tage. 

Although  Mr.  Hunt  has  been  so  frequently  censured  for  making  con 
stitutional  questions,  he  has  nevertheless  seldom  failed  in  them.  In 
Harper's  Reports,  are  several  cases  famous  in  their  day.  In  Dunn  v. 
City  Council  of  Charleston,  page  189,  he  procured  a  prohibition 
against  the  city,  because  the  state  law  was  unconstitutional,  taking  the 
whole  lot  of  an  individual  to  widen  a  street,  when  part  only  was 
necessary,  and  the  city  attempting  a  speculation  on  the  residue. 
This  was  in  1824.  It  met  the  high  encomium  of  that  eminent  jurist, 
Justice  Nott,  (see  page  195,)  the  whole  of  whose  decision  is  the  most 
perfect  specimen  of  constitutional  argument  in  our  books,  and  worthy 
of  the  careful  study  of  every  lawyer. 

The  case  of  Singleton  v.  Bremar  (Harper  201)  is  one  in  which  Mr. 
Hunt  was  matched  against  the  reporter,  the  late  Chancellor  Harper,  one 
of  the  ablest  men  at  the  Carolina  bar. 


BENJAMIN  F.  HUNT,  OF  SOUTH.  CAROLINA.  149 

The  case  of  Marshall  vs.  White  (page  122)  involved  a  question 
novel  in  South  Carolina,  as  to  whether  the  right  to  a  pew  in  a  church 
was  real  estate  which  was  decided  in  his  favor. 

The  case  of  John  Stoney  vs.  The  Union  Insurance  Company  (Harper's 
R.,  p.  235)  is  somewhat  characteristic.  Mr.  Hunt  had  obtained  a  ver 
dict,  and  the  court  ordered  a  new  trial;  when  a  verdict  was  a  second 
time  rendered  against  the  charge  of  the  judge.  At  the  next  trial,  the 
Judge  (Huger)  instructed  the  jury,  that  the  case  had  been  decided  by 
the  Appeal  Court.  Mr.  Hunt  told  the  jury  "that  unless  the  judge 
granted  a  nonsuit  he  had  no  right  to  dictate  a  verdict,  which  twelve  men 
were  to  swear  was  a  true  verdict."  The  jury  a  third  time  found  for  his 
•client.  Upon  this  another  appeal  was  made,  and  the  Appeal  Court 
again  ordered  a  new  trial,  Mr.  Hunt  still  insisting  that  the  court  was 
wrong,  and  so  said  the  jury.  When  the  case  came  up  once  more, 
it  was  argued  in  May,  and  Mr.  Hunt  requested  the  court  to  take  the 
interval  to  the  winter  sitting,  to  read  his  authorities.  In  January, 
Judge  Nott,  who  was  appointed  to  write  the  decision  before  the  court 
•opened,  called  Mr.  Hunt  and  handed  him  what  was  intended  to  be,  the 
opinion  of  the  court,  now  sustaining  the  verdict,  but  strange  to  say,  the 
judges,  who  had  not  studied  the  case,  refused  to  concur.  A  new  trial 
was  therefore  ordered,  and  a  new  verdict  obtained.  This  time  the  ap 
peal  court  was  changed,  and  consisted  of  three  justices :  Judge  Nott 
presiding,  and  Colooek  and  Johnson  associates.  Judge  Johnson,  how 
ever,  being  sick,  Judge  Huger  supplied  his  place,  and  two  being  a 
majority,  Judges  Nott  and  Huger,  who  had  both  been  convinced, 
refused'a,  new  trial,  and  Mr.  Hunt  recovered  the  amount  from  the  insu 
rance  company. 

It  is  curious,  that  Mr.  Hunt  has  seldom  had  any  associate.  Most  of 
his  cases  have  been  argued  by  himself,  and  generally  from  his  original 
notes.  The  case  of  the  Medical  College  (2  Hill's  Reports,  368) 
is  one  illustrating  the  tenacity  with  which  he  adhered  in  the  appeal  court 
to  his  first  view  of  his  client's  case.  His  arguments  are  not  crowded 
with  a  parade  of  obsolete  legal  learning.  He  ascertains  what  legal  posi 
tions  the  facts  of  the  ease  give  rise  to,  and  these  he  maintains  by  a  close 
application  of  the  principles  of  the  law  sustained  by  the  decided  cases. 

His  practice  in  the  court  of  equity  kept  pace  with  that  at  law. 
Among  his  first  cases  was  a  bill  filed  by  McBurney  against  Dillon. 
Dillon  was  a  surveyor,  and  was  employed  by  one  Thompson  to  survey 
the  present  site  of  Walterborough,  and  pass  it  to  a  grant  under  the 
location  laws  of  South  Carolina.  Dillon  made  the  survey  but  took  out 
the  grant  to  himself,  and  the  bill  was  filed  to  set  aside  the  grant 
as  fraudulent  and  void,  and  raised  the  novel  question,  "  whether  the 
judicial  power  extended  to  setting  aside  a  grant  under  the  great  seal  ?" 
In  England,  it  was  conceded  that  it  would  not,  but  Mr.  Hunt  insisted 
that  no  such  deference  was  due  to  wax  and  parchment,  and  there  was  no 
majesty  so  high  as  to  sanction  fraud.  Opposed  in  this  view  by  some 
of  the  oldest  and  most  learned  solicitors,  he  successfully  maintained  his 
position.  The  grant  was  declared  void,  and  McBurney  got  his  title  to 
the  village  as  heir  of  Thompson. 

A  notice  of  a  few  of  his  cases  before  the  court  of  equity,  will  serve 
to  show  his  mode  of  reasoning.  The  case  of  the  Vestry  and  Wardens 


150  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

of  Christ  Church  vs.  Thomas  Barksdale  (Strobart's  Equity  R.)  exem 
plifies  his  way  of  stating  his  propositions.  A  majority  of  the  vestry  of 
one  of  the  oldest  established  Episcopal  Churches  in  South  Carolina, 
removed  in  the  summer  to  a  sea-shore  residence.  There,  they  erected 
a  summer  church,  and  invoked  the  patronage  of  the  old  church,  protest 
ing  they  would  not  interfere  with  its  funds.  But  by  dint  of  getting  a 
majority  in  the  vestry,  they  applied  a  long-established  charity  to  pur 
poses  unknown  to  the  donors.  Mr.  Barksdale,  a  descendant  from  the 
old  stock,  resisted,  and  Chancellor  Dunkin  ruled  in  favor  of  the  powers 
that  be — the  modern  vestry,  stating,  "that  a  complete  remedy  exists 
through  the  quiet  remedy  of  the  ballot-box."  Mr.  Hunt,  before 
the  appeal  court  (page  208),  replied,  "that  the  reference  to  the  ballot- 
box  is  unfortunate  in  a  case  where  the  law  is  appealed  to  to  protect 
the  minority,  which  is  its  most  honored  function."  This  case  he  insists 
was  a  perversion  of  the  law  of  public  charities.  There  it  stands,  how 
ever,  and  when  no  pressing  antagonistic  prejudices  shall  longer  exist, 
this  case  will  remain  a  simple,  but  characteristic  monument  of  his 
claim  to  his  professional  rank. 

In  the  celebrated  case  of  Pell  and  Ball,  Mr.  Hunt  occupied  a  distin 
guished  part.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ball  both  perished  in  the  Pulaski,  a 
steamer  blown  up  at  sea.  No  witnesses  saw  either  actually  perish. 
The  wife,  however,  was  heard  screaming  for  her  husband,  but  amid  the 
general  confusion,  no  one  could  find  him.  On  the  fact,  "  whether  the 
wife  or  husband  was  'the  survivor,'  "  an  estate  depended.  This  fact,  a 
single  judge  undertook  to  decide ;  not  by  direct  testimony,  for  there 
Was  none;  but  by  the  civil-law  style  of  arguing.  The  opinion  of 
Chancellor  Johnson  ruled,  "  that  the  husband  probably  perished  first, 
because  he  was  a  man  and  quietly  went  about  to  seek  a  rescue,  and  that 
his  screaming  wife,  being  the  last  '  heard  from,'  was  the  survivor,  and  the 
estate,  thus  vesting  in  her  during  the  few  seconds  they  were  in  '•articulo 
mortis]  went  to  the  wife's  representatives."  Mr.  Hunt  insisted  that  es 
tates  ought  not  to  pass  on  such  pure  conjectures,  and  his  argument  is  sub 
mitted  to  the  profession,  and  the  good  sense  of  the  public,  as  conclusive. 

The  next  branch  of  this  prolific  case  is  in  1  Richardson's  Chancery  R. 
361,  and  419,  in  which  the  jurisdiction  and  practice  of  the  court  of 
equity  are  directly  called  in  question.  Mr.  Hunt  in  that  court 
challenged  the  circuit  decree  of  Chancellors  Johnson  and  Harper,  that 
an  appeal  from  the  circuit  decree  did  not  per  se  act  as  a  supersedeas. 
He  waived  all  British  authorities  and  relied  on  the  statute  of  the  state 
establishing  the  appeal  court.  Judges  Johnson  and  Harper  placed 
their  decree  on  the  cases  of  Riggs  and  Murray,  Green  and  Winter,  (8 
Johnston's  Chan,  cases,  70,  160,)  "that  an  appeal  does  not  suspend 
the  execution  of  a  decree,  and  until  reversed,  it  operates  as  a  full 
authority  to  the  officers  acting  under  it"  (p.  366).  Mr.  Hunt  chal 
lenged  this,  as  a  decision  in  the  very  teeth  of  the  law  of  South 
Carolina,  and  the  express  rule  of  the  court,  "  that  no  execution  to 
enforce  a  decree  could  issue  until  thirty  days  after  the  final  decree 
of  the  appeal  court."  Nevertheless,  it  is  true,  that  he  proved  to 
demonstration  that  neither  of  the  chancellors  had  ever  read  the  ease  on 
which  they  relied  as  authority,  for  it  was  exactly  an  authority  tho 
other  way,  but  in  no  manner  was  it  an  authority  in  South  Carolina, 


BENJAMIN  F.  HUNT,  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  151 

whose  own  laws  ruled  the  case.*  The  bold  manner  in  which  Mr.  Hunt 
charged  the  court  in  this  case,  with  clear  and  palpable  error,  may 
imply  that  he  is  no  favorite  with  the  bench.  Such,  if  true,  may  be 
accounted  for  in  the  fact  that  he  believes  the  election  of  a  man  to 
the  bench,  if  he  is  of  fairly  balanced  intellect,  may  strengthen  his  re 
solve  to  mete  out  equal  justice  to  all,  yet  he  has  always  denied  that  it 
coaveyed  any  such  exemption  from  intellectual  or  moral  infirmities 
that  admit  no  possibility  of  error.  Believing  all  men  liable  to  the 
infirmities  of  our  nature,  from  which  even  an  election  to  the  bench 
does  not  entirely  exonerate  them,  he  has  seen  too  many  instances 
in  which  personal  antipathies,  or  personal  predilections,  if  they  have  not 
corrupted,  have  misled.  That  judges  have  listened  to  tales  outside  the 
sanctuary,  affecting  the  moral  justice  of  cases  that  never  could  have 
passed  legitimately  its  threshold;  thus  the  scales  of  justice  become 
uneven,  and  her  bandage  becomes  mesmerically  luminous,  and  enables 
a  judge  to  see  who  will  gain,  and  who  will  lose  by  his  decree. 
No  honest  lawyer,  who  is  not  afraid  to  tell  the  truth,  can  deny  that  he 
has  seen  favored  lawyers  who  will  exercise  undue  influence  beyond  the 
law  and  the  facts,  or  that  judges  have  sat  in  judgment  on  the  rights 
of  men,  who  stood  a  better  chance  than  absolute  indifference  would 
have  left  them.  It  is  within  the  range,  at  least  of  possibility,  that 
a  judge  may  be  so  self-confident  in  his  own  integrity,  as  to  sit  in  judg 
ment  when  his  relations  to  the  party  would  render  a  man  who  pos 
sessed  a  more  nervous  conscience,  to  distrust  himself,  and  in  all  such 
cases,  a  lawyer  owes  it  as  a  duty  to  warn  him,  and  by  ceasing  to  push 
himself  into  such  cases  a  judge  may  at  least  "  avoid  the  appearance  of 
evil."  Let  each  lawyer  say,  if  he  has  not  often  calculated  "who 
would  hold  the  next  court,"  not  purely  to  select  the  best  talent,  but  to 
get  a  judge  whose  prepossessions  at  least  are  not  adverse. 

Mr.  Hunt  has  never  asked  any  other  favor  than  to  be  listened  to,  by 
a  court  willing  to  get  at  all  the  facts,  and  weigh  all  the  legal  authori 
ties  and  principles  adduced.  When  so  treated  he  has  never  come  in 
collision  with  any  member  of  the  bench.  It  is  true,  he  speaks  plain 
English,  and  intends  to  speak  the  truth,  and  no  one  rejoices  more  in 
repairing  an  inadvertent  error ;  but  he  can  never  be  turned  aside 
by  mere  power  or  fear  of  consequences.  But  when  a  judge  refuses, 
with  cold  indifference,  to  answer  his  positions,  or  even  rule  against 
him,  he  is  certainly  rather  impatient,  and  does  not  often  fail  to  indi 
cate  it  very  unequivocally.  The  slightest  exhibition  of  arbitrary  power 
by  a  judge  raises  his  indignation  ;  and  some  of  his  finest  bursts  of  elo 
quence  have  been  on  occasions  of  this  kind.  He  maintains  that  judges 
are  the  paid  servants  of  the  people,  not  the  owners  of  judicial  authority  ; 
that  the  bar  represent  the  people,  "  their  well-approved  good  masters," 
and  are  entitled  t/o  a  patient  and  respectful  hearing,  and  to  a  fair  and 
impartial  decision,  without  favor  or  affection;  and  that  true  judicial 
dignity  is  most  surely  obtained  by  an  upright  and  civil  performance 
of  judicial  functions.  He  insists,  therefore,  that  a  lawyer  is  as  much 
a'publie  functionary  as  a  judge,  and  in  his  place  equally  independent. 
His  argument,  at  page  382,  gives  an  almost  ludicrous  view  of  the 
gravity  of  quoting  a  wrong  case.  The  late  Mr.  Bailey,  attorney-general, 

*  See  note  at  end  of  memoir. 


152  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

supported  Mr.  Hunt  in  the  same  case,  and,  at  page  384,  confirms  the 
position  that  the  court  was  "  right  wrong."  These  two  branches  of  the 
case  of  Pell  and  Ball  place  Mr.  Hunt  where  his  friends  are  willing  to 
leave  him.* 

In  relation  to  the  equity  jurisdiction,  to  which  he  prefers  to  limit  his 
practice,  he  regards  the  system  of  South  Carolina  as  wholly  behind  the 
age.  The  necessity  of  requiring  a  defendent  to  answer  on  oath,  and 
thus  purge  what  he  may  not  possess — a  conscience — is  absurd.  His 
testimony,  if  voluntarily  asked  for,  is  required  at  peril.  But  to  ex 
tend  to  every  defendant  a  right  to  answer  all  direct  allegations,  is 
only  equaled  by  the  still  greater  absurdity  which  gives  to  such  an  in 
terested  answer  not  only  the  effect  of  ordinary  disinterested  testimony 
but  even  renders  it  conclusive,  unless  controverted  by  two  positive 
witnesses,  or  one  with  corroborating  circumstances.  This  iniquitous 
rule,  which  has  banished  more  than  half  the  practice  from  the  court,  is 
a  remnant  of  monkish  pretension.  The  defendant  is  supposed  to  be 
put  to  his  purgation  by  the  interrogatories  of  the  bill,  arid  his  father 
confessor,  the  court,  is  supposed  to  scour  him  out,  and  exhibit  the  truth 
of  what  he  knows,  believes,  or  has  heard.  As  Chancery  is  no  longer 
a  court  of  conscience,  but  a  place  to  administer  the  law,  according  to 
the  more  comprehensive  rules  of  equity,  Mr.  Hunt  considers  such  pro 
ceedings  the  merest  folly.  He  objects  also  to  the  very  unsatisfactory 
mode  of  obtaining  testimony.  Under  existing  circumstances  a  master 
or  commissioner  is  neither  a  judge  nor  a  jury,  and  has  no  right  to  give 
his  opinion  on  testimony,  although  it  is  the  practice  to  do  so.  He 
should  simply  record  facts,  otherwise  it  only  acts  as  an  excuse  for  the 
judge  to  avoid  the  responsibility  of  deciding  himself,  and  places  suitors 
in  the  power  of  a  weak,  prejudiced,  or  ignorant  master.  He  maintains 
that  it  is  still  more  against  principle  for  the  appeal  court  to  refuse  to 
review  a  decision  of  the  master,  on  facts,  when  the  circuit  judge  coin 
cides,  which  he  may  do  to  avoid  the  necessity  of  a  strict  consideration 
of  the  case.  It  is  this  very  imperfect  mode  of  ascertaining  the  truth  of 
facts  that  destroys  public  confidence  in  our  courts  of  equity.  Mr.  Hunt 
very  properly  maintains  that  if  the  defect  is  not  remedied  the  court 
will  be  superseded,  and  its  rules  and  principles  retained  to  be  applied 
to  facts  more  satisfactorily  established. 

Mr.  Hunt's  views  on  the  subject  of  special  pleading  are  equally  clear 
and  simple.  He  holds  special  pleading  to  be  a  severe  logical  system. 
But,  as  lawyers  and  judges  are  not  always  strict  logicians,  its  rules  are 
so  liable  to  be  perverted  and  turned  to  purposes  of  chicanery,  delay 
and  false  issues,  that  it  has  degenerated  into  a  wretched  system  of  pro 

*  The  case  of  the  state  of  South  Carolina  against  the  banks  of  that  state,  reported 
by  the  late  Attorney-General  Bailey,  contains  Mr.  Hunt's  argument  in  full  in  that 
case.  The  question  was,  whether  the  suspension  of  specie  payments  by  the  banks 
worked  a  forfeiture  of  their  charters.  This  argument  states  fully  Mr.  Hunt's  views 
of  the  nature  and  obligations  of  bank  charters,  and  was  well  considered  by  the 
Court  of  Errors,  who  sustained  his  position.  In  this  case  the  attorney-general  ex 
hibited  his  extensive  learning  and  great  power  of  argument.  Colonel  Hunt  was 
.associated  with  him  by  the  governor  of  the  state.  The  report  of  this,  case,  with  the 
arguments  in  full,  occupies  a  large  octavo  volume,  and  was  published  by  order  of  the 
legislature  of  South  Carolina.  The  case  was  one  of  great  importance,  and  com 
prises  all  the  law  of  banking  and  bank  corporations,  and  as  such,  is  extremely  valu- 
.ablo  to  the  mercantile  as  well  as  to  the  legal  portion  of  the  community. 


BENJAMIN  F.  HUNT,  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  153 

fessional  and  technical  peculation.*  In  the  beginning,  pleadings  were 
settled  by  the  judge  from  the  oral  statements  of  the  litigants.  But 
when  pleading  was  committed  to  the  lower  orders  of  the  law,  it  became 
a  science  of  quirks  and  quibbles,  and  even  all  the  learning  of  the  Eng 
lish  bench  has  been  unable  to  save  special  pleading  from  universal  and 
well-merited  obloquy.  Nor  would  Mr.  Hunt  destroy  the  old  plan 
without  a  remedy.  He  prefers  such  rules  of  practice  as  will  present 
the  points  at  issue  plainly  and  clearly,  and  especially  notify  both  par 
ties  what  they  are  to  litigate,  and  thus  avoid  the  trickery  of  snap-judg 
ments  and  nonsuits  on  points  not  affecting  the  true  merits  of  the  case. 
In  short,  he  esteems  the  law  too  grand  and  elevated  a  profession  for  its 
members  to  devote  so  much  of  their  time  and  study  to  low  trickery 
and  disingenuous  prevarications. 

In  his  arguments,  he  insists  that  the  great  requisites  in  a  good 
judge,  is  a  proper  appreciation  of  facts.  The  habit  of  catching  at  an 
isolated  fact  and  applying  it  to  some  old  legal  saw  is  the  very  character 
istic  of  a  self-important  and  downright  pettifogger.  A  case  is  no  more 
dependent  on  one  fact  than  the  countenance  is  on  one  feature.  There 
may  be,  and  is,  in  all  faces,  one  leading  outline,  but  the  full  expression 
and  character  depend  entirely  on  the  grouping  of  all  the  parts.  It  is  so 
much  easier  and  saves  so  much  labor  to  seize  on  one  fact  and  one  fa 
miliar  rule  than  to  compare  all  the  facts  with  all  the  rules  and  the  proper 
deductions,  that  inferior  minds  seldom  take  such  trouble.  The  instance  of 
Lord  Eldon  is  an  admonition  in  point.  He  doubted,  and  reviewed,  and 
reconsidered  all  his  cases  carefully,  but  he  said  that,  "  although  he  may 
have  delayed  cases,  he  felt  a  satisfaction  in  the  reflection,  that  he  never 
took  an  estate  from  one  who  was  justly  entitled  to  it,  or  gave  one  to  a 
person  who  had  no  good  right  to  it."  Mr.  Hunt  often  illustrates  this 
truth  by  bringing  up  cases  which,  at  the  first  blush  appearing  hopeless, 
are  listened  to  with  impatience  by  those  slightly  considering  them.  Al 
though  there  may  appear  an  air  of  boldness  and  novelty  in  most  of  Mr. 
Hunt's  legal  positions,  as  presented  in  the  books,  yet,  when  well  coaai- 
dered,  they  will  be  seldom  found  to  deviate  from  the  sound  rules  of  law. 

Among  his  most  successful  cases  was  the  celebrated  "  Jewel  case," 
argued  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States.  In  this  case  he  was 
matched  by  that  accomplished  lawyer  and  scholar,  the  late  Attorney- 
General,  Hugh  S.  Legare.  Mr.  Legare  admitted  the  case  to  be  a  fair 
trial  of  his  strength.  Sanguine  of  a  complete  triumph  over  Mr.  Hunt, 
he  stated  to  one  of  the  judges  of  that  court,  that  "  if  there  ever  was  a 


*  It  is  a  somewhat  singular  fact,  that  over  three-quarters  of  the  decisions  reported 
in  the  older  books  were  decided  and  adjudicated  on  purely  technical  grounds,  involv 
ing  merely  the  niceties  of  special  pleading,  without  in  any  way  touching  or  affecting 
the  merits  of  the  question  at  issue  between  the  parties.  In  this  way  the  blunders 
of  the  lawyer  must  be  paid  for  by  the  client,  perhaps  in  ruin  and  desolation.  There 
are  many  "instances  on  record,  where  judges  have  confessed  that  their  decisions 
have  worked  great  hardship,  and,  upon  the  facts,  perhaps,  should  have  been  decided 
the  other  way.  Every  lawyer  familiar  with  the  old  reports  will  perceive  at  once 
the  truth  of  the  above  observation,  and  the  correctness  of  Mr.  Hunt's  views  on  this 
subject.  The  doctrine  of  stare  decisis  is  at  once  wholesome  and  injurious.  An 
enlightened  judiciary  can  alone  discriminate  between  the  evil  and  the  good,  aided 
oy  the  sound  views  and  practical  experience  of  able  lawyers  and  jurists. — ED. 


154  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

case  suited  to  his  powers  it  was  this."  After  a  full  argument,  in  which 
he  had  the  reply,  Mr.  Hunt  was  successful.  The  case  was  briefly  this: 
"  Jewel  in  early  life,  being  a  Jew,  intermarried  with  a  young  refugee 
from  St.  Domingo,  and  lived  with  her  upwards  of  twenty  years,  during 
which  time  they  had  born  to  them,  seven  or  eight  children,  who  became 
grown-up  and  respectable  men.  She  lived  in  Charleston  with  him,  and 
was  always  called  and  treated  as  his  wife,  even  to  the  execution  of 
a  release  of  dower,  on  the  sale  of  some  real  estate.  But  the  actual 
ceremony  which  took  place  thirty  years  before  the  trial,  was  not  the 
subject  of  written  proof.  After  aiding  in  accumulating  his  estate,  she, 
growing  old,  Jewel  married  again  according  to  the  full  ceremonies 
of  the  Jews,  a  young  Hebrew,  by  whom  he  had  several  children.  He 
lived  with  his  last  wife  in  Louisiana,  but  on  a  voyage  returning  from 
New-York,  he  was  drowned  at  sea."  The  question  was,  "  who  were 
the  heirs  at  law  of  his  estate  ?"  In  a  word,  "  which  set  of  children  were 
legitimate'?"  both  having  acquired  great  respectability.  A  case  in 
ejectment,  for  a  trifling  piece  of  property  made  the  case.  The  verdict 
was  for  the  first  set  of  children.  An  appeal  carried  the  case  to  Wash 
ington,  and  involved  the  whole  question  of  lawful  marriages.  Mr. 
Legare  brought  all  the  rich  resources  of  his  legal  learning  to  the  case, 
and  felt  sure  of  success.  After  the  opening  for  the  appellant,  one  of 
the  ablest  lawyers  of  the  New- York  bar,  then  attending  at  court,  said 
to  Mr.  Hunt,  "You  will  lose  this  case!"  Mr.  Hunt's  reply  was: 
"  Audi  alteram  partem"  When  Mr.  Hunt  had  concluded  an  argument 
of  two  days,  the  critic  began  to  question  his  prediction,  and  the  opinion  of 
Judge  Taney  settled  his  doubts.  The  contemporaneous  opinions  of  the 
press  abroad,  to  whom  Mr.  Hunt  was  an  utter  stranger,  are  the  best  evi 
dence  of  the  effect  of  this  forensic  effort.  Of  the  interest  which  this  case 
created  at  the  time,  and  of  the  able  manner  in  which  it  was  conducted, 
argued  and  decided,  all  the  Washington  correspondents  at  the  time,  speak 
in  high  terms  of  appreciation.  A  writer  in  the  United  States  Gazette 
thus  describes  it:  "Mr.  Hunt  occupied  the  whole  of  yesterday,  with 
out  concluding,  in  an  argument  which,  for  beauty  and  terseness  of  lan 
guage,  cogency  of  argument,  force  of  reasoning,  profoundness  of 
research  and  legal  learning,  has  rarely  been  surpassed,  even  in  this 
theatre  (if  I  may  be  allowed  thus  to  express  myself),  where  the  great 
minds  of  the  nation  meet  and  grapple  in  manly  and  generous  conflict." 

Under  circumstances  highly  flattering  to  his  reputation,  Mr.  Hunt 
has  also  been  called  to  argue  cases  out  of  the  state.  He  has  extended 
his  practice  to  Georgia,  where  he  was  employed  in  a  very  interesting 
case :  that  of  the  Executors  of  Wightman  vs.  Dewes,  in  which  the  pre 
sent  Judge  Berrian,  then  at  the  bar,  was  on  the  other  side.  In  Newark, 
New-Jersey,  he  also  argued  the  case  touching  the  will  of  the  late 
Thomas  Gibbons,  assisted  by  Judge  Hornblower  and  Governor  Pen- 
nington,  of  that  state,  and  opposed  by  David  B.  Ogden  and  George 
Wood,  of  New- York,  two  of  the  ablest  lawyers  in  the  United  States. 
The  case  excited  deep  interest,  and  to  the  bar  there  must  be  referred 
the  character  of  his  argument. 

He  was  also  engaged  in  the  City  of  New- York  in  the  case  of  Stoney 
against  Dudley  and  Stuyvesant,  and  established  the  first  mortgage, 
although  unrecorded,  against  the  subsequent  one  to  the  Josephs  and 


BENJAMIN  F.  HUNT,  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  155 

others,  and  thus  secured  twenty  valuable  lots  of  ground  to  his  clients. 
The  bankrupt  case  of  Laffan  and  Redmond,  he  argued  before  Judge 
Betts  in  the  same  city,  and  again  sustained  the  reputation  of  the 
Carolina  bar.  Last  year,  before  Judge  Woodbury,  at  Boston,  he 
argued  the  case  of  B.  D.  Herriott  and  Son  vs.  Assignees  of  Smith, 
affecting  directly  the  question  of  cash  purchases  on  the  eve  of  in 
solvency,  and  succeeded  fully  to  the  extent  of  the  fund.  Generally, 
however,  he  has  confined  his  practice  to  the  courts  of  South  Carolina 
and  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States.* 

In  Washington  he  is  on  neutral  ground,  and  takes  his  appropriate 
stand  free  from  all  local  predilections  or  prejudices,  for  the  impar 
tiality  of  strangers  is  more  reliable  than  opinions  formed  by  rivals. 

But  in  citing  cases  in  which  he  has  appeared,  we  only  weary  the  at 
tention  of  our  readers.  Clear  as  the  demonstration  appears  when  com 
mitted  to  paper,  it  is  only  when  the  mathematician  himself  works  out 
his  problem  that  all  its  beauty  and  logic  are  apparent.  So  with  Mr. 
Hunt.  To  appreciate  his  full  powers,  he  must  be  seen  and  heard  on 
some  great  occasion.  No  matter  how  high  public  expectation  may  have 
been  raised,  he  has  never  been  known  to  fall  below  it.  What,  it  may 
be  asked,  has  given  him  such  power  ]  The  answer  is  plain.  A  mind 
singularly  active  and  full  of  natural  strength,  and  withal  so  well  trained 


*  The  case  of  Lambert  and  Brothers  against  the  ship  Martha  and  owners,  in  ad 
miralty,  argued  before  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  at  Washington,  dur 
ing  its  last  session,  and  decided  recently  by  that  court,  (though  not  yet  published,) 
was  the  last  distinguished  legal  triumph  in  Mr.  Hunt's  career.  The  District  and  Cir 
cuit  Courts  at  Charleston,  in  a  case  of  libel  in  admiralty  against  Abraham  Rich 
and  others,  owners  of  the  ship  Martha  of  Boston,  alleging  damages  sustained  by  the 
cargo  in  a  voyage  from  Liverpool  to  Charleston,  condemned  the  vessel  to  be  sold, 
and  the  amount  of  damages  ascertained  by  the  register,  and  all  costs  of  the  litiga 
tion,  to  be  paid  out  of  the  fund.  Col.  Hunt  contended  that  the  injury  to  the  cargo 
was  caused  by  sea  risks,  excepted  out  of  the  bill  of  lading,  and  was  a  loss  to  be 
borne  by  the  insurers,  and  not  by  the  owners  as  common  carriers.  The  court  be 
low  having  very  peremptorily  overruled  him,  the  case  was  carried  by  appeal  at  once 
to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  at  Washington,  where  it  was  argued 
in  February  last,  by  Mr.  Hunt,  and  Mr.  George  Evans,  of  Maine,  for  the  appellants, 
and  Mr.  Coxe  and  Judge  Butler,  of  South  Carolina,  for  the  appellees.  The  case  at 
circuit  had  been  carefully  prepared  by  B.  F.  Hunt  and  son,  the  proctors  on  record. 
Twenty  witnesses  from  Boston,  and  as  many  from  New-York,  comprising  the  most 
experienced  officers  of  insurance  companies,  masters  of  vessels,  and  importing  mer 
chants,  were  examined  by  them  upon  commission.  After  the  circuit  decree,  one 
point,  the  seaworthiness  of  the  vessel  at  the  time  of  leaving  Liverpool,  was  still  fur 
ther  fortified,  by  issuing  a  new  commission,  read  for  the  first  time  in  the  Supreme 
Court,  according  to  the  admiralty  practice.  The  reply  on  the  argument  fell  to  Mr. 
Hunt  as  senior  counsel.  His  success  was  as  astounding  to  the  bar  and  mercantile 
public  in  Charleston,  as  it  was  in  itself  complete.  All  the  judges,  except  the  judge 
whose  decree  was  reversed,  united  with  Mr.  Justice  Nelson,  who  read  the  decision, 
in  reversing  the  decree  of  the  court  below,  and  on  the  precise  grounds  taken  on  the 
appeal. 

It  is  the  intention,  we  understand,  of  Mr.  Hunt  to  devote  himself  hereafter  to 
practice  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  at  Washington,  and  have  a 
resident  associate  there  to  prepare  business,  as  that  city  is  more  accessible  than 
many  districts  of  his  own  state.  His  efforts  in  that  court,  have  hitherto  been 
almost  uniformly  successful,  and  conclusively  attest  that  it  is  the  tribunal  where 
long  experience  and  professional  industry  will  ever  find  the  most  adequate  remu 
neration. — ED. 


156  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

by  constant  and  judicious  exercise  as  to  improve  by  art  all  that  nature 
ever  gave  it.  Quick  to  perceive,  ingenious  to  plan,  bold  to  execute, 
always  hopeful,  willing,  and  able  to  encounter  either  mental  or  bodily 
labor  to  an  almost  incredible  extent ;  not  exultant  in  victory  or  cast 
down  by  defeat — these  are  the  elements  that  would  make  any  man 
great,  and  are  characteristic  of  the  subject  of  this  memoir. 

The  same  traits  which  have  marked  Colonel  Hunt's  professional 
career  belong  to  him  as  a  legislator.  On  entering  the  legislature  of 
South  Carolina,  after  an  interval  of  some  years,  he  was  placed  at  the 
head  of  the  committee  on  Federal  relations.  To  this  committee  all 
matters  concerning  the  laws  and  operations  of  the  general  government 
are  entrusted,  and  his  reports  upon  the  leading  questions  of  the  day — 
the  tariff,  the  tenure  of  the  presidential  office,  and  the  distribution  of 
the  sales  of  the  public  lands,  are  elaborate  and  well  written,  and  have 
been  received  as  texts-books  of  states-rights'  democracy. 

On  the  subject  of  the  tariff,  he  maintained  the  doctrine  that  the 
general  welfare  clause  gave  no  sanction  to  protection ;  that  it  was  a 
fraud  upon  the  donors;  and  a  breach  of  trust  to  distribute  the  sales  of 
the  public  lands  among  the  states,  expressly  given  for  general  and 
national  uses.  He  maintained  that  to  render  an  incumbent  ineligible 
for  a  second  term  of  the  presidency,  was  in  fact  to  fetter  the  people, 
who  have  a  right  to  elect  whom  they  please,  and  that  a  faithful  dis 
charge  of  duty  to  their  satisfaction  ought  not  to  be  a  disqualification, 
since  in  time  of  war  it  might  be  vitally  important  to  avoid  any 
executive  change. 

He  maintains  the  wisdom  of  placing  a  qualified  veto,  as  designated 
by  the  constitution,  in  the  president,  to  protect  the  public  from  ill-con 
sidered  P,nd  hasty  legislation ;  that  the  president  being  the  chosen  repre 
sentative  of  the  people  is  the  proper  guardian  of  their  interests ;  that  if 
two  third  of  Congress  will  not  sustain  a  measure,  by  him  considered 
of  doubtful  constitutionality,  it  is  safer  to  give  it  up. 

In  1842  Colonel  Hunt  retired  from  the  committee  on  Federal  rela 
tions,  and  was  made  chairman  of  the  Judiciary  committee,  by  far  the 
most  important  and  responsible  office  in  the  state.  With  the  excep 
tion  of  a  single  term,  he  has  presided  over  this  committee  ever  since. 

Of  Mr.  Hunt's  usefulness  as  a  legislator,  not  a  session  passes  without 
evoking  from  every  quarter  the  highest  commendation  of  his  labors. 
We  never  knew  a  man  who  represented  his  constituency  more  faithfully, 
and  we  very  much  doubt  if  there  ever  was  a  legislator  who  attended  to 
his  duties  more  industriously,  and  with  greater  usefulness.  The  follow 
ing,  from  the  Winy  aw  Observer  of  1842,  published  in  Georgetown, 
South  Carolina,  is  a  tribute  of  praise,  in  the  justness  of  which  every  mem 
ber  of  the  South  Carolina  legislature  will  unite : 

"  Colonel  Hunt  is  one  of  the  most  useful,  able,  and  efficient  legislators 
we  have  ever  known — a  real  working  man,  as  his  many  able,  instruc 
tive,  and,  we  believe,  always  successful  reports  at  the  two  last  sessions 
most  amply  evince; — indefatigably  industrious  and  persevering,  re 
markably  clear-headed,  sound-principled,  and  well-informed ;  never 
speaking  or  acting  but  to  enlighten  the  subject,  and  excite  the  interest 
and  respect  even  of  those  who  differ  from  him,  and  never  wasting  a 
moment  either  of  his  own  time  or  that  of  the  house.  He  is  truly  a 


BENJAMIN  F.  HUNT,  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  157 

most  valuable  acquisition  to  the  legislature — a  man  to  whom  the  whole 
democratic  people  of  the  state  may  well  feel  deeply  grateful  for  his  most 
able  and  efficient  labors  in  their  cause,  both  in  and  out  of  it,  and  whose 
public  services  they  might  well  deeply  regret  the  loss  of — a  loss  we 
trust  they  will  not  soon  have  to  experience." 

The  constitution  of  South  Carolina  contains  many  anti-democratic 
features,  against  which  Mr.  Hunt  has  been  battling  for  years.  One  of 
the  most  objectionable  is  the  life  tenure  of  judges.  He  holds  that  age 
ought  not  to  prove  a  disqualification.  One  man  is  older  at  fifty  than 
another  at  sixty  ;  but  a  life  tenure  is  a  violation  of  all  the  analogies  of 
a  republican  government.  We  choose  a  governor  for  two  years,  a  re 
presentative  for  two  years,  and  a  senator  for  four  years.  These  last 
make  the  laws,  but  a  judge  holds  for  life.  This  is  wholly  against  prin 
ciple.  Each  generation  has  the  right  to  choose  its  own  rulers,  legisla 
tive  or  judicial ;  but  a  judge,  elected  twenty  years  ago,  may  still  hold 
office  when  the  generation  that  elected  him  is  gone.  The  people  alone 
continue  sovereign.  A  man  is  chosen  a  judge  before  he  is  tried.  He 
may  disappoint  all  expectations,  and  yet  he  is  fastened  on  the  state  for 
life,  without  the  people  having  any  redress.  He  ought,  at  least,  to  pass 
a  probation.  The  people  seldom  do  any  lasting  wrong.  All  their  in 
terests  prompt  them  to  select  pure  and  able  men.  If  judges  were  re 
sponsible,  at  intervals,  to  the  people,  they  would  be  careful  to  deserve 
re-election.  Independence  in  the  judiciary  is  desirable,  but  the  advan 
tage  of  being  independent  of  the  sovereign  power  itself  is  not  so  clear. 
In  time,  people  will  wonder  why  they  adhered  so  long  to  a  thing  thus 
against  principle,  as  to  except  judges,  out  of  all  other  magistrates.  A 
life  tenure  is  purely  a  monarchical  feature  in  our  jurisprudence.  Sena 
tors,  representatives,  and  governors,  are  trusted  no  longer  than  four 
years  without  being  again  approved  by  the  people,  and  yet  we  perpe 
tuate  a  judge,  perhaps  elected  to  get  him  out  of  the  way  of  an  impatient 
aspirant  to  his  official  emoluments  of  practice.  There  he  must  remain 
through  a  long  life,  perhaps  an  incumbrance  to  the  administration  of 
justice,  and  an  example  of  the  lingering  love  of  our  people  to  the  aristo 
cratic  and  monarchical  usages  of  our  English  progenitors.  Col.  Hunt 
holds  the  life  tenure  of  judges  a  practical  reproach  upon  the  provisions 
relative  to  all  the  other  chief  agents  of  the  people  who  are  periodically 
called  on  to  give  an  account  of  their  stewardship.  He  regards  it  as 
demonstrating  how  slowly  republican  principles  supplant  monarchical 
practices  in  the  conservative  State  of  South  Carolina,  and  how  hesitating 
some  men  still  are  of  the  ultimate  good  sense  and  true  conservatism  of 
a  free  and  educated  people. 

Mr.  Hunt  has  been  frequently  called  upon  to  act  the  orator  on  public 
occasions  and  at  popular  gatherings.  He  has  never  failed  to  satisfy. 
Nor  has  the  satisfaction  been  confined  to  his  spoken  addresses  only ;  he 
is  equally  successful  in  print.  One  of  his  most  elaborate  orations  was 
that  before  the  Washington  Society  of  Charleston,  delivered  on  the  4th 
day  of  July,  1839.  In  expansiveness  of  thought,  philosophy  of  reflec 
tion,  force  and  vividness  of  expression,  in  the  clear  development  of  the 
causes  which  have  produced  the  American  Eevolution,  and  in  the  wise 
exposition  of  the  best  means  of  perpetuating  its  principles,  this  will  well 
compare  with  any  similar  production  in  our  country. 


158  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

In  1840,  Colonel  Hunt  was  invited  to  address  a  mass  meeting  of  the 
democracy  in  the  Park  in  the  city  of  New-York.  His  speech  on  that 
occasion  elicited  the  highest  commendation  from  friends  and  foes.  It 
was  delivered  at  the  same  moment  Mr.  Webster  addressed  the  mer 
chants  of  the  same  city  at  the  corner  of  Wall  and  William  streets.  In 
deed  a  portion  of  Mr.  Webster's  speech  was  struck  off  and  handed  to 
Mr.  Hunt  while  speaking  on  that  occasion.  A  few  days  after  this  he  ad 
dressed  the  democratic  young  men  of  Boston  at  Faneuil  Hall,  and  made 
what  his  friends  considered  one  of  his  best  efforts.  Even  the  whig  papers 
admitted  that  it  put  their  party  to  their  best  to  reply  to  it;  and  the  re 
putation  of  the  speech  was  followed  by  another  invitation  to  appear  on 
a  similar  occasion  before  the  democrats  of  Salem.  At  New-York,  from 
fifteen  to  twenty  thousand  persons  attended  to  hear  him,  and  all  who 
were  present  speak  of  the  triumphant  manner  in  which  he  acquitted 
himself.  Of  the  Boston  speech,  the  editor  of  the  Charleston  Mercury 
thus  writes : 

"  At  the  great  meeting  of  our  Massachusetts  friends  the  other  day, 
Mr.  Woodbury, '  the  Rock  of  New-England  Democracy,'  made  a  speech 
wKich  was  powerful  in  its  effect,  and  which,  to  judge  fr6m  a  report  that 
professes  to  be  no  more  than  a  mere  sketch,  must  have  been  unusually 
interesting,  insisting  as  it  does  upon  that  equality  which  involves  the 
simple  justice,  which  is  all  the  South  demands,  and  which  usurpation 
would  hazard  the  Union  in  withholding,  by  making  the  confederacy  a 
burden  and  curse  instead  of  an  advantage  and  a  convenience  to  the 
several  states  which  ordained  it.  We  wish  it  had  been  fully  reported. 

"  He  was  followed  by  Col.  Hunt,  of  this  city,  in  a  speech  chiefly  de 
voted  to  the  Texas  question,  of  which  also  we  regret  to  have  received 
no  more  than  a  meagre  sketch,  and  which,  judging  ex  pedeHerculem  was 
as  successful  and  effective  as  Mr.  Woodbury 's.  It  was  received  with  the 
greatest  enthusiasm,  and  the  Boston  Times  eulogizes  the  merits  of  CoL 
Hunt  as  a  speaker  very  highly ;  but  not  a  whit  overmuch,  as  all  who 
have  heard  him  thoroughly  warmed  on  a  great  political  question  can 
avouch,  and  which  those  who  never  having  heard  him  will  readily  con 
jecture,  if  they  will  read  his  speech  delivered  in  the  Park  at  New-York, 
in  which  he  met  Daniel  Webster  upon  every  point  of  an  elaborate 
harangue,  and  signally  defeated  him  on  all.  The  name  of  the  old  Hall 
Faneuil  is  part  of  his  own  name,  and  the  kindred  associations  it  excited, 
could  not  have  failed  to  inspirit  him  on  the  late  occasion.  He  ought  to 
have  his  speech  reported  fully.  He  is  always  strong,  even  when  wrong, 
and  when  right  he  makes  a  deep  and  lasting  impression  from  the  di 
rectness  and  true  vigor  of  his  language." 

The  speech  was  afterwards  published  and  hailed  by  democrats  all 
over  the  Union  as  a  most  noble  and  unanswerable  vindication  of  their 
principles. 

In  1844,  while  on  a  professional  tour  to  Savannah,  he  was  again 
called  on  to  address  the  democracy  of  that  place.  The  speech,  which 
was  published,  did  much  for  the  cause  in  Georgia,  and  while  the  whig 
papers  denounced  the  conclusiveness  of  its  arguments,  all  of  them  ad 
mitted  its  ingenuity  and  force.  The  Savannah  Georgian,  a  democratic 
paper,  says  that 

"  The  speech  of  Col.  Hunt  did  not  disappoint  his  audience,  and  this 


BENJAMIN  F.  HUNT,  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  15J) 

speaks  volumes  in  its  praise.  It  was  one  of  the  ablest  efforts  of  the 
human  mind  which  we  have  ever  had  the  pleasure  of  hearing.  He  ar 
gued  the  propriety  of  the  immediate  annexation  of  Texas  with  a  force 
of  logic  which  could  not  have  failed  to  convince  any  doubter  who  might 
have  heard  him.  His  remarks  upon  the  character  of  the  democratic 
candidates,  and  upon  the  nature  of  the  present  political  contest,  were 
just — all  of  them  just  and  true  to  a  word.  The  contrast  which  he  drew 
between  the  two  political  parties  of  the  country,  in  relation  to  their 
devotion  to  men  and  principles,  was  clear  and  striking.  The  whigs  of 
the  country,  like  the  blind  disciples  of  the  Grecian  philosophers,  look 
up  for  direction  to  the  ipse  dixit  of  Mr.  Clay ;  and  when  asked  why 
they  support  this  measure,  or  oppose  that,  their  only  answer  is,  '  The 
master  says  so.'  It  were  useless  for  us  to  attempt  to  portray  the  power 
of  eloquence  and  of  argument  displayed  by  our  distinguished  guest. 
When  he  had  concluded,  no  one  could  have  been  surprised  at  the  fact, 
that  his  voice  had  gone  with  more  power  to  the  hearts  of  the  people  in 
Faneuil  Hall,  than  the  voice  of  the  great  man  of  Massachusetts  him 
self,  and  that  Daniel  Webster  found  a  hard  customer  to  deal  with  in 
this  able  Carolinian.  What  wonder  is  it  that  the  people  of  Carolina  are 
so  proud  of  their  great  men  V 

Within  the  present  year,  Mr.  Hunt  has  been  bereaved  in  the  loss  of 
his  wife,  a  Carolina  lady,  whom  he  married  early  in  life.  She  has  left 
him  three  sons  and  a  daughter.  One  of  the  former  is  his  associate  in 
business. 

Col.  Hunt's  extensive  practice  and  constant  employment  have  chiefly 
absorbed  his  time,  and  in  a  measure  restricted  his  opportunities  for  so 
cial  intercourse.  When,  however,  he  does  indulge  in  society,  few  men 
are  more  pleasant  or  entertaining.  Full  of  information,  racy  in  anec 
dote,  and  large  in  the  experiences  of  the  world,  it  is  seldom  that  any 
one  converses  with  him  without  learning-something  new  and  instructive. 
He  is  now  in  his  sixty-first  year.  His  faculties  are  in  unimpaired 
vigor,  and  time  has  only  given  additional  impressiveness  to  a  person, 
always  commanding,  dignified  and  manly.  Of  his  early  struggles,  of 
the  intrepidity  with  which  he  encountered  and  overcame  them,  of  his 
numerous  triumphs  as  a  lawyer,  of  his  usefulness  as  a  legislator,  of  his 
splendid  achievements  as  an  orator,  and  of  the  manliness  and  indepen 
dence  of  his  character,  we  could  add  much  to  what  we  have  already 
written.  But  we  must  forbear.  When  his  full  course  shall  have  been 
run,  those  better  qualified  than  ourselves  shall  gather  the  many  memo 
rials  of  his  life,  and  do  them  fitting  honor  before  his  countrymen. 


NOTE,  BY  A  MEMBER  OF  THE  NEW-YORK  BAR. 

The  novelty  and  the  gravity  of  the  charge  made  by  Colonel  Hunt  and  the  late 
attorney-general,  Mr.  Bailey,  who  was  alike  distinguished  for  learning  and  accuracy, 
has  induced  us  to  look  into  this  matter.  If  the  allegations  are  true,  they  serve  to 
illustrate  still  further  the  tenacity  of  Colonel  Hunt  in  practising  at  all  before  a  tri 
bunal  which  can  be  so  blinded  by  its  antipathies,  but  renders  the  admitted  fact  of 
his  unusual  success  still  more  remarkable,  and  imposes  upon  the  friends  of  both 
Judges  Johnson  and  Harper — and,  indeed,  all  the  court  of  error  who  signed  the 
decree — no  slight  obligation  to  vindicate  their  judicial  character  by  some  conclusive 
refutation  of  the  fact,  that  Colonel  Hunt,  or  rather  his  client,  Nonus  Ball,  wa- 


160  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

denied  the  benefit  of  an  appeal  secured  by  the  constitution  of  South  Carolina,  and 
that  his  lands  and  slaves  were  sold  pending  an  appeal  upon  the  very  question  whe 
ther  he  was  entitled  to  have  them  delivered  to  him  under  partition  !  If  true,  South 
Carolina  must  re-organize  her  appeal  system,  or  lose  that  precious  reputation  which 
she  has  hitherto  sustained.  Our  knowledge  of  her  courts  of  equity  is  chiefly  derived 
from  Chancellor  De  Saussure's  first  volume  of  reports.  We  there  find  both  the  acts 
of  her  legislature  and  her  rules  of  court.  By  these  it  appears  that,  in  1808,  the  state  was 
subdivided  into  equity  circuits,  and  a  court  of  appeals  established.  1  Dess.  Reports, 
p.  91-93,  the  law  expressly  provides  "how  appeals  are  to  be  made."  The  25th 
rule,  made  two  years  after,  is  thus  :  "  25.  No  execution  or  attachment  for  the  en 
forcement  of  a  decree  shall  issue  until  thirty  days  after  the  rising  of  the  court  during 
which  such  decree  was  pronounced  ;  and  if  ther-e  be  an  appeal,  then  such  execution 
shall  not  issue  until  thirty  days  after  the  adjournment  of  the  court  of  appeals  at  which 
the  cause  shall  be  determined,"  8fC. 

If  language  has  any  meaning,  the  course  of  both  Chancellors  Harper  and  Johnson 
will  render  them  liable  in  an  action  to  this  young  man  ;  and  no  title  to  his  lands  can 
be  good  under  a  sale  so  palpably  illegal ;  at  least  no  other  civilized  people  would  sub 
mit  to  so  clear  a  wrong.  We  confess  that  the  enormity  of  this  case  of  Pell  and 
Ball  leaves  us  in  doubt  how  we  can  trust  our  own  conclusions  ;  and  yet,  there  is 
the  report,  and  here  is  the  rule.  When  we  advert  to  the  cases  quoted  from  Chan 
cellor  Kent,  in  our  own  reports,  our  wonder  is  increased  ;  for  it  is  not  to  be  ques 
tioned  that  no  authority  is  found  here  that  an  appeal  from  the  circuit  is  not  a  super- 
sedeas,  but  the  very  reverse  ;  and  we  fear  that,  instead  of  reading  for  themselves, 
these  learned  chancellors  leaned  too  much  upon  counsel,  who,  in  their  own  cases, 
are  not  safe  judicial  monitors.  The  decision  would  render  appeals  all  but  a  delu 
sion  ;  and  yet  so  scrupulous  was  South  Carolina  on  this  point,  that  in  her  very  con 
stitution  she  secured  to  her  citizens  the  benefit  of  an  appeal. 

The  case  of  Green  vs.  Winter  (1st  Johnson's  Chancery  Rep.,  p.  79)  was  heard  in 
June,  1814  ;  and  the  very  point  of  the  case,  and  all  its  authority,  depends  upon  a 
statement  of  how  the  case  came  up.  It  was  a  petition,  stating  the  previous  pro 
ceedings,  from  the  filing  of  the  bill  to  the  decree.  An  appeal  had  been  taken,  and 
the  petition  prayed  "  that  the  cause  might  proceed,  notwithstanding  the  appeal." 
Chancellor  Kent  decided  (p.  82)  "that  the  application  for  leave  to  proceed,  &c.,  is 
denied  with  costs."  How  learned  judges  can  rely  on  such  a  decision  as  authority 
for  the  position  that  an  appeal  is  no  supersedeas,  passes  all  conjecture. 

The  whole  matter  is,  that  in  the  English  Chancery,  until  1798,  long  after  the 
Revolution,  an  appeal  to  the-House  of  Lords  did  work  a  supersedeas.  Since  then, 
the  question,  whether  it  shall  or  not,  depends  on  rules  and  orders  adapted  to  each 
particular  case.  But  Chancellor  Kent  is  explicit,  and  the  subsequent  cases  where, 
on  motion  of  the  appellee,  special  order  was  made  to  preserve  the  fund,  pending 
the  appeal,  so  far  from  weakening  the  rule  sustains  it,  and  so  an  ordinary  acquaint 
ance  with  the  reports  would  prove.  From  the  case  of  Green  and  Winter  we  learn 
that  Lord  Chancellor  Apsley,  in  Pomfret  vs.  Smith,  Wyatt's  Prac.  Reg.,  35,  36, 
decided  "  that  the  practice,  on  appeal  to  the  House  of  Lords,  was,  that  the  chancel 
lor's  jurisdiction  was  susperseded,  only  as  to  the  matter  appealed  from."  In  this 
case  the  matter  appealed  from  was  the  authority  of  a  circuit  chancellor  to  sell  the 
real  estate  and  slaves  of  young  Ball.  Chancellor  Kent  says,  "  I  believe  the  prac 
tice  in  this  court  has  always  been  according  to  the  more  ancient  opinion  in  the 
English  chancery,  and  the  appeal  has  been  considered  as  a  stay  of  proceedings. 
This  appears  also  to  have  been  the  understanding  of  this  court  as  declared  in  the 
35th,  36th,  and  37th  rules  of  June  1806.  My  conclusion  is,  that  an  appeal  does,  in 
the  first  instance,  stay  proceedings  on  the  point  appealed  from,  and  that,  if  any 
party  wishes  to  proceed,  notwithstanding  the  appeal,  he  must  make  application  to 
the  chancellor  for  leave  to  proceed,"  &c.  The  difference  between  the  English  practice 
and  ours  is,  that  by  the  former  the  plaintiff  must  apply  for  an  order  to  stay  proceed 
ings,  but  here  the  defendant  in  appeal  must  apply  for  leave  to  proceed.  M. 


EZEKIEL  PICKENS    OF  ALABAMA.  161 

/ 

HON.    EZEKIEL   PICKENS. 

OF   ALABAMA. 

No  profession  develops,  with  so  much  of  accuracy  and  masculine 
vigor,  the  native  intellectual  predominancies  as  that  of  the  law.     Whilst 
it  opens  a  vast  field  for  profound  philosophic  inquiry,  it,  at  the  same 
time,  imperiously  demands  an  acute  and  close  observation  of  the  daily 
workings  of  practical  life.     In  its  history  and  principles,  reaching  back 
into  the  misty  regions  of  ages  long  since  become  historical,  yet,  in  the 
application  of  those  principles  to  daily  use,  the  possessor  must  keep 
his  eye  constantly  fixed  upon  the  gigantic  progress  of  modern  improve 
ment  and  the  far  more  extended  and  complicated  machinery  of  modern 
society.     A  moment's  reflection  will  serve  to  show  that,  aside  from  the 
patient  and  laborious  toil  necessary  to  accomplish  successfully  a  task 
of  such  vast  proportions,  he  who  would  rise  to  successful  eminence 
must  possess  a  clear,  discriminating  and  practical  judgment.     He  must 
be  capable  of  extracting  great  principles  of  jurisprudence  from  amid 
the  rubbish  of  ages,  and  stiff,  stern  and  inflexible  though  they  be,  they 
must  be  in  his  hands  sufficiently  malleable  to  be  applicable  to  the  ra 
pidly  changing  necessities  of  a  progressive  and  gradually  developing 
state  of  society.     The  mere  declaimer,  or  sentimental  dreamer,  will  find 
here  no  field  suited  to  his  exertions.     The  lofty  aims  of  a  practical 
wisdom,  of  a  far-reaching  and  sagacious  philosophy,  can  alone  be  tole 
rated  in  this  arena.     And  it  is  not,  perhaps,  saying  too  much  to  insist 
that  these  capabilities  are  more  eminently  demanded  in  the  "  frontier 
settlements"  of  our  western  and  southwestern  than  in  the  older  states 
of  our  vast  Republic.     In  the  latter,  the  youthful  aspirant  for  forensic 
honors  finds  moulded,  and  fashioned,  and  ready  for  use,  all  the  forms 
and  appliances  necessary  to  professional  success  and  development.    The 
current  of  society  flows  smoothly  and  majestically  on  without  change 
or  detriment,  except  such  changes -as  gradually  develop  a  new  principle, 
or  a  new  application  of  an  old  one.     Not  so,  however,  in  the  former ; 
everything  is  in  its  primitive  state.     The  materials  for  the  formation  of 
society,  which  are  scattered  around  broadcast  and  in  profusion,  often 
the  most  heterogeneous  and  crude,  have  to  be  moulded  and  fashioned 
into  form  and  symmetry  by  the  application  of  great  principles.     These 
rude  materials  and  these  great  principles  have  to  be  fused  together  in 
the  crucible,  and  the  process  of  melting  down  and  refining  the  former  is 
undergone  by  firm  and  unyielding  contact  with  the  latter.     The  very- 
highest  development  of  intellectual  vigor,  the  most  profound  and  com 
prehensive  knowledge  of  principle,  is  often  found  inadequate  to  this  ar 
duous  task,  for  with  these  must  be  united  a  clear  and  quick  sagacity,  an 
adaptation  to  the  habits  and  modes  of  thought  by  those  surrounding 
the  legislator  or  judicial  functionary,  or  all  his  well-meant  labors  will, 
like  the  fabled  fruit  of  the  plain,  "  turn  to  ashes  on  the  lip." 

Amongst  those  who  have  acted  conspicuously  in  thus  moulding  and 
fashioning  society  in  our  state,  stands  eminently  forward  the  gentleman 
whose  name  heads  this  paper. 

11 


162  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

JUDGE  PICKENS,  with  all  his  apparent  eccentricity,  is  eminently  & 
practical  man.  All  his  philosophy  has  in  view  some  practical  end,  and 
that  which  is  not  good  and  useful  meets  with  but  little  favor  from  him, 
At  an  early  period  of  our  history,  being  then  quite  a  youth,  he  pitched 
his  tent  amongst  us,  and  from  that  time  up  to  the  present  moment,  has 
been  constantly  and  honorably  identified  with  the  interest  and  progress 
of  Alabama.  He  has  been  for  many  years  on  our  circuit  court  bench, 
and  the  acceptable  manner  in  which  he  has  discharged  the  duties  of  that 
arduous  and  responsible  station  is  best  evidenced  by  the  fact,  that  when 
the  election  of  judges  was  given  to  the  people,  (at  the  session  of  1849- 
50  of  the  legislature,)  he  came  before  the  constituency  of  a  district 
largely  whig,  (himself  being  an  unflinching  democrat,)  and  though 
opposed  by  gentlemen  of  high  intellectual  and  professional  attainments, 
of  enlarged  experience  and  high  moral  qualities,  he  received  more  votes 
than  both  the  candidates  who  opposed  him.  The  people  were  deter 
mined  to  show  their  appreciation  of  his  long-tried  services,  and  his  tri 
umphant  election  was  justly  regarded  by  his  friends  as  a  most  signal 
and  satisfactory  indorsement  of  his  great  moral  worth  and  unflinching 
judicial  integrity. 

In  his  manners,  habits  and  modes  of  thought,  Judge  Pickins  is  per 
fectly  unique.  There  is  about  him  an  appearance  of  drollery,  which 
often  makes  his  auditors  shake  their  sides  with  laughter,  and  what  gives 
it  greater  zest  is  the  fact,  that  it  is  clear,  that  is  not  assumed  for  effect, 
but  is  entirely  natural.  Many  amusing  anecdotes  are  told  of  him,  and 
many  of  his  expressions  or  sayings  have  become  almost  household 
words  with  our  people,  even  with  the  children.  Whatever  he  believes, 
he  "  believes  with  all  his  might,"  and,  being  satisfied  that  he  has  found 
a  principle  correct,  he  places  thereon  the  most  implicit  and  unyielding 
faith.  An  anecdote  is  told  of  him,  as  true,  which  will  illustrate  this 
characteristic.  He  is  a  strong  believer  in  phrenology,  and  never  is  a 
supposed  violation  of  the  law  brought  before  him,  but  that  he  brings 
to  bear  upon  the  offender's  "bumps,"  his -keen,  dark  and  searching 
eyes.  In  one  of  the  "  Wire-grass"  counties,  where  he  was  presiding  in 
a  small,  temporary  court-house,  where  the  people,  bar  and  officers  were 
indiscriminately  mixed  up,  (on  "  criminal  day"  especially,)  an  offender, 
who  had  been  convicted  by  the  jury  of  larceny,  was  brought  up  by 
the  sheriff's  officer  to  receive  his  sentence.  He  was  told  by  the  judge 
to  stand  up,  upon  which  the  prisoner,  and  the  officer  having  him  in  cus 
tody,  rose  to  their  feet,  and  standing  but  a  short  distance  apart,  the 
judge  fixed  his  eyes  upon  the  supposed  criminal,  and  began  to  favor 
him  with  a  lecture.  The  most  withering  denunciations  of  crime  and 
criminals  in  general,  and  this  offence  and  this  offender  in  particular, 
were  poured  from  the  lips  of  the  indignant  judge.  The  utter  meanness 
of  the  crime,  the  disgrace  and  reproach  he  had  deliberately  brought 
upon  himself,  his  family  and  county,  formed  the  theme  for  a  most 
withering  lecture.  All  this  time,  the  members  of  the  bar  were  con 
vulsed  with  suppressed  laughter,  and  the  poor  constable  was  writhing 
in  agony.  Humanity,  at  last,  prompted  some  knight  of  the  green  bag 
to  inform  his  honor  that  the  person  whom  he  was  addressing  was  not 
the  criminal,  but  the  officer  having  him  in  charge,  that  the  other  "  form 


EZEKIEL  PICKENS,  OF  ALABAMA.  163 

erect"  was  the  offender,  against  whom  all  his  bitter  invective  should  be 
hurled.  He  paused  fora  moment,  and  all  expected  that  he  would  make 
to  the  offended  and  suffering  officer  an  ample  apology — but  not  so. 
Scrutinizing  him  for  a  moment,  as  if  doubting  whether  it  were  possible 
that  he  could  be  mistaken,  he  looked  him  full  in  the  face,  and,  pointing 
his  forefinger  toward  him,  said,  "  Ah,  well — you  had  better  take  care — 
mind  I  tell  you — you've  got  a  mighty  bad  head  !" 

In  the  administration  of  the  criminal  law,  he  has  the  reputation,  with 
many,  of  being  harsh  and  severe.  It  is  not  to  be  disguised  that  he  has 
an  innate  horror  for  crime,  and,  unlike  many  others  in  this  respect,  that 
horror  increases  with  the  magnitude  of  the  offence.  He  is  not  carried 
away  by  what  Mr.  De  Quincy  would  call,  I  suppose,  "  the  poetry  of 
crime,"  and  led  thereby  to  pour  all  the  vials  of  his  wrath  upon  the  pet 
ty  offender.  Very  far  from  it.  Whilst  these  meet  with  little  or  no 
favor  or  commiseration,  it  is  the  great  criminal  that  calls  him  fully 
out. 

But,  I  am  by  no  means  willing  to  admit,  that  the  charge  of  harshness 
is  well  sustained.  I  have  never  known  him  to  deny  to  any  the  full  mea 
sure  and  benefit  of  all  the  defences  that  the  law  gave  them,  whilst,  at  the 
same  time,  in  charging  the  jury,  he  depicts,  with  strong,  original,  and 
often  powerful  effect,  the  enormity  of  crime.  No  judge  upon  the  bench  of 
our  state  is  listened  to,  by  juries,  with  more  earnest  attention  ;  and  their 
great  confidence  in  him,  as  a  man  and  as  an  officer,  often,  doubtless, 
gives  to  his  remarks  more  weight  than  was  intended  by  him.  Upon 
the  whole,  his  administration  of  the  criminal  law  has  been  highly  suc 
cessful  and  beneficial  to  the  community.  In  his  charges  to  the  juries, 
in  both  civil  and  criminal  cases,  he  is  generally  clear  and  explicit.  He 
uses  the  most  simple  language,  and,  comprehending  himself,  very  readi 
ly,  legal  principles,  he  labors  so  to  simplify  them  as  to  make  them  clear 
to  the  unprofessional  mind.  In  this  he  is  eminently  successful.  His 
charges,  too,  are  often  presented  with  a  manner  and  language  perfectly 
original.  A  nod,  a  gesture,  or  a  frown,  will  often  convey  more  mean 
ing  than  words.  It  is  not  to  be  denied,  but  that  his  mind  is  acute  and 
clear,  and,  whilst  he  adheres  with  tenacity  to  well-considered  opinions, 
no  man  on  the  bench  seems  more  free  from  "pride  of  opinion  ;"  he 
never  regards  it  as  disreputable,  or,  in  the  slightest  degree,  compromis 
ing  his  dignity,  to  change,  if  convinced  that  he  is  wrong  ;  and  no  man 
will  do  so  with  more  ingenuousness  or  promptitude.  From  this  habit 
of  mind  results  the  fact,  that  there  is  not  a  judge  upon  the  Circuit  Court 
bench  who  will,  to  use  a  lawyer's  phraseology,  and  which  lawyers 
know  means  so  much,  "  give  a  fairer  bill  of  exceptions." 

In  the  discharge  of  his  official  duties  Judge  Pickens  is  a  most  dili 
gent  and  laborious  officer.  He  is  never  known  to  omit  holding  a  court 
at  the  appointed  time,  if  physically  possible  ;  and  considering  his 
apparent  feebleness  of  body  ho  performs  a  prodigious  amount  of  labor. 
In  the  conduct  of  business  in  court  he  is  always  prompt  and  energetic, 
and  ordinarily  a  patient  listener  to  whatever  may  be  urged  by  counsel. 
To  sum  up,  he  is  to  the  bar  courteous,  affable,  and  easy  of  access.  la 
his  courts,  without  an  apparent  effort  on  his  part,  the  most  perfect 
order  is  preserved,  and  prompt  obedience  seems  to  be  rendered  by  the 


164  SKETCHES  OP  EMINENT  AMERICANS, 

populace,  more  through  love  than  fear,  and  yet  the  refractory  have 
ample  cause  to  fear  him  if  he  should  find  it  necessary  to  exert  his 
judicial  power  over  them. 

I  have  already  stated  that  h  is  administration  of  the  criminal  law  has 
been  highly  beneficial  to  the  community,  and  I  can  state,  with  equal 
truth,  that  such  has  been  the  case  with  his  general  administration.  A 
high  regard  for  "  law  and  order,"  and  a  clear  appreciation  of  the  rights 
and  obligations  of  each  member  of  society,  marks  and  defines  his 
general  conduct  as  a  man  and  as  an  officer.  In  the  conduct  of  causes, 
if  he  has  prejudices,  either  for  or  against  the  parties  litigant,  the  most 
accurate  observer  would  not  be  likely  to  detect  them.  It  has  been 
often  said  that  he  is  less  lenient  to  his  friends  than  his  enemies. 
However  this  may  be,  it  is  very  certain  that  he  is  no  Themistocles  in 
his  habits.  His  attention  to  evidence  in  the  progress  of  a  trial  forms 
a  peculiar  characteristic  in  his  administration.  His  memory  is  re 
markably  tenacious,  and  he  is  rarely  at  fault  in  his  recollection  of  testi 
mony. 

As  one  of  the  many  evidences  which  could  be  produced  of  the  esti 
mation  in  which  he  is  held  by  the  people,  we  subjoin  the  following.  It 
was  in  his  own  county,  where  he  had  lived  and  labored  longest,  where 
the  people  knew  him  best,  that  at  the  close  of  a  long  and  tedious  ses 
sion  he  received  this  testimonial : 

"  To  the  Hon.  Ezekiel  Pickets,  judge  of  the  second  judicial  court. 

"  We,  the  undersigned  jurors,  for  the  third  week  of  the  circuit  court,  of 
Dallas  county,  who  compose  jury  No.  1,  would  respectfully  say  to 
your  honor,  after  having  discharged  their  duties  as  said  jurors  during 
the  present  week,  and  being  as  such  discharged  by  the  court,  that  they 
are  unanimous  in  the  desire  to  express  to  your  honor  their  entire  satis 
faction  at  the  kindness  and  consideration  with  which  they  have  been 
uniformly  treated  during  the  week,  and  also  to  assure  your  honor  that, 
under  the  circumstances,  they  have  discharged,  to  the  best  of  their 
ability,  the  very  arduous  and  responsible  duties  of  serving  as  jurors. 

"  In  taking  leave  of  the  court,  though  happy  to  be  at  liberty  to  re 
turn  to  our  respective  homes,  we  regret  the  termination  of  the  pleasant 
intercourse  which,  during  the  week,  has  existed  between  your  honor 
as  the  presiding  officer  and  themselves  as  a  component  part  of  the 
court,  and  we  beg  leave,  respectfully,  to  assure  you  that  we  remain, 
one  and  all, 

"  Respectfully,  your  friends, 

"  G  W.  HARDY,  Foreman." 
Signed  by  eleven  others. 

On  the  25th  December,  1838,  the  democratic  republican  delegates 
assembled  in  convention  at  Tuscaloosa  to  nominate  a  candidate  to  re 
present  this  district  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  and  the  choice 
fell  upon  Judge  Pickens.  He  was,  however,  compelled,  by  private 
reasons,  to  decline  accepting,  but  as  he  did  so  he  set  out  at  full  length 
his  views  of  the  politics  of  that  exciting  period,  in  a  letter  addressed 
to  the  convention.  We  regret  that  our  space  forbids  its  insertion,  and 
will  be  content  to  give  a  few  extracts  : 

"  On  the  crash  of  the  artificial  system  under  which  most  of  us  had 


EZEKIEL  PICKENS,  OF  ALABAMA.  165 

been  raised,  and  therefore,  for  the  moment,  knew  little  of  any  other,, 
there  was  much  apparent  reason  with  those  who  proposed  a  national 
bank  as  the  only  means  of  restoration.  The  crisis  occurring  subsequent 
to  withholding  a  renewal  of  charter,  looked  very  like  cause  and  effect, 
and  seemed  to  authorize  the  then  confident  prediction  that  there  could 
be  no  relief  but  by  a  national  bank. 

"  Those  who  thought  the  malady  was  in  the  system ;  that  the  less 
artificial  a  system,  the  less  subject  to  disorder ;  who  believed  in  the 
absolute  necessity  of  not  only  having  a  legal  measure  of  values,  but  of 
giving  it  practical  operation  ;  who  believed  the  constitution  only  autho 
rized  the  general  government  to  furnish  the  measure,  but  forbid  it  to 
organize  any  agent  to  substitute  a  different  measure;  such  proposed,  as 
one  remedy,  the  gradual  but  finally  entire  separation  of  the  finances 
from,  the  banks,  which  had  heretofore  furnished  the  only  practical  mea 
sure,  if  that  which  was  never  at  two  intervals  of  the  same  length,  can 
be  so  called,  and  proposed  the  collection  of  the  government  dues  in 
the  constitutional  standard,  gold  or  silver. 

"  The  results  anticipated  were,  that  the  national  government,  bound  to 
raise,  feed,  and  pay  an  army  and  navy  for  the  protection  of  our  commerce, 
our  national  rights,  and  national  honor,  might,  at  all  times,  at  every 
moment,  be  in  an  attitude  to  perform  her  functions  and  be  placed  be 
yond  contingency  as  to  means  and  medium.  Another  scarcely  less  de 
sirable  was,  that  by  giving  a  practical  application  to  the  most  unerring 
measure  of  values,  excessive  paper  issues,  synonymous  with  false  mea 
sures,  would  be  restrained,  and  thus  a  sound  currency  given  to  all,  as 
far  as  the  fiscal  action  of  the  government  could  effect  the  object,  leav 
ing  whatever  else  might  be  required  to  state  legislation. 

"  The  proposed  remedy  was  characterized  by  those  in  favor  of  the 
other  system,  as  intended  to  give  a  good  currency  to  the  office-holder, 
but  a  bad  one  to  the  people  ;  as  calculated  to  break  up  all  banks,  and 
annihilate  the  credit  system;  with  similar  arguments,  appealing  directly 
to  the  interest  of  the  stockholder,  and  the  terror  of  all  under  their  grasp." 
************ 

"  A  false  currency  cannot  circulate  unless  there  are  those  to  take  and 
transmit.  When  the  merchant  or  money-dealer  refuses,  its  deficiency 
being  exposed,  it  goes  backward  till  its  origin  is  found ;  the  better  takes 
its  place,  and  so  the  action  continues  until  the  best  becomes  common. 
The  general  government  is  our  largest  dealer,  and  though  nothing  com 
pared  with  the  aggregate  dealers,  yet,  being  the  largest,  and  its  financial 
operations  diffused,  pervading  the  whole  circle,  exerts  a  powerful  in 
fluence  for  restoration. 

On  the  other  hand,  whatever  the  government  takes,  the  importer 
will  take ;  what  he  takes,  the  whole  mercantile  community  will  take, 
and  what  they  do  every  one  will ;  and  so  long  as  the  government  will 
take,  the  worse  it  is,  the  more  anxious  all  are  to  get,  to  put  it  on  the 
government.  No  department,  no  class,  no  line  of  business  left,  whose 
duty  or  habit  is  to  apply  the  standard,  convenience  to  day  becomes 
habit  to-morrow ;  confidence  becomes  credulity ;  the  thing  is  looked 
upon  as  money,  and  so  the  tide  rolls  on  until  the  whole  financial  system 
becomes  rotten.  Men  and  government,  property  and  prosperity,  in- 


166  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

gulfed  in  a  deluge,  and  without  ark.  No.no!  not  all  ingulfed,  the 
banks,  sagacious,  entitled  to  superior  privileges,  usually  are  armed  with 
legal  instruments  of  more  efficacy  and  more  speed  than  are  enjoyed  by 
the  mass,  to  meet  a  coming  storm;  which  their  position,  too,  affording 
superior  means  of  foresight,  render  them  less  regardful  of  its  approach ; 
especially  so,  when  general  disaster  does  not  necessarily  reduce  bank 
profit.  But  infinitely  is  this  tendency  to  depreciation  increased,  when 
the  money  of  the  government,  or  what  it  takes  as  money,  is  returned 
back  to  those  who  put  it  forth,  not  for  redemption,  but  to  be  again 
placed  as  a  credit  to  the  government  and  re-issued  as  money.  In  all 
this  there  is  no  money,  no  measure,  no  application  of  standard.  This 
system  and  mode  of  operation  it  is  which  invites  excessive  issues, 
creates  a  show  of  prosperity,  excites  hope  but  to  destroy  its  victim  ; 
this  it  is  which  commences  by  appearing  to  raise  the  value  of  property, 
stimulates  speculation,  whets  avarice,  invites  thousands  to  abandon 
honest  and  honorable  occupations  to  pursue  the  phantom  of  sudden 
wealth,  requiring  continual  increase  of  issues  to  keep  pace  with  the 
rise  in  property — still  no  money,  no  measure  ;  this  it  is  which  would 
speedily  convert  the  large  mass  of  the  nation  into  consumers  instead  of 
producers,  into  speculators  instead  of  merchants,  into  swindlers  instead 
of  honest  men.  In  such  a  state  of  things,  when  he  sees  others,  as  he 
supposes,  getting  rich  around  him,  can  wre  expect  the  public  agent  to  be 
satisfied  with  the  slow  gains  of  official  pay  1  No;  if  he  is  the  keeper 
of  money,  with  moderate  fortitude,  he  will  risk  it  on  the  advancing  tide 
of  speculation,  the  weaker  will  embezzle.  In  this  thing,  in  this  artifi 
cial  gain — without  work — contrived,  unbridled  system,  is  the  source 
of  corruption,  and  when  this  state  of  things  is  brought  about,  the  very 
agent  in  the  mischief  has  art  enough,  pecuniary  or  otherwise,  to  have  it 
sanctioned.  Of  this,  however,  we  will  see." 

These  brief  extracts  will  suffice  to  show  upon  which  "side  of  the 
fence"  Judge  Pickens  is  to  be  found. 

As  a  man  and  a  citizen,  Judge  Pickens  stands  deservedly  high.  As 
a  man,  there  rests  not  a  single  stain  upon  his  reputation.  Such  is  the 
strict  fidelity  of  his  dealings  with  his  fellow-men — so  perfectly  free  from 
all  disguise,  by  which  he  himself  could  reap  benefits  to  the  detriment  of 
others,  that  even  Cato  the  Censor  would  have  given  him  his  approval. 
As  a  citizen,  he  is  eminently  public  spirited,  and  engages  eagerly  and 
earnestly  in  all  the  improvements  of  the  day.  He  is  fully  up  with  this 
progressive  age  in  carrying  forward  the  physical,  moral,  social  and  in 
tellectual  developments. 

I  have  intimated  above,  that  a  stranger  would  regard  the  judge  as 
eccentric.  He  certainly  is  so,  but  it  is  more  an  eccentricity  of  manner 
than  anything  else,  and  if  originally  assw-med,  has  become  a  part  now 
of  his  very  nature.  The  chief  characteristic  of  this  eccentricity  is  droll- 
ness,  if  I  may  use  such  an  expression,  which  forces  upon  you  an  irre 
pressible  disposition  to  laugh  at  all  he  says  or  does.  He  seems  him 
self  not  insensible  to  this,  and  possessing  a  keen  sense  of  the  ludicrous, 
he  often  enjoys  the  laugh  even  at  his  own  expense. 

I  am  very  far  from  saying  that  Judge  Pickens  is  a  faultless  character, 
but  I  do  say,  and  I  think  his  neighbors,  those  who  have  known  him 
longest  and  best,  will  bear  me  testimony,  that  his  prominent  virtues  so 


EZEKIEL  PICKENS,  OF  ALABAMA.  167 

far  excel  his  faults,  that  he  may  be  safely  set  down  as  a  most  upright 
and  worthy  citizen,  as  well  as  a  most  laborious,  able  and  faithful  officer. 

With  a  short  personal  sketch  I  close  this  brief  notice. 

EZEKIEL  PICKENS  was  bom  in  December,  1794,  in  the  city  of  Charles 
ton,  South  Carolina.  His  father,  Ezekiel,  was  the  eldest  son  of  Gen. 
Andrew  Pickens,  a  sketch  of  whom  may  be  seen  in  the  "  National 
Portrait  Gallery,"  and  of  his  wife  in  "  The  Women  of  the  Revolution." 
The  family  name  of  his  mother  was  Bonneaux,  of  Huguenot  descent. 

Both  parents  dying  about  1811  or  1812,  he  was  placed  by  his 
uncle,  Colonel  Andrew  Pickens,  who  was  then  in  the  army,  at  school. 
•Shortly  afterwards  he  entered  South  Carolina  College,  and  after  com 
pleting  his  course,  graduated  with  a  law  honor, — though  the  judge  at 
this  day  tells  us  that  he  knew  none  of  the  studies  accurately,  and  is 
more  than  ever  at  a  loss  to  account  for  the  manner  in  which  he  obtain 
ed  it.  In  1816  or  1817  he  left  college,  and  acted  for  a  short  time  as 
private  secretary  to  his  uncle  Andrew  Pickens,  who  was  then  governor. 
His  next  step  was  to  remove  to  Abbeville  in  order  to  enter  the  office  of 
his  brother-in-law,  Col.  Patrick  Noble,  to  study  law. 

In  March,  1820,  he  removed  to  Alabama,  and  stopped  where  his 
uncle  had  just  located,  near  Cahawba,  the  then  seat  of  government, 
rapidly  developing,  and  crowded  with  lawyers.  He  was  admitted  to 
practice  in  May  of  that  year  before  the  Supreme  Court,  and  although 
he  stood  a  good  examination,  he  tells  us  that  he  knew  little  of  the  law. 
It  is  proper  here  to  state  that  the  time  from  the  period  he  entered  the 
office  of  Col.  Noble  was  not  wholly  occupied  in  study.  Becoming  dis 
satisfied  and  distrustful  of  his  powers,  and  feeling  sadly  the  waste  of  his 
college  hours,  he  abandoned  his  law  books  and  visited  the  northern 
cities.  He  spent  in  New-England  nearly  two  years,  which  left  him. 
scarcely  two  years  to  pursue  his  studies. 

His  first  effort  at  law  was  a  decided  failure,  and  he  seriously  thought 
of  quitting  the  profession.  But  his  feelings  of  pride  restrained  him,  and 
he  doubled  his  efforts  to  succeed.  His  relations  urged  him  to  remain 
at  Cahawba,  but  seeing  the  number  of  lawyers  already  there,  he  was 
deterred.  In  January,  1821,  he  removed  to  Linden,  (then  called 
Screamersville,)  Marengo  county.  He  soon  had  a  log-cabin  erected,  in 
which  he  opened  his  office — (this  was  the  first  law  office  in  Marengo) — 
a  house  twelve  feet  by  fifteen — a  door  of  rived  pine  boards,  with 
wooden  hinges,  which  caused  an  audible  screech  whenever  opened  or 
shut. 

Here  he  settled,  and  as  he  has  often  since  said,  soon  became  contented. 
There  was  no  other  lawyer  within  twenty  miles,  and  to  this  may 
be  attributed  much  of  his  success.  He  was  thrown  upon  his  own 
resources  and  turned  for  aid  to  his  books.  Young  lawyers  are  gene 
rally  deficient  in  that  branch  of  their  profession  which  is  familiar  to  the 
most  ignorant  backwoodsman,  and  they  are  very  apt  to  take  up  an 
ineradicable  notion  about  the  merits  or  demerits  of  a  "  limb  of  the 
law."  He  tells  us  that  he  always  (at  that  period)  viewed  the  ap 
proach  of  a  client  with  "  fear  and  trembling,"  and  only  discovered 
every  day  how  little  he  knew.  This,  however — by  a  diligent  applica 
tion  to  his  books — soon  wore  off,  and  he  saw  business  flowing  to  his 
little  log  office. 


168  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

Among  his  first  cases  was  one  where  an  English  tailor  named  Marks 
had  been  bound  over  by  a  man  named  Hainsworth  for  a  breach  of 
the  peace.  Marks  had  engaged  him,  and  detailed  the  circumstances  at 
the  request  of  P.  in  writing,  which  statement  the  young  attorney 
thought  carried  verity  on  its  face.  He,  however,  doubted  whether  a 
bill  would  be  found,  as  Hainsworth  was  a  man  of  property — violent  in 
his  disposition — so  much  so  that  the  neighborhood  were  kept  in 
constant  dread  of  him.  He  therefore  paid  but  little  attention  to 
the  matter  ;  yet  one  was  returned  for  an  assault  with  intent  to  murder. 
He  therefore  prepared  himself  for  the  trial,  and  advised  the  employ 
ment  of  more  experienced  counsel  to  assist.  The  only  witness  Marks 
relied  on  was  an  old  woman  of  humble  station,  and  who,  as  he  learned 
afterwards,  Hainsworth  had  used  every  means  to  destroy  in  reputation, 
and  for  reasons  other  than  those  connected  with  this  transaction.  She 
was  the  only  witness  to  meet  this  artful  rnan,  and  while  Hainsworth 
was  under  examination  P.  became  very  uneasy  and  provoked — turn 
ing  to  Marks  he  upbraided  him  with  having  deceived  him.  He  replied 
with  confidence,  "  Call  Mrs.  Lane,"  "  call  Mrs.  Lane."  His  manner 
re-assured  him.  Hainsworth  made  out  a  clear  case  seemingly,  and  the 
prosecution  closed.  The  defence  then  opened.  Mrs.  Lane  was  called 
to  the  witness  stand  and  told  her  story,  as  none  but  a  woman  can  tell 
it — every  effort  was  made  to  entrap  her  in  vain.  Her  story  was 
directly  contrary  to  Hainsworth's.  The  assistant  counsel  for  the  de 
fence  proceeded  to  address  the  jury  in  a  cold,  desponding  speech, 
and  sat  down  without  accomplishing  anything.  It  was  evident  he  felt 
it  a  bad  case.  Not  so  however  with  Pickens.  He  believed  that 
he  had  right  on  his  side;  the  conviction  stirred  within,  and  filled 
him  with  indignation.  He  rose  under  such  feelings  to  address  the  jury; 
his  bashfulness  forsook  him,  and  he  advocated  the  cause  of  the  injured 
man  in  a  speech  of  remarkable  power.  Dealing  in  no  polished 
language,  or  finely  turned  periods,  he  confined  himself  strictly  to  the 
facts,  and  presented  a  concatenation  of  circumstances  so  intricately 
interwoven,  that  the  guilt  of  Hainsworth  was  irresistible.  The  jury  in 
a  few  minutes  returned  a  verdict  of  "  not  guilty."  Which  result  he 
has  been  heard  to  say  gratified  him  more  than  any  he  has  since 
obtained. 

In  the  latter  part  of  1820  he  removed  from  "  Screamersville"  or  Lin 
den,  to  Erie,  in  Greene  county,  the  then  seat  of  justice.  Here  he  formed 
a  partnership  with  Seth  Barton,  Esq.,  late  minister  of  the  United  States 
to  Chili,  who  resided  then  in  Tuscaloosa.  In  1825,  Erie  proving  sickly, 
he  removed  to  Greensborough,  now  a  flourishing  town  in  Greene  coun 
ty,  his  business  steadily  increasing.  Shortly  after  this  the  seat  of  gov 
ernment  was  removed  from  Cahawba  to  Tuscaloosa,  and  Mr.  Pickens 
yielded  to  the  intreaties  of  his  relatives  and  removed  to  Dallas  county, 
and  settled  near  Selma.  With  the  removal  of  the  capital  a  good  deal 
of  business  and  lawyers  left  the  county,  and  he  felt  himself  better  able 
to  cope  with  those  who  remained  than  formerly.  About  1837  he  pur 
chased  ft  small  tract  of  land,  where  he  now  resides,  and  having  no 
slaves  of  his  own,  invited  his  brother  Samuel  Pickens,  who  possessed  a 
number  of  slaves,  to  reside  on  and  cultivate  it.  He  did  so,  and  they 
resided  together  until  the  death  of  his  brother  a  short  time  since.  The 


EZEKIEL  PICKENS,  OF  ALABAMA.  169 

judge,  however,  realized  from  his  practice  sufficient  to  enable  him  to 
purchase  at  intervals  slaves  and  also  to  add  to  his  farm,  and  he  is  at 
this  time  enjoying  a  fair  competency. 

In  Dallas*  he  formed  a  partnership  with  James  M.  Calhoun,  Esq.,  a 
lawyer  of  marked  ability,  and  who  has  since  risen  to  eminence  in  the 
state. 

Shortly  after  their  dissolution,  which  was  occasioned  by  Judge  Cal- 
houn's  entering  the  political  arena,  he  formed  a  partnership  with  James 
B.  Clarke,  Esq.,  now  chancellor  of  the  middle  division  of  the  state. 

Being  constitutionally  feeble,  the  increase  of  business  nearly  pros 
trated  him,  and  at  the  solicitation  of  his  friends  he  appeared  before  the 
legislature,  at  the  session  of  1834,  a  candidate  for  judge  of  the  circuit 
court.  He  was  beaten,  however,  by  John  S.  Hunter,  Esq.  Judge  Hun* 
ter  resigned  in  a  short  time,  and  Judge  Pickens  was  commissioned  to 
his  vacancy  in  August,  1835,  and  in  the  winter  of  that  year  was  elected 
by  the  legislature  over  George  W.  Gayle,  Esq.,  by  a  large  majority.  At 
the  session  of  1836,  the  salary  of  the  circuit  judges  thereafter  to  be 
elected  was  increased,  and  with  all  the  other  judges  but  one,  he  resigned 
and  was  immediately  re-appointed  by  the  governor.  He  was  elected 
by  the  legislature  again  in  1837,  and  was  elected  again  in  1842.  In 
1847  he  had  again  determined  to  be  a  candidate,  but  being  on  the  cir 
cuit  until  three  days  before  the  election,  he  found  on  his  arrival  at 
Montgomery,  that  Judge  Cook  had  thoroughly  canvassed  the  legislature, 
and  that  from  some  unknown  cause  great  efforts  were  made  todefeat 
him.  He  made  no  great  effort  to  obtain  votes,  merely  mentio  ing  to 
his  friends  his  desire  to  run.  Upon  counting  the  votes  it  was  found 
that  out  of  one  hundred  and  eighteen  votes,  Cook  succeeded  by  but  four 
votes.  His  term  lacked  about  eighteen  months  of  its  expiration,  but 
deeming  the  vote  of  the  legislature  the  expression  of  its  opinion  he  re 
signed,  and  devoted  himself  to  agricultural  pursuits,  with  no  expecta 
tion  or  desire  of  again  appearing  in  public  life. 

At  the  session  of  1849,  the  legislature  enacted  a  law,  giving  the  elec 
tion  of  judges  to  the  people,  and  Judge  Pickens,  understanding  that  it 
was  the  general  wish  he  should  become  a  candidate,  yielded  at  the  sac 
rifice  of  his  private  feelings.  This  election  was  conducted  on  all  sides 
with  marked  courtesy,  and  an  agreement  among  the  several  candidates 
at  the  outset,  to  the  effect  that  they  would  abstain  from  electioneering, 
was  I  believe  strictly  adhered  to.  The  election  resulted,  as  before  stated, 
in  the  triumphant  election  of  Judge  Pickens,  he  receiving  2424  votes 
and  his  two  competitors  receiving  jointly  but  2077  votes. 

The  judge  was  elected  to  the  legislature  once  from  Greene  and  once 
from  Dallas,  and  three  years  ago  was  spoken  of  in  connection  with  the 
gubernatorial  chair.  But  he  positively  declined  being  considered  a  can 
didate  before  the  convention  for  the  nomination.  There  is  little  doubt, 
had  he  consented  to  it,  that  he  would  have  been  elected. 

Judge  Pickens  is  in  stature  about  five  feet  two  or  three  inches,  and 
well  formed  ;  eyes  large  and  a  dark  brown  color,  and  when  excited  in 
dicate  action  and  intenseness,  his  forehead  is  elevated  but  not  promi 
nent,  dark  hair  and  complexion.  He  bears  his  age  well  and  gives 
promise  of  many  years  of  usefulness  and  activity. 


170  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

ANDREW  J.   MARCHBANKS, 

OF  TENNESSEE. 

THE  subject  of  this  sketch  was  born  in  Jackson  county,  Tennessee,  on 
the  21st  of  November,  1804.  During  his  infancy  his  parents  removed 
with  him  to,  and  settled  in  Overtoil  county.  His  father,  William 
Marchbanks,  was  of  Scotch  descent,  was  a  farmer  in  moderate  circum 
stances,  had  a  large  family,  and  his  sons  were  compelled  to  labor  in  the 
field  for  a  support.  The  present  judge  was,  from  time  to  time,  sent  to 
school  until,  he  acquired  a  tolerable  knowledge  of  the  sciences  and  an  im 
perfect  knowledge  of  Latin. 

In  1823,  and  in  his  nineteenth  year,  he  commenced  the  study  of  the 
law,  under  Major  H.  H.  Atkinson,  in  the  town  of  Monroe,  the  county 
seat  of  Overton  county.  There  he  continued  to  read  with  but  little 
advantage  until  the  summer  of  1824;  and  having  at  that  time  become 
quite  idle,  and  being  satisfied  that  he  was  doing  no  good,  he  determined 
upon,  and  accordingly  returned  to  the  residence  of  his  father,  taking 
with  him  a  few  law-books,  and  which  he  occasionally  read  until  the  early 
part  of  the  winter  of  1825,  at  which  time  he  resolved  to  renew  his  stu 
dies  with  increased  energy  ;  and  to  do  this,  he  thought  it  best  to  avoid 
relapsing  into  his  former  idle  habits,  to  select  a  new  location  at  a  place 
where  he  would  have  no  acquaintances,  and  where,  without  the  danger 
of  any  evil  temptations,  he  might  form  new  acquaintances  and  new 
habits.  It  was  with  determinations  of  this  kind  that  young  Marchbanks 
again,  in  the  early  part  of  February,  1825,  left  his  father's  roof.  He 
located  himself  in  the  town  of  McMinnville,  and  there  re-commenced  his 
studies  under  Major  Stokeley  D.  Romer,  a  gentleman  of  considerable 
celebrity  and  distinction  at  the  bar.  Our  student  now,  in  good  faith,  gave 
up  all  of  his  former  idle  habits,  and  with  singleness  of  purpose  devoted 
himself  to  his  studies,  and  so  continued  to  do  until  the  fall  of  that  year, 
when  he  was  licensed  to  practise  law. 

At  this  period  his  license  to  practise  law  constituted  his  all — it  was 
his  only  hope ;  and  the  want  of  the  means  to  go  elsewhere,  as  much  as 
anything  else,  induced  him  to  make  a  permanent  settlement  at  McMinn 
ville,  and  there  to  make  an  effort,  humble  as  he  was,  to  establish  him 
self  in  his  profession.  Under  su2h  circumstances  as  these,  young 
Marchbanks,  without  a  dollar  in  the  world,  and  without  family  connec 
tion  or  patronage  of  any  kind  to  usher  him  into  business,  embarked  in 
his  profession ; — his  only  hope  for  success  was  a  determination  on  his 
part  to  devote  himself  to  its  duties  with  unwearied  industry,  and  to  live 
an  upright  and  an  honorable  life. 

In  a  short  time  after  he  was  licensed  he  got  into  a  small  practice, 
principally  in  the  county  courts.  For  two  years  his  business  did  not 
yield  a  sufficient  income  to  defray  his  expenses.  About  the  expiration 
of  that  time  he  got  into  a  profitable  practice,  and  which  he  continued 
down  to  the  time  when  he  was  elevated  to  the  bench. 

In  1828,  Marchbanks  was  elected  elector  from  his  native  district  to 
vote  for  President  and  Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  and  which 


ANDREW  J.  MARCHBANKS,  OF  TENNESSEE.  171 

duty  he  performed  by  casting  the  vote  of  his  district  for  Jackson  and 
Calhoun.  The  Electoral  College  of  Tennessee  was  at  that  time  consti 
tuted  of  eleven  members.  Of  the  entire  number  of  persons  then  con 
stituting  it,  it  is  believed  the  subject  of  this  memoir,  together  with  Dr. 
Alfred  Flournoy,  at  present  of  Shreveport,  Louisiana,  constitute  the 
only  survivors. 

In  1836  he  was  elected  to  the  Senate  in  the  state  legislature,  and 
served  in  the  called  session  of  that  year. 

In  1837,  Marchbanks  was  elected  by  a  whig  legislature  (he  being  a 
democrat)  judge  of  the  thirteenth  circuit  in  Tennessee  for  the  term  of 
eight  years ;  and  upon  the  expiration  of  that  term,  in  1845,  he  was 
again,  by  the  unanimous  vote  of  the  legislature,  re-elected  for  the  same 
term,  and  which  office  he  now  holds. 

In  his  addresses  to  the  grand  juries  he  has  constantly  impressed  upon 
them  the  fact,  that  our  government  is  founded  upon  the  morals  and  intelli 
gence  of  our  citizens,  and  that,  to  perpetuate  our  free  institutions,  the 
religion  and  intelligence  of  our  people  must  also  be  perpetuated ;  that 
only  a  few  brief  days  ago  the  government  was  in  the  hands  of  our  fa 
thers  ;  that  to-day  it  is  in  our  hands,  and  that  in  a  very  few  more  days 
it  will  be  in  the  hands  of  our  children ;  and  as  it  is  to  devolve  upon 
them  to  sustain  it,  it  is  all-important  that  they  should  be  well  prepared 
to  perform  that  high  and  important  duty,  and  that,  to  so  prepare  them, 
the  most  anxious  and  unremitting  care  should  be  bestowed  upon  their 
education. 

In  the  earlier  part  of  the  judge's  professional  service,  he  was,  as  as 
sisting  counsel,  retained  in  several  heavy  and  complicated  actions  of 
ejectment.  This  caused  him  at  that  early  period  of  his  life  to  give  to 
the  land  law  of  his  state  a  thorough  examination.  He  has  now  been 
upon  the  bench  for  more  than  fourteen  years,  and  during  that  time  he 
has  decided  many  actions  of  ejectment,  a  number  of  which  have  gone  to 
the  Supreme  Court  by  appeal,  and  out  of  that  number  only  two  have 
been  reversed.  One  of  them  is  the  case  of  Miller  vs.  Miller,  (Meig's 
Eeports,  484,)  and  the  other  Wait's  Lessee  vs.  Dolly,  (8th  Humphrey's 
Reports,  192  ;)  and  in  deciding  the  latter  case,  it  was  at  the  time  be 
lieved  that  he  was  following  the  judgment  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  the 
case  of  Lee  vs.  Crossna,  6th  Humphrey's  Reports,  281. 

As  a  judge,  he  makes  it  a  rule  never  to  decide  a  case,  where  there  is 
any  doubt  about  the  law  of  it,  without  an  examination  into  the  authori 
ties,  when  it  is  at  all  practicable  to  do  it.  He  also  makes  it  a  rule,  in  all 
cases  of  any  magnitude,  to  give  to  the  juries  who  try  them  written  in 
structions  in  regard  to  the  law  of  the  case,  and  to  make  out  and  keep 
full  notes  of  the  evidence,  insomuch  that,  in  many  cases  of  the  utmost 
importance,  where  appeals  have  been  taken  from  his  judgments,  the  par 
ties  have  adopted  his  notes  as  containing  a  full  history  of  the  case. 

The  Judge  was  first  married  to  a  Miss  Savage ;  she  dying,  he  then 
married  his  present  wife,  Mrs.  Martha  C.  Flournoy ,  daughter  of  the  late 
Doctor  John  H.  Camp,  of  Giles  County. 

He  lives  upon  a  farm  within  about  two  miles  of  McMinnville,  where 
his  intelligent  lady  employs  her  time  in  the  raising  and  cultivation  of 
flowers  and  shrubbery. 


172  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

HON.  JAMES  L.  ORB 

OP  SOUTH  CAROLINA. 

THE  subject  of  this  sketch  was  born  at  Craytonville,  in  Anderson 
district,  South  Carolina,  on  the  12th  day  of  May,  1822.  His  father 
was  Christopher  Orr,  and  his  mother  Martha  McCann.  His  paternal 
grandfather  was  John  Orr,  a  native  of  Wake  county,  North  Carolina, 
and  a  soldier  in  the  Revolutionary  war.  His  maternal  grandfather 
was  Robert  McCann,  a  native  of  the  County  Down,  Ireland,  who  emi 
grated  to  the  United  States  about  1786.  His  father  commenced  life 
without  pecuniary  means,  but  by  a  successful  prosecution  of  mercantile 
pursuits  acquired  the  means  of  educating  thoroughly  a  family  of  three 
sons  and  two  daughters.  At  an  early  age  he  was  placed  at  a  country 
school,  and  after  acquiring  the  rudiments  of  an  English  education  he 
was  placed  at  an  academy  at  Anderson  and  commenced  the  study  of 
the  languages  (Latin  and  Greek)  under  the  Rev.  J.  L.  Kennedy,  a 
teacher  of  considerable  reputation  in  the  upper  districts  of  Carolina. 
His  academical  education  was  completed  under  Mr.  Wesley  Leverett, 
a  classical  scholar  of  fine  attainments,  and  a  teacher  who  has  educated 
more  young  men  who  are  useful  in  society  than  any  man  of  his  age  in 
the  region  of  country  where  he  has  taught.  Whilst  prosecuting  his 
academical  course  his  education  in  business  and  human  nature  was  not 
neglected.  On  public  days,  in  the  village  where  his  father  resided,  he 
was  transferred  from  the  school-room  to  the  merchant's  counter  and 
counting-room,  and  made  a  most  efficient  salesman  and  book-keeper. 

The  knowledge  he  thus  obtained  of  practical  business  and  of  men 
has  perhaps  been  one  of  the  most  active  influences  in  moulding  his 
subsequent  career,  which  has  thus  far  been  more  successful  than  most 
men  of  his  age.  In  later  years  he  has  often  remarked  that  the  best 
school  for  a  boy  to  learn  the  practical  duties  of  life  in,  and  especially 
the  learned  professions,  is  behind  the  counter  of  a  village  or  country 
merchant.  It  brings  him  in  contact  with  his  species  in  every  station 
and  calling,  and  men  usually  show  as  much  of  their  true  character  in 
trading  as  in  traveling,  or  in  the  army,  and  the  temptation  to  vicious 
habits  is  far  less  in  the  former  than  in  the  latter  situations.  He  ac 
quired  most  distinction  in  the  mathematics,  natural  and  moral  science, 
and  in  elocution  and  oratory. 

The  teacher  was  successful  in  organizing  and  giving  interest  to  a  de 
bating  society  connected  with  the  academy,  and  so  great  was  the  emu 
lation  and  interest  excited,  that  all  his  classical  students  spent  their 
Saturdays  at  the  academy  in  debating.  The  result  was,  that  most  of 
them  became  ready,  fluent  debaters,  and  some  of  them  orators  of  merit. 
The  subject  of  this  sketch  derived  very  great  advantage  from  this  exer 
cise,  and  attributes  his  fluency  at  the  bar  and  in  the  forum  to  this  early 
training. 

In  the  eighteenth  year  of  his  age  he  matriculated  a  student  at  the 
University  of  Virginia,  preferring  that  institution  for  the  reason  that  he 
could  devote  himself  to  such  studies  alone  as  would  be  peculiarly 


JAMES  L.  ORR.  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  173 

serviceable  to  him  in  prosecuting  the  profession  of  the  law,  which  he 
had  at  this  early  period  determined  to  embrace. 

His  first  year  was  spent  profitably  in  pursuing  the  following  studies : 
Natural,  mental,  and  moral  philosophy  ;  political  economy ;  logic, 
rhetoric,  belles-lettres,  medical  jurisprudence,  geology,  and  miner 
alogy,  as  also  international,  constitutional,  and  the  elements  of  com 
mon  law. 

He  was  graduated  the  first  year  in  moral  philosophy,  including  meta 
physics,  political  economy,  and  medical  jurisprudence.  The  second 
year  he  devoted  his  entire  time  to  the  law,  under  the  direction  of  the 
late  J.  A.  G.  Davis,  professor  in  the  university,  but  before  its  termi 
nation  Professsor  Davis  was  most  unfortunately  killed  by  one  of  the 
students,  and  the  board  of  visitors,  in  the  emergency  presented,  feeling 
the  necessity  of  supplying  Professor  Davis'  place  at  once,  as  the  law 
class  numbered  some  sixty  or  seventy  students,  gave  the  temporary 
appointment  for  the  remainder  of  the  term  to  a  young  lawyer  of  Rich 
mond,  but  as  he  had  little  experience  in  his  profession  the  subject  of 
our  memoir  determined  to  return  to  his  home,  where  he  supposed  he 
could  prosecute  his  studies  with  more  profit  in  some  office  in  his  own 
state.  •  The  course  of  study  prescribed  at  the  university  was  very 
comprehensive,  and  he  who  waded  through  it,  understandingly,  could 
hardly  fail  in  making  himself  a  good  elementary  lawyer.  Mr.  Orr 
studied  here  the  commentaries  of  Lord  Coke  upon  Littleton,  and  ad 
vanced  as  far  in  exploring  this  fountain  of  English  jurisprudence  as  the 
youthful  mind  could  go ;  and  he  has  often  declared  that  his  knowledge 
of  the  principles  of  the  English  common  law,  and  more  especially  those 
governing  real  estate,  was  derived  from  this  quaint  but  profound  jurist. 

It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  so  few  of  the  lawyers  of  the  present 
day  have  any  familiarity  with  the  commentaries  of  Coke,  for  it  is  really 
the  foundation-stone  of  the  common  law,  and  none  can  understand  the 
law  of  real  estate  satisfactorily  without  its  comprehension.  He  who 
bravely  encounters  its  quaintness  and  intricacies,  and  reaches  his  beauti 
ful  benediction  to  the  student,  where  he  says, "  And  now  farewell  to  our 
jurisprudent !  We  wish  unto  him  the  gladsome  light  of  jurisprudence, 
the  loveliness  of  temperance,  the  stability  of  fortune,  and  the  solidity  of 
justice,"  has  indeed  achieved  an  intellectual  and  professional  triumph, 
and  has  panoplied  himself  in  such  solid  legal  learning  as  never  to  cause 
the  heart  to  quail  in  encountering  a  professional  rival.  The  year  1841, 
being  the  first  after  his  return  from  college,  was  spent  in  society,  and 
in  reading  history,  ancient  and  modern,  Hume's  and  Lingard's,  with 
the  same  care  as  law-books  ;  and  the  former  is  as  indispensable  to  the 
course  of  a  lawyer's  reading  as  Blackstone  or  Kent.  In  January,  1842, 
he  entered  the  office  of  J.  N.  Whitner,  Esq.,  then  the  solicitor  of  the 
western  circuit,  who  has  since  been  promoted  to  a  judgeship,  and 
commenced  reading  the  course  of  study  prescribed  by  the  law  court  of 
appeals  of  South  Carolina,  preparatory  to  applying  for  admission  to  the 
bar.  The  course  is  very  comprehensive,  and  applicants  for  admission 
are  subjected  to  a  strict  examination  thereon,  in  presence  of  the  whole 
court,  before  granting  a  license ;  if  found  prepared,  upon  the  exami 
nation,  are  admitted ;  if  not,  are  rejected.  Judge  Whitner  was,  in  per 
forming  the  duties  of  his  office,  necessarily  absent  from  home  at  least 


174  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

six  months  in  the  year,  and  whilst  Mr.  Orr  was  his  student  very  much 
of  the  office  business  and  practice  was  devolved  upon  him.  He  not 
only  issued  cases  and  prepared  the  pleadings,  but  often,  ex  necessitate^ 
gave  counsel  to  Judge  Whitner's  clients,  and  he  derived  two  very  im 
portant  advantages  therefrom — first,  it  familiarized  him  with  the  practice 
in  the  courts  of  law  and  equity,  and  furnished  the  occasion  of  applying 
the  elementary  principles  of  his  reading  to  actual  cases ;  and  secondly, 
it  gave  him  confidence  in  his  judgment,  and  capability  to  determine  a 
legal  proposition.  He  completed  the  course,  and  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  in  May,  1843,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one.  He  opened  an  office  at 
Anderson,  South  Carolina,  where  he  was  reared  and  educated,  and 
within  a  few  miles  of  his  native  place.  He  was  more  fortunate  than 
most  young  lawyers,  for  within  eighteen  months  after  he  was  licensed 
he  was  surrounded  with  quite  a  respectable  practice. 

In  the  fall  of  1843,  having  a  taste  for  politics  from  boyhood,  he 
established  a  newspaper  in  the  town  in  which  he  resided,  entitled  the 
Anderson  Gazette,  and  took  the  chair  editorial,  which  he  filled  for  one 
year. 

In  November,  1843,  he  married  Miss  Mary  Jane  Marshall,  second 
daughter  of  Dr.  Samuel  Marshall,  of  Abbeville  district.  In  the  follow 
ing  spring  he  became  a  candidate  for  the  legislature,  and  after  an  ani 
mated  contest  he  was  elected  at  the  head  of  the  ticket,  and  by  an  over 
whelming  majority  over  his  whig  opponents.  He  canvassed  the  district 
very  closely,  and  every  voter  had  the  opportunity  of  hearing  him  on  the 
stump.  His  party  friends  were  highly  gratified  at  the  ability  he  ex 
hibited  in  the  canvass,  and  appreciated  in  no  stinted  measure  the  signal 
services  he  rendered  in  the  democratic  cause  and  in  favor  of  Mr.  Folk's 
election  to  the  presidency. 

In  this  connection  it  is  proper  to  relate  the  fact,  that  Mr.  Orr  from  boy. 
hood  intermingled  freely  amongst  the  people,  and  before  he  was  twenty  ho 
was  personally  acquainted  with  most  of  the  citizens  of  his  district.  His 
bland  manners,  his  address  and  his  conversations  made  him  a  favorite 
in  all  ranks.  This  favorable  knowledge  of  him,  as  a  boy  and  youth,  se 
cured  him  friends  and  practice  at  the  bar,  and  when  he  was  a  little 
more  than  twenty-two  years  old  he  was  elected  to  the  legislature,  re 
ceiving  about  2500  votes.  The  same  district  in  1840  gave  a  majority 
for  the  whig  candidate  for  the  presidency.  He  entered  the  legislature, 
having  received  a  higher  vote  than  any  man  in  the  state,  but  being  a 
new  member  he  participated  only  occasionally  in  debate.  In  the  dis 
cussions  in  which  he  participated  he  acquitted  himself  to  the  entire  satis 
faction  of  his  friends  and  constituents,  and  at  the  next  election  he  was 
re-elected.  He  entered  actively  into  the  debates  of  these  two  sessions. 
There  have  never  been  reporters  of  the  proceedings  of  the  South  Caro 
lina  legislature,  and  we  have  consequently  none  of  his  speeches  pre 
served.  His  principal  speeches  were  made  on  reforming  the  free  school 
system,  giving  the  election  of  presidental  electors  to  the  people,  (now 
selected  by  the  legislature  on  joint  ballot,)  in  advocacy  of  extending 
the  aid  of  the  state  in  constructing  the  Greenville  and  Columbia,  the 
Charlotte  and  South  Carolina,  and  the  Wilmington  and  Manchester 
rail-roads,  and  on  various  questions  connected  with  the  federal  relations 
of  the  state.  In  1845  he  formed  a  copartnership  in  the  law  with  J.  P. 


JAMES  L.  ORR,  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  175 

Reed,  Esq.,  now  the  solicitor  of  the  western  circuit,  which  continued 
until  the  spring  of  1848,  when  he  became  a  candidate  for  Congress. 
The  records  of  the  court  shew  that  nearly  one-half  of  all  the  business 
of  the  courts  of  law  and  equity  was  transacted  by  this  firm ;  and  they 
had  quite  a  good  practice  at  some  others  of  the  courts  of  the  circuit. 
Mr.  Orr  has  studied  human  character  to  great  profit  in  the  management 
of  his  causes  in  court.  His  perception  of  the  strong  features  of  his 
case  is  clear  and  quick,  and  he  consequently  does  not  make  long 
speeches  to  the  jury.  His  most  elaborate  argument  in  a  will  case,  in 
which  he  took  a  deep  interest,  was  concluded  in  a  little  more  than  one 
hour.  His  speeches  are  argumentative,  put  principally  in  the  style  of 
interrogation,  without  any  effort  at  oratorical  display. 

The  court  of  chancery  has  always  been  his  favorite  branch  of  juris 
prudence.  The  success  with  which  he  has  practised  in  that  court  is  an 
enduring  memorial  of  the  excellence  of  his  tact  and  judgment  in  fram 
ing  bills  and  answers.  The  first  bill  he  ever  drew  was  in  a  case  involved 
in  the  greatest  intricacy,  and  the  presiding  chancellor  said  of  it  that  it 
was  the  most  skilfully  drawn  bill  he  had  seen  out  of  the  city  practice 
in  Charleston. 

In  1848,  as  we  have  already  stated,  he  became  a  candidate  for  Con 
gress.  His  opponent  was  a  lawyer  of  talents  and  great  professional 
reputation,  with  much  experience  in  political  affairs,  having  served  some 
fifteen  years  in  both  branches  of  the  state  legislature.  They  were  both 
democrats,  and  the  contest  was  therefore  purely  personal.  The  canvass 
was  an  exciting  one,  both  the  aspirants  devoting  nearly  their  whole 
time  to  it  for  six  months  preceding  the  election,  which  took  place  in 
October  of  that  year.  When  th'e  votes  were  counted  it  was  ascertained 
that  Mr.  Orr  had  beaten  his  opponent  about  seven  hundred  votes.  Uii- 
der  all  the  circumstances  it  was  a  most  signal  manifestation  of  the  con 
fidence  and  esteem  by  the  people  for  one  so  youthful.  He  took  his 
seat  in  December,  1849,  a  member  of  the  31st  Congress,  a  Congress 
which  has  been  distinguished  for  more  startling  incidents  than  any  other 
in  the  history  of  this  government.  He  was  opposed  to  the  settlement 
of  the  sectional  question  on  the  basis  of  what  was  denominated  the 
compromise.  He  believed  that  the  settlement  did  injustice  to  his  sec 
tion  of  the  country;  that  one  or  the  other  side  was  cheated  in  the  or 
ganization  of  the  territorial  governments  of  Utah  and  New-Mexico,  the 
north  asserting  that  Mexican  law  excluded  slavery,  and  the  south  the 
opposite  opinion ;  that  Congress  had  no  constitutional  power  to  buy  a 
part  of  a  sovereign  state  and  place  the  population  thereon  under  a  ter 
ritorial  government ;  that  if  the  land  belonged  to  Texas,  the  govern 
ment  had  not  the  right  to  buy  ;  if  it  belonged  to  the  United  States  then, 
it  was  wholly  indefensible  to  take  $10.000,000  from  the  public  treasury 
to  pay  for  that  which  was  already  their  property ;  and  lastly,  that  Cali 
fornia  was  admitted  with  excessive  territory,  without  an  enumeration 
of  her  citizens,  having  formed  her  constitution  without  the  authority  of 
Congress  and  against  all  the  precedents  existing  in  the  previous  history 
of  the  government.  The  principal  speech  he  made  at  this  session  was 
on  the  slavery  agitation,  in  which  he  discussed  very  elaborately  the 
tendency  and  ultimate  end  of  agitation  if  it  was  not  arrested,  and  also 
presenting  views  why  California  should  not  be  admitted  into  the  Union 


176  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

before  she  had  passed  a  territorial  pupilage.  He  therefore  voted  against 
all  the  measures  of  compromise  except  the  fugitive  slave  law.  He 
participated  occasionally  in  the  general  debates  of  the  house  at  this 
session  as  also  at  the  next. 

When  he  returned  home  in  March,  1851,  at  the  close  of  the  short  ses 
sion,  the  State  of  South  Carolina  had  called  a  constitutional  convention, 
and  delegates  thereto  had  been  elected,  a  large  majority  of  whom  were 
pledged  to  vote  for  the  secession  of  that  state  from  the  Union,  on  ac 
count  of  the  injustice  of  the  compromise.  Mr.  Orr  advised  originally 
against  the  call  of  the  convention,  as,  we  believe,  did  a  majority  of  the 
South  Carolina  delegation  in  Congress,  as  he  was  unwilling  that  South 
Carolina  should  incur  all  the  hazards  attendant  upon  secession  without 
she  had  the  co-operation  of  other  sister  southern  states.  The  constitu 
tion  of  South  Carolina  provides  for  calling  a  convention  when  two- 
thirds  of  both  branches  of  the  legislature  concur  therein  ;  and  when  the 
convention  was  called  the  separate  state  actionists  had  not  quite  two- 
thirds,  the  other  third  being  in  favor  of  providing  simply  for  the  election 
of  delegates  to  a  southern  congress,  as  recommended  by  the  Nashville 
Convention,  and  opposed  to  isolating  South  Carolina  from  the  South. 
Neither  party  could  carry  their  measure,  and  the  two  were  blended  into 
one  bill,  entitled,  an  act  "  to  provide  for  the  appointment  of  deputies  to 
a  southern  congress,  and  to  call  a  convention  of  the  people  of  the  state," 
and  passed,  the  minority  having  been  induced  to  vote  for  the  call  of  the 
convention  to  have  the  state  ready  to  co-operate  with  any  other  state  or 
states,  or,  in  the  event  of  a  failure,  to  act  then,  that  a  convention  might 
be  ready  to  ratify  or  reject  what  might  be  done  in  the  southern  congress, 
if  it  assembled.  The  elections  were  ordered  in  February,  as  already 
stated,  and  resulted  in  the  choice  of  a  large  majority  who  were  favor 
able  to  separate  action,  and  the  pretence  was  then  set  up  by  the  seces 
sion  organs  that  this  was  the  original  purpose  for  which  the  convention 
was  called.  Colonel  Orr's  congressional  district  had  elected  about  two 
delegates  in  favor  of  secession  to  one  against  it,  and  such  was  the  state 
of  parties  when  he  returned  home.  He,  however,  notwithstanding  his 
belief  that  he  was  in  a  minority  of  one-third,  openly  proclaimed  his  op 
position  to  the  policy  of  those  who  claimed  to  be  a  majority  ;  and  in  a 
public  speech  at  Pickens,  a  few  weeks  after  his  return  home,  he  warned 
his  countrymen  against  the  disasters  which  would  inevitably  follow  if 
the  policy  of  separate  secession  was  carried  out — not  denying,  however, 
the  right  of  a  state  to  secede  from  the  Union  if  she  chose  to  do  it ;  for 
he  has  always  expressed  the  opinion  that  there  was  but  one  effectual 
shield  against  a  central  despotism  by  the  general  government,  and  that 
was  in  upholding  and  maintaining  the  rights  of  the  several  states  who 
are  parties  to  the  federal  compact.  The  right  of  peaceable  secession  he 
holds  to  be  the  highest  attribute  of  sovereignty,  and  its  denial  leads  ir 
retrievably  to  consolidation.  Early  in  May  he  attended  as  a  delegate 
the  convention  of  the  southern  rights'  associations,  held  in  Charleston. 
It  was  a  body  of  great  intelligence,  and  numbering  some  450  delegates; 
but,  representing  the  southern  rights'  associations,  it  was  made  up  of 
the  most  ultra  men  in  the  state,  and  the  moderates  did  not  exceed  thirty. 
Among  that  number,  however,  was  the  Hon.  R.  W.  Barnwell,  late 
United  States  senator  from  South  Carolina,  Judge  Butler,  the  present 


JAMES  L.  ORR,  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  177 

senator,  and  Colonel  Orr,  each  of  whom  addressed  the  convention  in 
opposition  to  the  policy  of  the  majority.  Colonel  Orr  introduced  the 
resolution  upon  which  the  minority  founded  their  report,  and  which  af 
terwards  formed  the  basis  of  the  co-operation  party ;  for  the  one  was 
known  as  the  secession,  and  the  other  as  the  co-operation  party.  Col. 
Orr's  speech  was  the  most  effective  he  ever  made  on  any  theatre,  and 
so  highly  was  it  appreciated  that  it  was  published  by  the  executive 
committee  of  the  party  in  Charleston,  and  circulated  in  every  district 
and  parish  in  the  commonwealth. 

The  election  of  delegates  to  a  southern  Congress  was  ordered  for 
October,  and  as  no  other  popular  election  was  to  occur,  except  that, 
until  the  probable  meeting  and  action  of  the  convention,  the  co-opera 
tion  party  determined  to  test  the  strength  of  parties  in  that  election. 
Two  deputies  were  to  be  chosen' in  each  congressional  district,  and  the 
party,  by  common  consent,  determined  to  bring  forward  Colonel  Orr 
and  Colonel  Irby,  of  Laurens,  as  their  candidates.  The  secessionists, 
after  declining  to  run  opposition  to  those  gentlemen,  subsequently 
brought  forward  two  gentlemen,  who  enjoyed  more  personal  popularity 
than  any  other  two  persons  in  the  congressional  district.  The  Hon.  R.  F. 
Simpson,  a  member  of  Congress  for  several  years,  a  gentleman  of  high 
character  and  great  moral  worth,  and  the  Hon.  H.  C.  Young,  long  a 
member  of  both  branches  of  the  legislature,  a  distinguished  lawyer,  a 
man  of  talents,  and  enjoying  a  sweeping  practice  at  the  bar.  Colonel 
Orr  commenced  the  canvass  early  in  August,  and  was  either  on  the 
stump  or  on  the  road  almost  every  day,  until  the  second  Monday  in 
October.  After  finishing  the  tour  of  his  own  district,  he  went  into  the 
adjoining  districts,  on  special  invitations  from  his  political  friends.  He 
encountered  the  eloquence  and  personal  popularity  of  his  Excellency 
Gov.  Means,  who  was  reviewing  the  militia  in  that  section  of  the  state 
— who,  when  the  drill  was  ended,  would  address  the  people,  and  urge 
them  that  secession  was  not  only  practicable,  but  that  it  was  their  only 
remedy  against  the  wrongs  of  the  federal  government.  The  governor 
and  Colonel  Orr  each  addressed  six  of  the  eight  regiments  of  militia  in 
the  2d  district ;  Colonel  Orr  subsequently  addressed  the  remaining  two. 
Upon  counting  the  votes,  it  appeared  that  Colonel  Orr  had  received 
5,010,  and  his  highest  opponent  1,806,  giving  the  former  a  majority  in 
his  district,  of  3,204  votes.  When  the  canvass  opened,  five  of  the 
six  newspapers  in  his  district  assailed  his  position  and  brought  all  their 
influence  to  bear  against  him.  When  the  canvass  ended,  he  expressed 
the  opinion  that  there  had  not  been  such  a  change  of  public  opinion  as 
was  supposed,  that  the  opposition  to  secession  had  merely  developed 
itself,  and  that  the  secessionists  had  deceived  themselves  in  assuming 
that  the  majority  was  overwhelming  in  their  favor  in  the  outset.  Du 
ring  the  same  month,  the  Circuit  Courts  commenced,  and  his  labors 
turned  to  a  new  field  ;  in  most  of  the  important  cases  at  Anderson  and 
Pickens  he  was  retained.  He  added,  during  this  circuit,  much  to  his 
reputation  as  a  jurist  and  advocate.  His  duties  at  Washington  prevent 
him  from  attending,  every  other  year,  the  spring  courts  of  his  cir 
cuit  and  the  courts  of  chancery,  and,  all  the  time,  the  appeal  court. 
This  has  and  will  militate  much  against  his  practice — whenever  a  lawyer 
consents  to  embark  in  politics,  he  may  make  up  his  mind,  in  a  great 

12 


178  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

measure,  to  give  up  his  profession.  In  the  great  press  of  political  and 
legal  pursuits,  Colonel  Orr  has  found  time  to  prepare  several  orations 
on  various  topics.  He  delivered,  in  1845,  the  anniversary  oration  be 
fore  the  literary  societies  of  Erskine  College,  and,  in  1851,  before  the 
literary  societies  of  Mercer  University,  Georgia.  His  style  of  speaking 
is  earnest  and  impressive.  His  voice  is  strong  and  clear,  and  his  enun 
ciation  distinct.  He  is  never  tedious,  but  secures  attention  by  the 
sound  and  sensible  views  which  he  takes  of  the  subjects  which  he  dis 
cusses.  The  character  of  his  intellectual  efforts  discloses  the  fact  that 
he  is  capable  of  close  and  continued  application,  and  possesses,  in  a  high 
degree,  the  power  of  discrimination  and  analysis — much  of  his  success 
is  referable  to  confidence  in  his  ability  to  achieve  what  he  undertakes, 
and  a  temper  naturally  sanguine,  sustained  by  an  unusually  healthy  phy 
sical  organization.  Naturally  cheerful,  he  loses  none  of  his  energies 
in  despondency,  and  will  always  make  the  most  of  the  knowledge  he 
may  acquire.  He  is  a  striking  illustration  of  the  frankness  of  the 
southern  gentleman  in  his  manner — with  fine  colloquial  powers  and  a 
decidedly  social  turn,  he  is  a  most  agreeable  companion,  always  contri 
buting  his  share  to  social  pleasures.  He  writes  with  facility  and  cor 
rectness,  and  has  acquired  a  style  well  adapted  to  his  pursuits.  There  is 
little  artificial  either  in  the  manner  of  his  speaking  or  writing,  and  much 
of  the  force  of  both  is  derived  from  this  circumstance.  Indeed,  the  frank 
and  honest  earnestness  with  which  he  impresses  his  views  give  great  force 
and  effect  to  his  efforts  as  a  speaker  or  writer,  and  a  fund  of  sound  infor 
mation,  always  at  his  command,  must  necessarily  secure  to  him  decided 
influence.  Col.  Orr  is  stout  and  athletic,  exhibiting  the  vigor  of  matured 
manhood  combined  with  a  striking  personal  appearance ;  his  phrenological 
developments  indicate  quickness  and  decision  combined  with  consider 
able  powers  of  analysis.  Kind  and  courteous,  his  intercourse  with  his 
fellow-men  will  always  increase  the  number  of  his  friends,  and,  should 
he  continue  in  public  life,  he  is  destined  to  render  valuable  services  to 
his  country.  He  represents  the  district  in  which  the  distinguished  and 
lamented  Calhoun  resided,  and,  in  common  with  all  who  knew  him, 
venerates  the  memory  of  that  illustrious  statesman.  Like  most  of  the 
politicians  of  his  state,  he  cherishes  an  enthusiastic  attachment  to  South 
Carolina  and  her  interests,  which  has,  at  all  times,  so  secured  to  such 
public  servants  the  confidence  of  their  constituents,  as  that  the  term  of 
office,  as  a  representative,  although  nominally  but  two  years,  is  conti 
nued  by  renewal  as  long  as  they  desire  to  serve.  To  this  continuance 
of  the  same  individuals  in  Congress  for  a  number  of  years  is  to  be  at 
tributed  the  great  influence  of  that  state  in  the  public  counsels — a  poli 
cy  founded  in  wisdom  and  justified  by  experience. 


PLINY  CUTLER,  OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  179 

HON.  PLINY  CUTLER, 

OF  BOSTON,  MASSACHUSETTS,  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  ATLANTIC  BANK. 

THE  springs  that  move  society  are  often  concealed  from  the  common 
eye.  We  observe  with  interest  the  movements  of  those  secular 
and  religious  enterprises,  which  obviously  affect  our  welfare  and  that 
of  our  children ;  our  minds  are  justly  turned  towards  the  men  who 
espouse  and  direct  their  maturity  and  vigor ;  but  few  of  us  trace  their 
sources  and  appreciate  the  services  of  those  who,  amidst  doubt  and  dis 
couragement,  brought  them  into  being  and  protected  their  feeble 
infancy.  They  as  frequently  originate  with  men  in  the  business  walks 
of  life,  whose  histories  are  unwritten,  as  with  men  whose  literary  or 
political  career  has  given  them  a  place  on  the  historic  page. 

Nor  is  there  so  much  difference,  in  degree  between  the  intellectual 
activity  and  attainments  of  men  in  business  and  those  of  professed 
scholars,  as  we  are  prone  to  imagine.  The  education  of  the  one  class 
has  respect  to  different  objects  from  that  of  the  other;  their  habits  of 
thought  and  their  relative  views  of  theoretical  and  practical  subjects,  more 
or  less  vary  ;  but  the  amount  of  valuable  mental  activity  is  perhaps 
quite  as  large  on  the  one  side  as  on  the  other.  It  is  therefore  as  justly 
due,  and  as  important  to  mankind,  to  record  the  history  of  men  who 
have  rendered  noble  service  in  the  walks  of  business,  as  that  of  men 
who  have  figured  on  the  more  public  arenas. 

These  facts  are  illustrated  in  the  history  of  him  whose  name  is  at  the 
head  of  this  article.  The  Hon.  Pliny  Cutler,  of  Boston,  was  born 
May  17th,  1783,  in  West  Brookfield,  Massachusetts,  to  which  place 
his  grandfather  removed  from  Lexington,  about  1740.  His  family 
descended  from  Sir  Gervase  Cutler,  of  Norfolkshire,  England,  three 
of  whose  sons,  according  to  tradition,  came  over  to  this  country  previ 
ous  to  1640.  The  subject  of  this  memoir  descended  from  one  of  them, 
who  settled  in  Cambridge  Farms,  since  named  Lexington.  His  imme 
diate  father,  the  eighth  of  nine  sons,  was  the  late  Deacon  Joseph  Cutler, 
a  highly  respectable  farmer  of  West  Brookfield,  whose  sterling  virtues 
are  fresh  in  the  recollections  of  many  still  living.  Descended  directly 
from  the  Puritan  stock,  he  inherited  its  wonted  integrity,  energy  and 
perseverance.  Settling  in  an  unbroken  forest  and  contending  with  all 
the  adverse  circumstances  resulting  from  the  Revolutionary  war  with 
England,  he  subdued  the  wilderness,  gained  an  honest  and  independent 
living,  trained  up  a  numerous  family  in  habits  of  elevated  virtue  and 
industry,  and  left  his  name  and  example  as  a  lasting  heritage  to  the 
town.  For  nearly  fifty  years  he  was  deacon  of  the  church  under  the 
pastoral  care  of  Rev.  Ephraim  Ward,  sustaining  the  character  not  only 
of  an  estimable  citizen,  but  of  an  eminently  devoted  and  consistent 
Christian. 

His  views  and  habits  were  of  the  strict  Puritan  stamp.  All  work  of 
man  and  beast  upon  his  farm  ceased  on  Saturday  afternoon,  an  hour 
before  sunset ;  the  men  shaved  themselves  and  prepared  for  holy  time 
before  the  s  un  went  down ;  the  work  within  doors  was  also  completed, 
even  to  the  preparing  of  the  food  for  the  following  day ;  and  from  the 


ISO  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

going  down  of  the  sun  on  the  eve  of  the  Sabbath  to  the  going 
down  of  the  sun  on  the  Sabbath  day,  no  work,  excepting  that  of 
absolute  necessity  and  mercy,  not  even  the  making  of  a  bed  nor  the 
sweeping  of  a  room,  was  allowed.  The  whole  time  was  devoted 
to  rest,  and  to  the  solemn  duties  of  religion.  Although  he  lived  three 
miles  from  the  place  of  worship,  yet  he  was  ever  promptly  there,  with 
all  his  family,  morning  and  afternoon ;  neither  heat,  nor  cold,  nor 
storm,  being  able  to  turn  his  steadfast  steps  from  the  sanctuary  of 
God. 

These  facts  are  recorded,  not  as  peculiar  to  Deacon  Cutler ;  they  were 
common  to  the  Puritans  of  that  period,  and  they  are  mentioned  in  this 
connection  to  refresh  the  memories  of  the  aged,  and  to  admonish 
the  young  of  this  generation,  of  those  granite-like  religious  sentiments 
which  lie  so  much  at  the  foundation  of  the  present  New-England 
character  and  institutions. 

Pliny  was  the  youngest  of  a  family  of  five  sons  and  five  daughters. 
He  labored  upon  his  father's  farm,  enjoying  the  advantages  of  only  a 
common  school  education,  till  he  was  sixteen  years  old,  when  he  was 
placed  as  an  apprentice  in  a  store  in  Boston,  to  a  firm  with  which 
his  elder  brother  Joseph  was  connected.  This  firm  was  then  doing  an 
extensive  wholesale  business  in  West  India  goods,  supplying  the  coun 
try  stores  over  a  large  part  of  New-England,  and  receiving  produce  in 
return.  He  served  out  his  apprenticeship  of  five  years  with  this  firm, 
devoting  himself  with  intense  application  and  severe  labor  to  the 
interests  of  his  employers,  and  industriously  husbanding  his  spare 
fragments  of  time  to  remedy  the  imperfections  of  his  earlier  education. 
He  continued  in  the  service  of  the  firm  one  year  after  he  became 
of  age,  and  in  1805  commenced  business  for  himself. 

At  the  expiration  of  a  year,  his  brother  Joseph  died,  and  he  formed 
a  connection  with  one  of  his  brother's  partners,  Asa  Whitney,  and  also 
Daniel  Hammond,  under  the  firm  of  Whitney,  Cutler  and  Hammond. 

This  firm  carried  on  a  very  extensive  trade,  probably  surpassed  by 
none  in  New- England,  which  continued  without  interruption  until  1824, 
when  Mr.  Whitney  withdrew.  The  business  was  then  conducted  by 
the  firm  of  Cutler  and  Hammond,  on  a  large  scale,  until  1826,  when  it 
was  principally  relinquished  to  Crockett,  Seaver  &  Co.,  who  continued 
it  with  equal  success,  retaining  the  undiminished  confidence  and 
patronage  of  a  numerous  class  of  customers  extending  over  the  north 
ern  states. 

In  1831,  Mr.  Cutler  retired  in  part  from  the  more  active  labors 
of  mercantile  life,  and  accepted  an  invitation  to  become  president 
of  the  Atlantic  Bank  in  Boston,  and  treasurer  of  the  York  Manufactur 
ing  Company,  to  both  of  which  institutions  he  has  ever  since  sustained 
the  same  relations.  Few,  if  any,  banking  and  manufacturing  establish 
ments  have  been  more  successful  than  these.  They  have  gone  forward 
with  a  steadily  increasing  activity,  and  have  ever  retained  their  hold 
upon  the  public  confidence,  through  all  the  fluctuations  of  business  and 
trade,  for  more  than  twenty  years,  during  which  time  Mr.  Cutler  has 
been  connected  with  them. 

Previous  to   1836,  the  merchants  of  Boston  had  for  sometime  ex- 


PLINY  CUTLER,  OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  181 

perienced  the  want  of  more  ample  accommodations  for  business.  Most 
of  the  stores  on  Kilby  and  the  other  wholesale  streets  were  too  con 
tracted,  and  the  lots  were  not  of  sufficient  depth  to  admit  of  buildings 
on  a  large  and  improved  plan.  In  1836,  Mr.  Cutler  turned  his  atten 
tion  particularly  to  lots  in  Milk  and  Pearl  streets,  then  mostly 
occupied  by  dwelling-houses,  and  conceived  the  plan  of  occupying 
them  for  wholesale  mercantile  houses.  He  purchased  several  lots  and 
built  some  stores  on  Milk-street,  in  advance  of  others  then  in  use  for 
depth  and  convenience,  so  far  from  the  centre  of  trade,  that  most  men 
predicted  a  failure.  Within  two  years,  however,  the  tide  of  business 
turned  in  that  direction ;  the  value  of  land  on  these  streets  doubled  and 
quadrupled;  and  the  most  ample  and  splendid  stores  of  the  city  were 
erected  upon  them.  The  largest  wholesale  business  in  dry  goods  is  now 
done  upon  these  streets.  In  other  parts  also  of  the  city,  his  agency 
was  exerted  in  a  similar  manner. 

But  it  is  the  example  which  he  has  given  us  of  the  manner  in  which 
mercantile  business  ought  to  be  conducted,  that  we  are  mostly  to  con 
sider.  He  is  one  of  the  few  merchants  that  NEVER  FAILED.  He 
has  always  met  every  engagement,  promptly  and  fully. 

The  time  in  which  he  has  been  variously  engaged  in  business  in  Bos 
ton,  embraces  a  period  of  about  half  a  century.  During  this  period, 
vast  changes  and  reverses  in  business,  occasioned  by  embargoes,  by 
war  with  Great  Britain,  by  the  closing  and  failure  of  banks,  by  disas 
trous  speculations  and  unforeseen  casualties,  have  prostrated,  once  and 
again,  the  hopes  and  fortunes  of  a  large  portion  of  those  engaged 
in  trade. 

But  while  Mr.  Cutler  has  shared  in  these  losses,  it  has  never  been  his 
misfortune  to  contribute  to  them.  He  has  always  paid  his  debts  fully 
and  honorably,  when  they  were  due.  Much  of  his  success  in  business, 
he  has  often  been  heard  to  say,  is  to  be  ascribed  to  the  assiduous  appli 
cation  and  unbending  integrity  of  his  partner,  Daniel  Hammond,  who 
is  still  living  in  the  midst  of  a  numerous  and  happy  family,  to  enjoy 
the  fruits  of  his  labors.  It  is  pleasant  to  record,  that  during  the  entire 
period  of  their  connection  in  business,  in  circumstances  often  very  trying 
and  vexatious,  not  an  unkind  feeling  or  hasty  word  ever  occurred  between 
them.  Their  business  was  conducted  with  that  steady  caution,  prudent 
foresight  and  unwavering  integrity,  which  never  failed  to  ensure  confi 
dence  and  success. 

Such  an  example  is  worthy  of  the  study  and  imitation  of  all  young 
merchants.  It  is  such  examples  that  have  given  to  Boston  merchants 
the  high  reputation  which  they  have  so  justly  enjoyed. 

The  interest  which  Mr.  Cutler  early  acquired  in  agricultural  pursuits, 
did  not  forsake  him  after  engaging  in  the  more  exciting  employments 
of  mercantile  and  public  life.  He  has  usually  owned  and  carried  on  a 
farm  in  the  country,  and  has  spent  some  portions  of  his  time  upon  it, 
furnishing  practical  examples  of  cultivating  and  enriching-  lands,  and  of 
improving  the  various  arts  of  husbandry,  which  have  been  of  essential 
value  to  farmers.  Much  of  the  time  which  most  gentlemen  devote  to 
traveling  and  recreation,  in  seasons  of  leisure,  he  has  spent  upon  his 
farm,  thus  securing  relief  from  the  feverish  agitations  of  business,  in  a 
way  to  combine  usefulness  and  health  with  rational  enjoyment.  He 


182  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

has  thus  reached  his  threescore  and  tenth  year  in  the  full  vigor  of 
manhood. 

Mr.  Cutler  has  been  to  some  extent  engaged  in  public  life.  In  1822 
and  1823  he  was  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives.  In  1830 
and  1831  he  was  a  member  of  the  Senate.  He  rendered  important 
services  to  his  constituents,  and  was  especially  useful  on  committees. 
But  it  is  his  connection  with  moral  and  educational  interests  which  we 
deem  more  particularly  deserving  of  notice. 

He  early  commenced  a  systematic  appropriation  of  time  and  money 
to  charitable  and  religious  objects. 

He  was  associated  with  a  few  other  gentlemen  in  efforts  to  check  the 
progress  of  vice  in  Boston,  and  to  elevate  the  standard  of  morals.  With 
this  view  they  met,  in  1817,  at  the  house  of  Rev.  Joshua  Huntington, 
pastor  of  the  Old  South  Church,  and  formed  what  was  called  "  The 
Society  for  the  Religious  and  Moral  Instruction  of  the  Poor."  Direc 
tors  were  appointed,  and  two  gentlemen  were  designated  to  open  a 
school  on  the  next  Sabbath.  These  gentlemen  were  Mr.  Cutler  and 
William  Thurston,  Esq.  They  procured  a  place  in  Short  (now  King 
ston)  street,  where  the  first  Sabbath-school  was  opened.  It  was  super 
intended  by  these  two  gentlemen,  one  of  them  taking  charge  of  it  in  the 
forenoon,  and  the  other  in  the  afternoon.  This  school  was  afterwards 
removed  to  Mason-street,  where  it  has  prosperously  continued  to  the 
present  time.  Sabbath-schools  have  since  greatly  multiplied,  and  have 
extended  over  the  whole  country. 

The  Society  for  the  Religious  and  Moral  Instruction  of  the  Poor,  re 
ferred  to  above,  early  turned  its  attention  to  the  wants  of  seamen. 
This  society  employed  the  Rev.  Dr.  Jenks  to  preach  to  them  half  of 
the  day  on  the  Sabbath,  and  the  other  half  of  the  day  to  a  neglected 
population,  including  a  class  of  degraded  females,  in  the  west  part 
of  the  city.  Several  of  them  expressed  a  desire  to  return  to  virtuous 
habits,  but  they  had  no  friends  to  receive  them.  The  society  opened 
a  correspondence  with  institutions  in  London,  to  obtain  light  upon  this 
subject,  which  resulted  in  the  purchasing  of  a  house  and  the  establishing 
of  a  Penitent  Female  Refuge,  under  the  charge  of  an  aged  matron.  By 
this  instrumentality  many  females  have  been  rescued  from  the  path  of 
vice  and  restored  to  respectability  and  virtue. 

The  Society  for  the  Religious  and  Moral  Instruction  of  the  Poor  gave 
birth,  also,  to  the  Seamen's  Friends'  Society,  of  which  Mr.  Cutler  was 
one  of  the  earliest  and  most  liberal  benefactors,  and  for  many  years  the 
president. 

From  the  same  source  originated  the  Savings  Bank  for  Seamen  in 
Boston,  now  called  the  Suffolk  Savings  Institution,  of  which  Mr.  Cutler 
was  also  the  president. 

The  Sailors'  Home  and  the  Mariners'  Church  are  indebted  for  their 
existence  to  the  same  instrumentality.  This  society  also  employed  city 
missionaries,  whose  object  was  to  reach  and  evangelize  the  classes  not 
connected  with  any  religious  worship ;  which  led  to  the  formation  of  a 
City  Missionary  Society.  All  of  the  above  societies  are  still  in  effective 
operation. 

The  same  parent  Society  for  Religious  and  Moral  Instruction  ascer 
tained  that  many  children  who  offered  themselves  to  the  Sabbath 


PLINY  CUTLER,  OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  183 

School  were  unable  to  read,  and  were  thus  prevented  from  entering  the 
public  grammar  schools.  The  society  chose  a  committee,  who  visited 
every  house  in  the  city,  and  reported  a  large  number  of  children  grow 
ing  up  in  ignorance,  for  want  of  early  instruction  at  the  public  expense. 
The  society  sent  a  committee  to  New- York  and  Philadelphia  to 
examine  the  Lancasterian  schools  there  established,  who  reported 
against  the  expediency  of  introducing  them.  It  was  at  length  resolved 
to  establish  primary  schools,  for  the  instruction  of  children  between  the 
ages  of  four  and  seven,  that  they  might  be  fitted  for  admission  into  the 
grammar  schools.  After  much  opposition  by  leading  men,  this  plan 
was  adopted  in  town-meeting,  and  money  was  appropriated  for  the 
object.  These  schools  have  now  increased  to  nearly  two  hundred,  and 
are  second  in  usefulness  to  no  others  in  the  city. 

In  the  establishment  of  all  these  institutions,  Mr.  Cutler  took  an  active 
part,  and  devoted  his  full  share  of  time  and  influence  to  sustain  and 
cherish  them. 

It  is  interesting  thus  to  notice  the  great  results  which  come  from 
small  beginnings.  Most  men  now  upon  the  stage  are  unapprised  of  the 
state  of  things,  in  a  moral  and  religious  view,  half  a  century  ago. 
This  obscure  Society  for  the  Religious  and  Moral  Instruction  of  the 
Poor,  then  scarcely  known  but  by  the  few  individuals  who  formed  and 
sustained  it  by  their  personal  efforts  and  benefactions,  at  a  time  when 
there  was  but  little  doing  to  raise  the  standard  of  morals  and  reclaim 
the  wandering,  has  been  silently  instrumental,  as  we  have  seen,  in 
bringing  into  existence  many  of  those  cherished  institutions  which  are 
now  blessing  our  country  and  the  world. 

Mr.  Cutler  was  most  happy  in  his  domestic  relations.  He  early 
formed  a  connection,  by  marriage,  with  the  widow  of  his  brother 
Joseph,  a  daughter  of  Rev.  Ephraim  Ward,  who  was  a  settled  minister 
in  West  Brookfield  nearly  half  a  century,  over  the  church  of  which  his 
father  was  deacon.  Her  mother  was  a  Colman,  grand-daughter  of  Mr. 
John  Colman,  an  eminent  merchant  of  Boston,  brother  of  Dr.  Benjamin 
Colman,  pastor  of  the  Brattle-street  church. 

Mrs.  Cutler  was  a  woman  of  great  excellence.  She  died  in  March, 
1852,  having  ever  been  the  light  and  joy  of  her  domestic  circle,  and 
having  contributed,  in  the  highest  degree,  to  the  happiness  and  useful 
ness  of  him  with  whom  she  had  been  connected  in  marriage  over  forty- 
two  years.  The  following  extract  from  a  "  biographical  sketch  of  Mrs. 
Cutler,"  published  soon  after  her  decease,  will  not  be  inappropriate 
here: 

"  Seldom  has  the  church  militant  sustained  a  greater  loss,  or  the 
church  triumphant  received  a  greater  accession,  than  by  the  death  of 
this  excellent  woman.  As  her  life  has  been  a  bright  example,  so  her 
death  was  a  glorious  witness,  of  the  beauty  and  power  of  Christian 
faith.  The  daughter  of  an  excellent  clergyman — the  late  Rev.  Ephraim 
Ward,  of  West  Brookfield — she  was  early  taught  that  religion,  and  her 
heart  cordially  received  it,  which  shone  with  such  a  calm  and  clear 
lustre  through  a  long  and  useful  life,  and  which  rendered  her  so  signal 
ly  triumphant  over  the  protracted  sufferings  of  mortality  and  the 
terrors  of  death. 

"  Her  first  religious  connection  in  Boston  was  with  the  Old  South 


184  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

Church,  of  which  she  has  been  a  steadfast  and  devoted  member  forty- 
five  years,  extending  to  the  time  of  her  death.  Very  many,  especially 
clergymen,  in  our  own  and  in  foreign  lands,  will  never  cease  to  remem 
ber  the  cordial  hospitalities  of  the  parlor  and  the  table,  the  kind 
and  unwearied  attentions  to  their  comfort,  the  delightful  seasons  of 
social  prayer  and  Christian  interviews  which  in  years  past  they  have 
enjoyed  in  her  house.  Few  have  done  more  than  she,  while  health 
and  strength  permitted,  towards  contributing  to  the  hospitalities  of 
Boston." 

Mr.  Cutler  has  been  a  member  of  the  Old  South  Church  for  forty-two 
years,  and  for  the  last  twenty-six  years  of  that  period  has  sustained  in 
it  the  office  of  deacon. 

The  life  of  Mr.  Cutler  furnishes  an  encouraging  example  to  young 
men.  They  here  see  that  by  a  course  of  industry  and  strict  integrity, 
they  may  not  only  elevate  themselves  to  affluence  and  honor,  but  that 
they  may  do  it  in  a  way  which  also  confers  large  and  lasting  benefits 
upon  mankind.  Too  many  are  eager  only  for  personal  wealth  and 
renown.  By  following  the  example  here  furnished,  by  making  the 
pursuits  of  gain  and  honor  subordinate  to  personal  character  and 
the  welfare  of  mankind,  they  may  surely  realize  the  highest  and  brightest 
hopes  of  early  ambition. 


HON.  WILLIAM  PARKER, 

OF  BOSTON,  MASSACHUSETTS,  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  BOYLSTON  BANK. 

IN  our  sketch  of  the  Lawyers  of  America,  we  alluded  to  the  absence 
on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  of  privileged  classes,  and  in  the  allusion,  as 
particularly  applied  to  Chancellor  Walworth,  we  asserted  that  native 
talent  was  prescribed  to  no  class  of  country.  The  climate  and  early 
history  of  New-England  afford  numerous  illustrations  of  the  remark; 
and  our  readers  will  have  discerned,  if  there  is  a  field  for  talent  and 
worth,  of  all  others  that  section  of  the  Union  supplies  the  arena  for  com 
petition,  and  perhaps  for  the  greatest  contest  of  mind  with  mind  above 
others  the  most  severe.  The  general  diffusion  of  elementary  education 
among  the  masses  has  usually  brought  out  a  higher  standard  for  emi 
nence  among  themselves  than  in  most  other  states,  and  although  we 
will  allow  the  meed  of  distinction  to  native  talent,  still,  without  dispar 
agement  to  their  assiduity  and  perseverance,  we  will  venture  the  asser 
tion,  that  with  few  exceptions  the  great  men  of  the  eastern  states,  are 
more  indebted  to  their  industry  and  pertinacity  in  contending  with  the 
obscurity  and  indigence  which  they  may  have  inherited,  than  to  gifts 
of  intellectual  supremacy.  Under  other  conditions  it  is  not  easy  to 
conjecture  the  relative  quantum  of  talent  which  should  be  legitimately 
awarded  to  this  section  of  our  whole  country ;  we  are,  however,  still 
apt  to  look  at  results,  all  other  things  being  duly  considered,  than  to 
lely  on  assumptions  or  theories.  It  cannot  indeed  be  denied,  that  the 


WILLIAM  PARKER,  OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  185 

eastern  states,  whence  emigration  is  so  general,  and  we  would  say  so 
valuable  to  the  adopted  locality,  be  it  where  it  may,  afford  much  talent 
and  erudition ;  but  we  will  indorse  the  jocular  assertion  of  one  of  their 
own  great  men,  that  it  is  a  good  place  to  come  from.  We  mean  no 
reflection  in  the  remark,  but  would  follow  out  the  analogy  of  vegetable 
economy,  that  from  transplanting  and  ingrafting  native  productions, 
the  energy  and  vigor  of  the  scion  are  better  developed. 

There  is  a  class  of  minds  which  are  brought  out  at  a  later  period  than 
others,  and  the  staid  and  sober  training  which  early,  severe,  and  perhaps 
rigid  education  has  prescribed,  does  not  attain  its  due  versatility  until 
mature  years,  and  important  changes  of  habits  and  associations  have 
imparted  a  more  enlarged  field  of  observation  and  experience.  Acade 
mical  discipline  does  much  to  contract  and  narrow  the  scope  of  action 
of  many  a  youth  destined  for  busy  life ;  and  habits  of  abstraction  are 
often  to  be  unlearned  before  the  business  of  life,  and  intercourse  with 
those  engaged  in  its  pursuits,  can  be  assumed  with  advantage  and  suc 
cess.  It  may  be  inferred  that  those  individuals,  who  in  the  onset  of 
their  career  have  been  compelled  to  embrace  some  profession  as  a 
means  of  livelihood,  too  often  have  discovered  the  choice  unsuited  to 
their  temperament  and  taste,  if  not  entirely  hostile  to  their  fame  and 
interest ;  and  in  their  irksomeness  and  repugnance,  have  found  a  change 
of  pursuits  imperative.  In  later  life  many  individuals  have  been  fortu 
nate  enough  to  have  realized  the  poet's  theme- 

The  first  inconstancy  of  unripe  years 
Is  nature's  error,  on  its  way  to  truth." 

And  should  our  readers  meet  with  any  instances  of  this  kind  in  the 
course  of  our  series  of  biographical  memoirs,  the  future  success  of  the  in 
dividuals  who  may  be  the  subject  of  our  pages,  may  be  attributed  to  such 
an  error,  and  will  afford  its  own  apology.  Such,  however,  was  not  the 
case  with  the  subject  of  our  present  memoir. 

William  Parker  is  the  fifth  of  seven  sons,  and  one  of  thirteen  chil 
dren  of  the  late  Rt.  Rev.  Samuel  Parker,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  eastern 
states  of  New-England.  He  was  born  in  Boston,  in  Massachusetts,  on 
the  7th  of  November,  1793.  The  father  was  a  native  of  Portsmouth, 
in  New-Hampshire,  and  was  first  settled  in  Trinity  Church,  in  Boston, 
as  assistant  minister,  and  received  the  order  of  deacon  and  priest  in  the 
city  of  London,  from  the  hands'  of  Dr.  Tench,  then  bishop  of  that  see. 
He  afterwards  was  made  rector  of  Trinity  Church,  the  incumbent  hav 
ing  left  the  country  in  the  Revolutionary  war.  The  firmness  and  con 
stancy  of  Bishop  Parker  in  preserving  the  faith  and  ritual  of  the  Epis 
copal  Church,  under  the  most  persecuting  circumstances,  is  well  known 
to  those  who  are  conversant  with  the  history  of  the  Episcopal  Church 
of  the  United  States.  The  mother  of  Mr.  Parker,  Anne  Cutler,  was 
the  daughter  of  John  Cutler,  Esq.,  who  lived  to  an  advanced  age,  and 
was  a  well-known  and  respectable  citizen  of  Boston.  She  survived  her 
husband,  and  died  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety-one  years.  We  find 
the  ancestry  of  Mr.  William  Parker  were  in  the  direct  line  from  Eng 
lish  descent,  and  in  the  paternal  branch  from  the  Stanley  family,  which 
had  then  at  its  head  the  Earl  of  Derby,  who  was  in  the  immediate  an 
cestral  line  of  the  present  Premier  of  England.  The  daughter  of  the 


186  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

Ear],  Zeorate  Stanley,  having  emigrated  to  Portsmouth,  in  New-Hamp 
shire,  there  married  William  Parker,  the  great  grandfather  of  our  pres 
ent  subject. 

The  education  of  Mr.  Parker  was  altogether  one  which  may  be 
deemed  private,  he  having  been  fitted  for  the  senior  class  of  Harvard 
University  under  private  tutors  and  one  of  the  professors  of  that  college. 
The  event  of  his  father's  death  deprived  him  of  the  means,  at  that  time, 
of  completing  the  course  of  academical  study,  and,  consequently,  of  a 
diploma,  which  was  gratuitously  conferred  afterwards  by  Brown  Uni 
versity  at  Providence.  He  was  entered  a  student-at-law  in  the  office 
of  Samuel  D.  Parker,  Esquire,  the  late  district-attorney  of  Massachu 
setts  ;  with  this  gentleman  he  remained  until  the  year  before  his  admis 
sion  to  the  state  courts  as  a  practitioner,  in  1818,  and  completed  his 
course  of  study  with  the  late  Thomas  O.  Selfridge,  Esquire,  with  whom 
he  afterwards  continued,  and,  in  cases  from  that  office,  was  retained  as 
junior  counsel.  His  straitened  circumstances  required  his  entire  efforts 
to  maintain  himself,  being  a  young  man  with  no  other  means  than  his 
own  professional  assiduity.  Aware  of  his  position,  and  revolting  at  the 
thought  of  leaning  on  the  scanty  means  of  his  widowed  mother,  whose 
numerous  family  required  all  her  rigid  economy,  from  the  age  of  sixteen, 
he  obtained  a  livelihood  for  himself,  and  did  what  was  in  his  power  to  aid 
her  to  bring  up  her  younger  and  dependent  children.  Having  passed 
through  the  usual  stages  of  professional  advancement  prescribed  by 
the  courts  of  Massachusetts,  and  being  retained  in  a  cause  of  some 
importance  by  a  public  institution  in  Hartford,  involving  principles  of 
new  impression  as  well  as  a  large  amount,  which  originated  in  a  fraudu 
lent  assignment,  as  was  then  supposed,  with  eminent  counsel  on  both 
sides,  in  1826,  he  was  admitted  a  counselor  at  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States.  The  case,  although  decided  adversely  against  the 
clients  of  Mr.  Parker,  was  a  leading  case,  being  one  of  first  impression, 
and  the  clients  of  Mr.  Parker  were  satisfied  with  his  professional  dili 
gence  and  attention,  and  afterwards  recommended  to  his  care  others, 
who  consulted  and  employed  him  in  cases  very  similar,  involving  ques 
tions  which  afterwards  were  decided  in  favor  of  the  principles  estab 
lished  by  the  decision  alluded  to.  By  excessive  application  to  the  du 
ties  of  his  profession,  he  contracted  a  disease,  which  seemed  to  forbid  a 
continuance  of  his  professional  labors.  During  the  intervals  of 'profes 
sional  duties,  he  was  a  contributor  to  several  literary  periodicals  of  the 
day,  and  several  offices  of  emolument  were  proffered  him,  which  his 
health  required  him  to  decline.  For  several  years  a  strict  regimen 
was  enjoined  him  by  his  medical  advisers,  and,  notwithstanding  the 
most  abstemious  diet  and  exact  regimens  were  adopted,  it  was  found 
that  an  entire  omission  of  professional  and  sedentary  employment  be 
came  indispensable.  A  residence  in  a  southern  climate  was  recom 
mended,  and  he  left  his  native  city,  in  a  sailing-ship,  for  Charleston,  in 
South  Carolina;  in  January,  with,  as  he  then  supposed,  little  hope  of  a 
return.  The  voyage  was  tempestuous,  and  the  vessel  had  a  passage  of 
fifteen  days,  the  greater  part  of  which  was  in  the  gulf-stream,  during 
which  a  continual  storm,  with  thunder  and  lightning,  rendered  the  ves 
sel  in  a  perilous  condition.  At  that  time,  it  was  usual  with  large  ves 
sels,  bound  from  the  eastern  states  to  the  extreme  southern  ports,  to 


WILLIAM  PARKER,  OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  187 

cross  the  gulf  and  to  make  the  southing  on  the  outside  of  it,  thereby 
avoiding  the  dangerous  navigation  of  approaching  the  land  near  Frying- 
pan  Shoals  or  Cape  Hatteras.  This  voyage,  and  the  milder  skies  of  a 
southern  latitude,  proved  highly  beneficial  to  the  subject  of  our  memoir ; 
and  although,  at  the  time  of  his  embarkation,  he  was  in  a  state  of  ex 
treme  debility,  and  hardly  able  to  walk  without  aid,  the  effort  of  brac 
ing  himself  to  meet  the  dangers  of  a  sea  voyage  seemed  to  rally  his 
energies,  and  was  the  means  of  his  convalescence.  In  Charleston  and 
in  Savannah,  whither  he  extended  his  tour,  )ie  was  received  with  the 
well-known  hospitality  for  which  the  citizens  of  those  states  are  renown 
ed,  and  was  introduced  to  the  society  of  public  men,  to  whom  his  in 
troductory  letters  gave  him  access.  The  genial  air  of  the  climate  ren 
dered  his  strength  sufficient  to  travel  homeward  by  land.  His  letters 
introductory  were  unsolicited,  and  were  from  individuals  of  the  first  rank, 
on  whom  his  diffidence  would  have  deterred  him  from  calling.  They 
contained  orders  for  unlimited  credit,  and,  to  his  surprise,  the  corres 
pondents  called  upon  him  in  the  expectation  that  his  drafts  would  have 
been  to  a  large  amount.  He,  however,  did  not  have  occasion  for  the  use 
of  any  further  funds  than  he  had  taken  with  him.  The  good  intentions  of 
his  friends  had  preceded  his  arrival,  as  he  was  surprised  that  they  had 
placed  at  his  disposal  their  money  and  credit.  The  mind  of  Mr.  Parker 
was  too  active,  and  his  sense  of  obligation  too  keen,  to  remain  unem 
ployed,  and,  from  a  conscientious  duty  to  himself,  he  scorned  to  eat 
the  bread  of  idleness.  On  his  return  home  he  resumed  his  duties  as  a 
lawyer,  and  in  1826  he  was  married  to  the  daughter  of  the  late  Isaac 
Stephens,  Esq.,  of  Boston,  a  gentleman  well  known  for  his  extensive 
intercourse  in  Virginia,  and  for  his  public  spirit  and  philanthropy  at 
home.  The  benevolence  of  this  gentleman  in  enterprises  of  a  public 
nature,  and  his  helping  and  encouraging  hand  to  young  men  who  ex 
hibited  a  proper  respect  for  themselves  by  attention  and  engagements  in 
mercantile  enterprises,  has  made  his  name  conspicuous  among  the 
commercial  community  of  his  adopted  place.  The  mental  accomplish 
ments  of  this  lady,  with  her  acknowledged  personal  attractions,  contribut 
ed,  in  no  small  degree,  in  promoting  the  welfare  and  happiness  of  her  hus 
band  ;  for,  although  unambitious  for  the  gaity  of  fashionable  society,  for 
which  she  had  but  little  partiality,  she  soon  proved  one  "  who  was  not 
born  to  blush  unseen,"  and  her  many  admirers  were  surprised  by  the 
announcement  of  the  affianced  one  on  whom  she  had  bestowed  her 
hand.  It  has  been  the  good  fortune  of  this  alliance  to  have  bred  four 
children,  two  of  whom  are  females,  now  married  and  well  settled,  and 
a  son  who  attained  academical  honors  at  Harvard  University,  and  the 
remaining  daughter,  now  in  early  womanhood. 

It  has  fallen  to  the  lot  of  Mr.  Parker,  who,  it  may  be  remarked, 
never  sought  political  notoriety,  to  have  enjoyed  the  confidence  of  the 
party  to  which  he  was  attached.  From  step  to  step  he  has  been  ad 
vanced  from  the  regular  grade  of  municipal  office,  through  the  direction 
and  management  of  the  public  schools,  a  seat  in  the  city  council,  an 
alderman  for  five  years,  during  the  last  of  which  he  was  chosen  chair 
man,  and  as  such  discharged  the  duties  of  mayor  of  the  city,  and  re 
ceived  the  salary  appendant  to  the  office  for  several  months.  While 
absent  on  a  journey,  his  name  was  canvassed  as  candidate  for  that 


188  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS, 

office,  and  the  opposing  candidate  was  elected,  by  some  dozen  votes, 
during  the  excitement  of  the  native  American  party. 

The  duties  of  the  legal  profession  are  onerous  to  any  one  who  enjoys 
a  moderate  share  of  practice,  and  more  particularly,  where  the  common 
law  embraces  so  large  a  share  of  the  jurisprudence  of  the  state,  as  is 
the  case  in  Massachusetts.     The  commerce  of  a  metropolis,  however, 
renders  the  practice  of  the  law,  within  its  precincts,  peculiar  to  the  bar 
and  the  bench  in  the  country ;  and  it  is  no  creditable  exhibition  to  place 
a  country  practitioner  on  a  circuit  which  includes  the  city  practice, 
where  questions  are  of  daily  occurrence  which  necessarily  must  be  local. 
Indeed,  we  are  assured,  that  when  a  member  of  a  circuit  court  of  Com 
mon  Pleas  held  his  first  session  in  the  city  of  Boston,  in  a  cause  of  no 
novel  impression,  where  the  relative  duties  of  master  and  seaman  were 
discussed,  the  judge,  in  his  charge  to  the  jury,  informed  them,  that  he 
was  unacquainted  with  maritime  law,  and  would  not  undertake  to  give 
them  any  instructions  as  to  the  rights  of  either  party,  and  it  was  their 
province,  under  such  circumstances,  to  return  such  a  verdict  as  their 
discretion  might  dictate.     By  the  assiduity  and  close  application  to  the 
cares  of  his  profession,  the  symptoms  of  his  former  complaint  re-ap 
peared,  which  admonished  Mr.  Parker  of  the  necessity  of  a  radical 
change  in  his  pursuits.     He  supposed  himself  so  well  acquainted  with 
the  management  of  his  complaint,  that  he  could  mitigate,  if  not  subdue, 
its  attacks,  by  closely  watching  his  diet  and  adopting  a  regimen  which 
seemed  to  be  incompatible  with  the  attention  due  at  business  hours,  and  a 
faithful  discharge  of  duties  to  his  clients.     Under  these  circumstances, 
active  life  suggested  to  him  the  only  terms  which  would  probably  relieve 
the  inroads  of  disease.     A  proposal  was  made  to  him  by  both  partners  in 
the  mercantile  house  of  his  father-in-law,  to  become  an  associate  in  the 
concern.     This  proposal  being  duly  considered,  he  determined  to  accept, 
and  accordingly  he  entered  upon  a  mercantile  career  in  March,  1833. 
The  transactions  of  the  firm  were  large  as  well  as  extensive,  and  the 
financial  branch  of  the  business  was  assigned  to  him.     The  commercial 
embarrassments  of  1836  and  1837  proved  a  severe  check  to  the  mer 
cantile  community,  and,  in  a  commission  house,  where  large  advances 
had  been  made  upon  shipments,  which  must  necessarily  remain  on 
hand,  or  must  have  been  disposed  of  at  prices  ruinous  to  shipper  and 
consignee,  it  was  no  easy  task  to  manage  the  affairs  of  the  joint  inter 
est  with  firmness  and  safety  ;  and  while  others  were  obliged  to  submit 
to  exorbitant  terms  for  means  to  sustain  their  operations,  the  affairs  of 
this  house  were  conducted  with  apparent  ease,  and  with  but  little  appre 
hension.     While  their  negotiated  paper  was  returned  upon  their  hands, 
they  were  compelled  to  sustain  others  who  had  no  claim  to  their  aid, 
and  from  the  known  character  of  the  members  of  the  firm,  on  account 
of  their  firmness  and  promptitude,  they  enjoyed  the  full  confidence  of 
all  with  whom  they  were  connected.     Mr.  Parker  remained  a  partner 
in  this  connection  until  the  death  of  the  senior  partner,  a  period  of  about 
six  years,  when  the  connection  expired  by  its  own  limitation.     Having 
the  affairs  of  the  family  on  his  hands,  he  retired  from  further  mercantile 
operations  until  the  affairs  of  the  late  partnership  were  adjusted,  and 
the  family  of  his  wife  were  in  a  position  not  to  require  mercantile 
aid. 


WILLIAM  PARKER,  OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  189 

In  April,  1844,  Mr.  Parker  went  to  Europe,  having  been  entrusted 
with  government  dispatches  to  the  United  States  minister  at  the  court 
of  St.  James ;  thence  with  his  wife  he  made  a  tour  through  the  conti 
nent  by  way  of  France,  Italy,  Germany,  and  the  Khine,  to  Belgium, 
and  returned  through  France  to  England,  whence  he  visited  Ireland, 
Scotland,  and  Wales.  On  his  return,  in  1845,  he  was  again  solicited 
by  his  constituents  to  take  a  part  in  the  management  of  the  city 
government,  and  was  elected  senior  alderman,  where  he  remained 
several  years.  The  many  important  trusts  which  this  apparently  in 
considerable  office  involves  require  not  only  the  exercise  of  a  sound  dis 
cretion  but  also  an  impartial  discharge  of  duty  amid  conflicting  interests. 
He  was  president  of  several  committees,  to  whom  are  committed  the 
disbursement  of  large  sums  of  money  from  the  public  treasury,  and 
also  a  committee  of  superintendence  of  the  accounts  of  the  treasury  itself, 
from  which  millions  were  annually  issued.  He  was  also  president 
of  the  board  of  directors  of  the  public  lunatic  hospital  for  several 
years.  In  this  latter  institution  Mr.  Parker  felt  a  warm  interest,  and  as 
a  means  of  extensive  charity,  as  well  as  a  field  for  the  exercise  of  phil 
anthropy,  he  devoted  much  time  to  its  management  and  direction. 
Persuaded,  by  closely  investigating  the  causes  of  the  malady  of  the 
inmates,  that  in  most  cases  physical  rather  than  moral  causes  produced 
the  state  in  which  the  patients  were  found,  he  directed  his  attention  to 
the  remedial  treatment  under  such  a  belief,  and  the  treatment,  in  many 
cases,  effected  a  restoration  of  the  patient  to  his  reason  and  his  friends. 
The  statistics  and  reports  made  by  Mr.  Parker  to  the  city  government 
proved  the  fact,  and  although  many  remained  for  years,  who  had  been 
deemed  incurable,  and  were  afterwards  relieved,  yet  in  the  majority  of 
cases  physical  remedies  were  found  to  have  produced  a  permanent  cure. 
We  can  hardly  imagine  a  greater  sphere  of  utility  than  to  relieve  the 
poor,  the  abandoned  and  friendless,  from  the  effects  of  a  malady  which 
ranks  in  the  catalogue  of  human  infirmities  as  the  most  deplorable. 
During  this  period  (1846)  Mr.  Parker  was  elected  to  the  state  legis 
lature.  The  duties  of  legislative  committees  are  laborious,  and  some 
what  irksome.  To  those  who  are  acquainted  with  the  machinery  of 
legislative  preliminaries  it  will  afford  no  great  information  to  detiil  the 
fact,  that  one  or  two  members  of  a  committee  generally  determine 
questions  of  moment,  and  the  report  is  then  entrusted  to  the  master, 
spirits  of  the  assembly,  and  in  ordinary  cases  bills  may  be  carried  in 
both  houses  as  it  were  sub  silentio.  Mr.  Parker  was  placed  on  com 
mittees  of  importance  on  towns,  assessment  of  taxes,  and  subjects  re 
lating  to  banks,  and  by  diligence  and  searching  investigation  reported 
bills  which  now  remain  in  the  statute  book  permanent  laws.  Holding 
office  simultaneously  in  the  municipal  government,  subjects  requiring 
legislative  action,  in  which  the  interests  of  the  city  were  involved,  were 
committed  to  him,  and  the  result  was,  the  objects  in  view  in  behalf  of 
the  city  were  attained. 

During  the  period  alluded  to,  the  great  question  of  the  introduction 
of  pure  water  into  the  city  of  Boston  was  agitated,  and  Mr  Parker  was 
a  member  of  the  committee,  for  several  years,  to  accomplish  that  ob 
ject.  The  distance  through  which  the  only  abundant  source  of  supply 
could  be  obtained,  and  the  large  expenditure  which  the  estimated  cost 


190  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

required,  was  an  obstacle  which  embarrassed  the  minds  of  many  of  the 
most  enlightened  citizens,  who  were  eminent  as  civilians  and  promi 
nent  as  capitalists.  For,  although  it  was  contemplated  as  a  corporate 
undertaking  of  the  city,  the  powers  which  the  municipality  possessed 
were  inadequate  to  the  accomplishment  of  the  object.  The  course  of 
the  survey  was  directed  through  valuable  farms,  and  over  rivers,  which 
it  required  legislative  authority  to  sanction,  and  it  proved  in  the  same 
ratio  as  the  necessity  of  the  city  required,  that  exorbitant  prices  were 
affixed  by  those  proprietors  whose  permission  was  to  be  first  obtained. 
It  was  also  found  that  adverse  interests  were  at  stake  in  prescribing  the 
location  ;  and,  as  an  alternative,  other  sources  of  supply  were  suggested 
and  strongly  advocated.  Spot  Pond,  Charles  River,  the  Merrimac,  and 
others  were  advocated,  and  the  popular  predilection  in  favor  of  these 
places  was  exhibited.  The  only  one,  however,  which  was  finally 
adopted,  proved  the  proper  source,  and  the  committee  met  with  many 
and  almost  insurmountable  difficulties  in  their  task.  The  relative 
merits  of  each  underwent  severe  scrutiny,  and  were  the  subjects  and 
theme  of  many  voluminous  pamphlets  and  public  journals,  and  probably 
the  city  council  was  not  much  more  unanimous  in  their  discussions. 
In  the  management  of  the  question  before  the  legislative  committee, 
Mr.  Parker  took  a  prominent  part,  being  then  the  senior  alderman,  and 
had  a  directing  voice ;  and  although  the  matter  was  to  be  consummated 
under  a  succeeding  administration,  his  efforts  were  influential  in  its 
final  accomplishment.  To  the  exertions  of  the  pioneers  of  this  ex 
tensive  work  are  the  citizens  of  Boston  indebted  for  the  fruits  of  its  ac 
complishment,  the  advantage  and  benefits  of  which  future  generations 
will  acknowledge  and  appreciate.  To  the  curious  of  the  present  day 
the  arguments  and  prophetic  predictions  which  the  authors  of  those 
vplumes  adduced  in  opposing  this  useful  enterprise  will  appear  strange 
and  illogical,  and  it  may  afford  much  diversion  to  perceive  how  the 
minds  of  sensible  and  discreet  individuals  may  be  misled,  and  by  how 
dim  a  medium  their  intellectual  vision  was  obscured  since  the  introduc 
tion  of  Cochituate  water  into  the  metropolis  of  New-England. 

The  question  of  itself  had  but  a  local  application,  and  would  hardly 
afford  interest  to  those  who  are  remote  from  its  locality ;  yet  it  will  ex 
hibit,  in  strong  terms,  how  fallacious  is  the  judgment  of  prominent 
men,  even  when  the  mind  is  unswayed  by  self-interest,  or  unbiassed  by 
popular  opinion.  Upon  a  recurrence  to  two  incidents  this  will  be  more 
plainly  revealed.  Upon  an  untimely  visit  during  the  month  of  August 
or  September,  Spot  Pond,  one  of  the  localities  selected  and  strongly 
advocated,  was  visited  by  the  city  council,  and  its  bed  was  found  nearly 
dry,  and  the  stream  of  Charles  River  was  fed,  in  the  immediate  vicinity 
of  the  contemplated  aqueduct,  by  tributaries,  into  which  the  back  water  of 
paper-mills,  dye-houses,  and  water-closets,  were  flushed.  Still  more  strange, 
to  carry  out  the  principle  of  the  dangerous  tendency  of  first  impressions, 
it  was  found  a  gentleman  at  the  head  of  the  government  of  the  city,  and 
who  has  received  much  of  the  credit  for  the  present  valuable  selection  for 
supply,  strongly  opposed  it  as  too  capacious  and  expensive.  The  un 
dertaking,  at  length,  was  accomplished,  and  by  means  which  no  one  will 
doubt  were  fairly  effected,  but  which,  at  the  time,  it  was  not  necessary 
to  reveal  in  an  uninformed  popular  excitement,  not  conversant  with  the 


WILLIAM  PARKER,  OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  191 

details  and  obstacles  which  lay  in  its  way.  So  strong  were  the  rea 
sons  which  weighed  upon  the  minds  of  the  committee,  that  it  was  de 
termined,  at  all  events,  to  secure  the  site  of  the  proprietor ;  and  Mr. 
Parker,  who  then  had  declined  further  office  in  the  municipal  govern 
ment,  was  employed  to  obtain  the  refusal  of  the  premises,  under  the 
assurance  that  the  bargain  would  be  ratified  by  the  proper  authority. 
This  was  effected,  and  the  ample  and  permanent  supply  was  obtained. 
On  the  visit  of  President  Tyler,  and  also  of  President  Polk,  to  the  city 
of  Boston,  Mr.  Parker  was  delegated  by  the  city  government  as  chair 
man  of  a  committee  to  go  to  New-York  to  receive  them  and  conduct  them 
thither.  The  private  affairs  of  Mr.  Parker  having  been  somewhat  ne 
glected  by  his  numerous  public  avocations,  he  determined  to  relinquish 
further  participation  in  them.  The  first  duty,  previously  to  the  decease 
of  his  mother,  who  survived  her  ninetieth  year,  was  to  effect  a  sale  of  the 
paternal  mansion — a  tract  of  land,  with  the  mansion-house,  in  a  central 
part  of  the  city.  To  this  place  of  their  birth  there  was  attached  a  rev 
erence  which  would  have  deterred  the  members  of  the  family  from  part 
ing  with  a  relic  which  had  created  so  many  pleasant  and  profitable  as 
sociations.  It  was  the  annual  rendezvous  of  the  Episcopal  clergy  of 
New-England,  and  had  received  into  its  hospitable  threshold  the  poor 
and  friendless  of  every  rank  and  degree,  without  regard  to  sect  or  party. 
In  early  life  it  was  the  practice  of  the  clergy  to  associate  with  more  cor 
diality  than  is  done  at  present,  when  the  dogmas  of  theological  contro 
versy  are  more  rank  and  acrimonious,  and  the  shades  of  creeds  are  more 
exactly  defined.  It  was  then  that  the  social  circle  possessed  its  charms, 
fearless  of  assault  upon  questions  of  biblical  erudition.  Still,  as  the 
succeeding  generation  had  outgrown  these  associations,  which  had  been 
blended  by  their  parents  into  tradition,  it  was  deemed  expedient  to  dis 
pose  of  the  estate,  and  this  was  effected  by  the  efforts  of  the  subject  of 
our  memoir.  His  desire  was  that  some  public  institution  should  be 
erected  on  its  foundation,  and  by  his  influence  this  object  was  attained. 
It  was  purchased  by  the  city  of  Boston  for  the  Latin  Grammar  School- 
house,  and  now  that  edifice  stands  on  the  site.  The  requisitions  of  this 
seminary  are  eminent,  and  those  of  its  pupils  who  have  passed  through 
its  academical  course  stand  in  no  need  of  encomium  or  eulogy.  It  has  fur 
nished  to  the  University  of  Cambridge  some  of  its  most  distinguished 
ornaments,  and  can  number  among  its  pupils  some  of  the  most  erudite 
scholars  of  the  age. 

Mr.  Parker  has  enjoyed  the  confidence  of  many  public  institutions,  of 
which  he  has  been  a  director,  trustee,  and  treasurer.  He  was  elected, 
some  short  period  since,  president  of  an  insurance  company  in  Boston, 
which  office  he  held  a  year ;  but,  finding  the  duties  such  as  required 
more  time  and  attention  than  could  be  devoted  to  the  proper  manage 
ment  of  it,  he  preferred  relinquishing  its  emoluments,  rather  than  as 
sume  more  than  he  could  discharge  satisfactorily  to  himself  and  others. 
His  office  of  president  of  a  bank,  which  he  has  held  since  its  commence 
ment,  with  several  private  trusts,  gives  him  full  employment  for  the  ex 
ercise  of  his  financial  abilities.  It  has  always  been  a  principle  which  he 
has  prescribed  for  himself  not  to  attempt  an  undertaking  which  he  was 
unable  or  unwilling  to  accomplish. 


192  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

JOHN  FLETCHER  DARBY, 

OF  MISSOURI. 

IN  glancing  over  the  biographical  history  of  our  country,  and  espe 
cially  the  western  country,  any  man  who  has  not  maturely  thought  upon 
the  tendencies  of  our  popular  institutions,  would  be  astonished  at  the 
number  of  our  eminent  men  who  have  raised  themselves  from  obscurity  to 
the  high  places  of  power  and  usefulness  by  their  own  unpatronized  ener 
gies.  The  fact,  while  it  is  a  source  of  honest  pride  in  every  American 
heart,  teaches  a  lesson  of  deep  philosophy.  It  enables  every  right- 
thinking  man  to  rise  in  his  own  estimation,  and  to  put  a  juster  estimate 
upon  his  own  intrinsic  worth.  It  proves  to  him  that  the  seeds  of  ability 
and  virtue  have  not  been  hoarded  up  for  a  favored  few,  but  have  been 
sowed  broadcast  among  the  people,  and  with  a  liberal  hand,  and  that 
nothing  is  wanted  to  make  them  sprout  and  grow  into  plants  of  useful 
ness  and  honor  but  the  virgin  soil  of  a  new  country,  and  the  light  and 
heat  of  free  institutions.  Where  the  prize  is  open  to  all  many  will  con 
tend  for  it,  and,  though  all  cannot  gain  the  highest  point,  every  effort  to 
attain  it  is  an  advance  towards  the  great  end  of  individual  and  national 
prosperity,  and  a  benefit  alike  to  the  public  and  to  the  man  who  makes 
the  courageous  effort. 

Mr.  Darby  has  earned  a  place  in  that  honorable  company  of  self-made 
men,  whose  success  in  life  makes  us  justly  proud  of  our  country  and  its 
institutions.  He  is,  in  many  respects,  a  peculiar  man.  He  possesses  a 
rare  genius,  and,  although  aware  of  his  powers,  is  yet  not  misled  by 
vanity  and  self-conceit,  which  so  often  happens.  His  knowledge  of 
mankind  and  of  the  springs  of  human  action  is  deep ;  his  perceptions  are- 
rapid  and  his  judgment  sound ;  his  will  strong  and  unflinching ;  his 
manners  are  kind  and  obliging  ;  his  disposition  generous  and  confiding ; 
his  habits  regular  and  abstemious,  and  his  industry  untiring.  Those 
qualities,  brought  into  constant  and  energetic  action,  and  directed  by 
principles  of  high  moral  obligation,  afford  a  satisfactory  explanation  of 
his  surprising  success  in  all  his  undertakings  from  his  boyhood  up  to 
the  present  time.  He  learned,  when  a  boy,  the  great  truth,  which  few 
men  learn  during  their  lives,  that  energy  is  talent,  and  throughout  his 
life  he  has  acted  upon  that  knowledge  with  unvarying  success. 

John  Fletcher  Darby  is  a  native  of  Person  county,  North  Carolina; 
bom  on  the  10th  of  December,  1803.  His  father,  John  Darby,  a  native 
of  Lancaster  county,  Pennsylvania,  was  carried  to  North  Carolina  in 
his  childhood,  and;  settling  there,  raised  to  comfort  and  competency  by 
his  industry  and  good  conduct.  He  was  a  planter  of  cotton  and  tobacco. 
Of  the  middle  rank,  he  was  neither  rich  nor  poor  ;  independent  of  his 
neighbors,  yet  dependent  on  his  own  industry  and  skill  in  the  manage 
ment  of  his  small  estate.  In  1818,  John  Darby,  the  father,  moved  to 
Missouri  with  his  family,  including  our  subject,  then  under  fifteen  years 
of  age,  and  settled,  as  a  farmer,  in  the  western  part  of  St.  Louis  county. 
The  old  gentleman  brought  with  him  from  North  Carolina  several  ne 
groes,  but  not  enough  to  cultivate  his  new  farm  in  the  manner  and  to  tho 


JOHN  FLETCHER  DARBY,  OF  MISSOURI.  193 

extent  he  desired,  and  so  the  boy,  Fletcher,  (being  so  familiarly  called,) 
was  put  up  on  the  place  as  a  regular  hand.  There,  from  1818  to  1823, 
when  his  father  died,  he  plowed  and  hoed,  and  chopped  and  tended  the 
stock,  and  went  to  mill  as  constantly  as  any  other  hand  on  the  farm ;  in 
short,  during  these  five  years  he  did  the  same  kind  of  labor,  and  as 
much  of  it,  as  any  hand  on  the  farm,  his  father  intending  him  for  a 
farmer. 

Young  Darby  being  thus  laboriously  occupied  in  employments  level 
to  the  capacity  of  the  most  ignorant,  it  might  be  supposed  that,  like  them, 
he  would  be  content  with  his  humble  lot,  and  find  no  time  for  the  cul 
ture  of  his  mind,  and  no  incentive  to  higher  and  nobler  aspirations. 
But  with  him  it  was  far  otherwise.  There  were  obstacles  to  his  prog 
ress  which  a  spirit  less  resolved  would  have  deemed  insurmountable, 
but  they  only  served  to  nerve  his  courage  and  fix  his  purpose.  "  Where 
there  is  a  will  there  is  a  way."  He  knew  the  truth  of  that  proverb,  and 
boldly  determined  that,  as  no  one  had  provided  him  a  way,  he  would 
make  a  way  for  himself. 

In  his  native  home  he  had  received  the  elements  of  a  good  English 
education,  and  still  better,  had  acquired  a  taste  for  books  and  formed  a 
habit  of  reading.  In  Missouri  he  kept  alive  that  excellent  habit  amidst 
the  labors  of  the  farm.  Of  nights,  on  Sundays,  and  in  the  daily  inter 
vals  of  work,  he  eagerly  read  the  few  books  that  he  could  procure.  As 
they  were  few,  and  he  had  no  instructor,  he  read  them  on  his  own  plan, 
revolved  their  contents  in  his  mind,  unbiased  by  other  men's  theories, 
and  drew  from  them  his  own  corollaries.  What  he  lost  in  this  way, 
by  lack  of  instruction  and  advice,  perhaps  was  compensated  to  him  in 
the  habit  they  forced  upon  him  of  self-reliance  and  mental  indepen 
dence.  The  book  that  made  the  greatest  impression  on  his  mind,  and 
probably  fixed  his  character  for  life,  was  Dr.  Franklin's  Autobiography. 
He  read  it  with  perfect  delight,  for  it  taught  him  the  solid  reality  of 
what  before  then  had  fluttered  before  his  mind  only  as  a  bright  vision 
of  hope,  that  every  man  may  be  the  maker  of  his  own  fortune  and  fame. 
He  was  now  resolved.  His  purpose  was  fixed  to  overcome  all  obsta 
cles,  and  as  a  public  man,  to  run  an  honorable  course,  doing  good  for 
himself  and  for  his  country. 

It  is  pleasant  and  instructive  to  watch  the  workings  of  an  ingenious 
mind  struggling  for  a  higher  level,  and  the  early  history  of  Mr.  Darby 
is  rich  in  such  instruction.  The  patient  industry,  the  active  zeal,  the 
shrewd  contrivance  to  save  time  and  labor,  and  all  directed  to  the  ac 
complishment  of  the  one  engrossing  object,  are  worthy  of  the  respect 
and  regard  of  all  men,  and  present  an  example  full  of  encouragement  to 
the  young  and  unfriended.  Young  Darby  eagerly  read,  during  mo 
ments  snatched  from  the  labors  of  the  farm,  after  nightfall  and  on  Sun 
days,  all  the  works  that  he  could  borrow,  and  by  this  course  of  miscel 
laneous  reading  and  hard  study,  he  constantly  increased  his  store  of 
knowledge.  He  went  to  St.  Louis,  and  with  what  little  money  he  had 
been  able  to  raise  purchased  Button's  Mathematics,  and  boldly  ven 
tured  unaided  and  alone  upon  the  study  of  that  abstruse  science.  He 
never  wasted  his  money  in  the  purchase  of  finery  or  in  idle  or  mis 
chievous  dissipation.  Soon  afterwards  he  borrowed  a  compass  and 
chain  and  went  about  the  farm  and  neighborhood  surveying  fields  and 

13 


194  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

meadows,  in  order  to  prove  to  himself  that  he  practically  understood 
the  principles  which  he  had  labored  so  hard  to  learn. 

Down  to  this  time  young  Darby  knew  no  language  but  his  mother 
tongue,  and  probably  thought  Latin  and  Greek  beyond  the  possibility 
of  his  condition.  But  a  small  circumstance  changed  his  mind  in  this 
particular.  There  was  in  the  neighborhood  a  gentleman  of  education 
and  talents,  Col.  Justus  Post,  who  kept  in  his  family  an  accomplished 
teacher  for  the  instruction  of  his  children.  A  certain  youth  of  St.  Louis, 
now  an  eminent  merchant  in  the  city,  was  sent  to  that  family  school 
as  a  boarder,  and  being  of  a  social  and  friendly  turn,  soon  made  ac 
quaintance  with  young  Darby,  although  their  pursuits  and  prospects 
were  so  very  different.  Darby,  finding  that  his  new  friend  was  study 
ing  Latin,  came  to  the  desperate  resolution,  without  counting  the  odds, 
to  study  Latin  too.  To  will  was  to  do.  The  next  time  he  went  to 
town,  as  he  had  bought  Button's  Mathematics  before,  he  bought  a  Latin 
grammar  and  dictionary,  and  the  way  in  which  he  studied  the  noble 
language  of  the  Romans  would  sound  like  a  marvel  if  told  to  the  me 
thodical  instructor  and  well-trained  pupils  of  the  best  preparatory 
school  of  the  country.  He  learned  the  Latin  grammar  literally  be 
tween  the  plow  handles.  This  was  his  method — going  to  work  in  the 
morning,  he  put  his  grammar  in  his  bosom ;  when  he  turned  his  horse 
into  a  long  row  of  smooth  ground,  where  he  could  steady  the  plow 
with  one  hand,  he  pulled  out  his  book,  and  studying  as  he  walked  com 
mitted  to  memory  sentence  by  sentence,  and  seldom  failed  to  have 
mastered  by  noon,  a  lesson  as  long  as  the  daily  task  of  a  boy  in  our 
grammar  schools  who  has  nothing  else  to  do.  At  noon,  the  hour  of 
rest  and  refreshment  for  man  and  beast,  as  he  rode  his  horse  to  water 
at  the  creek,  he  repeated  over  and  over  the  lesson  he  had  just  learned, 
in  order  to  know  that  he  had  it  safely,  and  had  garnered  up  for  future 
use  that  much  of  his  intellectual  crop.  In  this  manner  he  thoroughly 
learned  the  whole  Latin  grammar  and  commenced  reading  Latin  in  the 
course  of  one  summer's  plowing.  This  great  feat  accomplished  (and 
it  was  truly  great)  we  need  not  won-der  that  the  aspiring  young  farmer, 
with  the  aid  of  an  occasional  lesson  from  Mr.  Russell,  the  accomplished 
teacher  at  Col.  Post's,  soon  learned  to  read  and  to  relish  the  classic 
beauties  of  Ovid  and  Virgil. 

Early  in  the  year  1823  both  his  parents  died  suddenly,  and  Fletcher, 
having  no  other  arrangement  made,  could  do  no  better  for  the  present 
than  continue  his  labor  on  the  farm.  So  with  his  own  hands  he  raised 
a  crop  of  corn,  which  when  ripe  he  sold,  as  it  stood  in  the  field,  for  one 
hundred  dollars.  With  this  small  outfit,  he  started  on  a  visit  to 
his  aged  grand-parents,  (William  and  Jane  McDaniel,)  in  North 
Carolina,  and  made  the  whole  journey  on  horseback.  They  received 
him  with  all  possible  kindness,  and  were  ready  to  do  him  any  favor  in 
their  power.  And  he,  still  true  to  his  one  great  object,  availed  himself 
of  their  generosity,  and  for  a  year  and  a  half  devoted  himself  exclusive 
ly  to  the  study  of  Latin  and  Greek,  under  the  instruction  of  the  Rev. 
William  Bingham,  of  Orange  county,  North  Carolina,  one  of  the 
most  accomplished  scholars  in  the  southern  country  ;  and  otherwise  im 
proved  himself  by  the  advantage  which  time  and  comparative  leisure 
had  given  him  for  more  general  and  miscellaneous  reading. 


JOHN  FLETCHER  DARBY,  OF  MISSOURI.  195 

In  the  summer  of  1825  he  applied  for  an  appointment  in  the  Military 
Academy  at  West  Point,  but  not  being  backed  by  friends  of  sufficient 
influence,  he  failed  in  the  enterprise,  and  returned  home,  to  find  or  to 
make  some  other  safe  road  up  the  hill  of  life.  His  early  self-instruc 
tion  had  indelibly  impressed  upon  his  mind  whatever  he  read  and 
studied ;  and  he  was  certainly  better  prepared  for  the  mixed  labors  and 
conflicts  of  social  life,  than  many  young  gentlemen  who  come  creditably 
out  of  college  with  their  degrees  of  A.  B.  in  their  pockets.  He  had 
studied  in  the  school  of  adversity,  and  learned  to  depend  upon  himself, 
and  to  feel  his  ability  to  conquer  difficulties  by  patient  industry.  He 
studied  alone,  and  although  doubtless  he  l@st  much  by  the  want  of 
instruction,  yet  he  gained  at  least  originality  ;  he  was  forced  to  think 
for  himself,  and  thus  his  thoughts  whether  good  or  bad,  wise  or  simple, 
were  his  own,  and  not  merely  the  remembered  thoughts  of  other  men. 

This  is  emphatically  a  country  of  law ;  our  government  is  nothing 
but  law;  and  most  of  the  great  functionaries  are  men  of  the  law.  The 
people  love  and  honor  the  law,  because  it  is  the  only  legitimate 
sovereign.  They  respect  and  cherish  it,  because  it  is  the  safeguard  of 
the  feeble;  the  only  protection  of  right  against  power.  And  hence, 
when  a  young  man  of  sense  and  spirit  and  honest  ambition,  is  poor  and 
out  of  employment,  he  is  almost  sure  to  take  to  the  law.  And  so  it 
was  with  Darby.  He  sold  out  a  portion  of  his  interest  in  his  father's 
estate,  for  a  few  hundred  dollars ;  and  with  that  slender  provision  went 
to  Frankfort,  Kentucky,  to  study  law.  At  first  he  obtained  a  place 
in  the  office  of  Mr.  Patrick  Henry  Darby  (no  relation  of  his,  but,  I 
believe,  a  brother  of  the  celebrated  geographer,  William  Darby.)  Mr. 
P.  H.  Darby,  though  esteemed  an  able  lawyer,  was  so  engrossed 
by  the  strifes  of  party  politics,  that  his  office  was  neither  pleasant  nor 
profitable  to  a  devoted  student  of  the  profession  ;  and  Fletcher  conse 
quently  soon  changed  his  position.  At  that  time,  Thomas  F.  Marshall, 
since  so  distinguished  as  an  orator  and  man  of  talents,  was  studying 
in  Frankfort  under  Mr.  Crittenden,  the  present  attorney-general,  and 
Mr.  Darby  was  so  fortunate  as  to  make  an  arrangement  with  Mr. 
Marshall  to  room  and  study  together.  This  pleasant  course  of  study 
continued  for  some  time,  and  until  his  money  gave  out — an  accident 
which  many  a  young  man  would  have  considered  a  serious  misfortune. 
But  it  was  no  great  matter  to  Darby — he  was  used  to  being  out  of 
money.  He  made  his  case  known  to  Mr.  Swigert,  clerk  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Kentucky,  who  kindly  gave  him  employment,  in  the  way 
of  copying  for  the  office.  His  wages,  thus  earned,  were  quite  sufficient 
to  support  him,  to  the  end  of  his  regular  course  of  legal  study.  It  was 
hard  work  certainly — studying  all  day,  and  writing  half  the  night — but 
he  was  well  used  to  hard  work,  and  did  not  mind  it.  He  had  a  great 
end  to  gain,  which,  in  his  estimation,  would  have  justified  the  means,  if 
they  had  been  twice  as  hard.  In  due  time  he  received  a  license  to 
practice  from  the  Supreme  Court  of  Kentucky  ;  and  returning  to  Mis 
souri,  read  for  a  short  time  in  the  office  of  Mr.  Gamble,  now  the  pre 
siding  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court,  in  order,  before  commencing  the 
practice,  to  review  his  former  studies,  and  familiarize  himself  with  the 
local  statutes  and  decisions. 

In  May,  1827,  Mr.  Darby  took  license  in  Missouri,  and  commenced 


196  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

his  professional  life.  And  here  it  may  be  worth  the  while  of  any  young 
brother  of  the  bar,  to  pause  and  ponder  upon  the  elements  and  like 
lihood  of  professional  success.  Mr.  Darby's  success  was  certainly 
rapid  and  great.  In  a  very  few  years  he  had  a  run  of  business  as  large 
and  as  lucrative  as  that  of  any  member  of  the  St.  Louis  bar — a  bar 
which  abounded  in  talents,  professional  learning  and  laborious  habits. 
At  the  outset  his  practice  was  confined  chiefly  to  the  pecuniary  affairs 
and  common  business  transactions  of  society,  in  which  department  he 
was  eminently  successful,  and  well  paid  for  his  successful  labors.  As 
time  advanced  and  opportunity  for  study  was  afforded,  he  progressed 
in  his  knowledge  of  the  law,  and  extended  his  business  into  every 
department  of  practice.  His  success  in  the  management  of  his  cases 
through  years  of  practice  affords  abundant  proof  of  his  ability  in  con 
ducting  them.  In  arguing  his  cases  before  a  jury  he  was  eminently 
successful  j  and  in  the  closing  speech  before  a  jury  he  had  few  if  any 
superior  at  the  St.  Louis  bar :  winning  and  obtaining  verdicts  against 
the  ablest  and  strongest  members  of  the  profession,  and  not  unfrequent- 
ly  against  the  instructions  of  the  court. 

But  it  is  not  only  nor  indeed  chiefly  as  a  practising  lawyer,  that  Mr.  Dar 
by  has  been  conspicuous  and  useful  to  the  community  in  which  he  lives. 
He  has  filled  many  important  and  responsible  offices,  always  by  popular 
election.  I  think  he  has  never  held  an  office  by  executive  appointment. 
He  served  once  in  the  city  council,  as  an  alderman.  Four  times  he  has 
been  chosen  mayor  of  the  city  of  St.  Louis  ;  and  once  a  member  of  the 
state  senate.  Into  all  these  offices  he  carried  the  same  steady  purpose 
and  indomitable  energy  which  marked  his  character  for  life,  in  all  his 
personal  and  professional  affairs;  and  the  community  has  much  cause 
to  remember  with  lasting  gratitude,  the  good  services  he  has  done. 

In  August,  1850,  Mr.  Darby  was  elected  a  member  of  Congress,  and 
his  friends,  relying  upon  his  sound  judgment  and  eminently  practical 
character,  looked  to  him  confidently  for  useful  and  valuable  services — 
not  in  party  arrangements  and  electioneering  contrivances,  but  in  the 
solid  business  of  the  country.  But  we  have  been  sadly  disappointed. 
On  his  way  to  the  seat  of  government,  he  received  a  severe  contusion 
by  an  accident  on  a  boat,  which  resulted  in  paralysis  of  the  extremities, 
depriving  him  entirely  of  the  present  use  of  his  hands  and  feet.  For 
tunately  his  head  and  heart  are  untouched  by  the  blow.  His  mind  is 
as  bright  and  his  affections  as  warm  as  ever,  and  his  jocund  spirit  still 
sheds  its  cheerful  light  on  all  around  him,  and  thus  takes  away  more 
than  half  the  evils  of  his  misfortune.  His  friends  indulge  the  confident 
hope  that  he  will  soon  be  restored  to  health  and  to  the  discharge  of  the 
high  duties  which  they  have  imposed  upon  him. 

In  1836,  he  married  a  lady  of  St.  Genevieve,  a  daughter  of  the  late 
Captain  Wilkinson,  United  States  army,  and  a  member  of  the  nume 
rous  family  of  Valle,  one  of  the  most  intelligent  and  influential  connex 
ions  among  the  French  provincials.  By  this  lady  he  has  a  numerous 
family  of  children,  who,  while  they  mourn  over  his  present  bodily  mis 
fortune,  must  profit  by  the  good  example  he  has  set  them,  and  may  well 
indulge  a  feeling  of  honest  pride  in  the  well-earned  reputation  of  their 
father. 


JAMES  L.  BOWMAN,  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.  197 

JAMES  L.  BOWMAN 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  MONONGAHELA  BANK,  BROWNSVILLE,  PENNSYLVANIA. 

THE  subject  of  the  following  notice  was  born  at  Brownsville,  Fayette 
county,  Pennsylvania,  on  the  23d  day  of  June,  1794,  and  is  the  eldest 
son  of  Jacob  Bowman,  Esq.  On  his  paternal  side  he  was  of  German 
descent,  his  grandfather  having  emigrated  from  Germany  previous  to 
the  Revolution,  and  settled  in  the  frontier  part  of  what  was  then  Freder 
ick,  now  Washington  county,  Maryland.  The  Indians  were  trouble 
some,  and  the  family  were  frequently  obliged  to  fly  and  take  refuge  in 
a  fort  some  miles  distant.  In  one  of  their  incursions  he  had  a  grand- 
uncle  killed  and  another  taken  prisoner  by  them.  His  mother  was 
Isabella  Lowry,  a  native  of  Castiefin,  county  of  Donegal,  Ireland, 
who  came  to  the  United  States  when  a  young  girl.  She  possessed  a 
comprehensive  mind,  and  was  a  lady  of  great  energy  of  character  and 
remarkable  for  the  judicious  management  of  her  family  and  domestic 
affairs.  She  was  a  beautiful  reader,  and  fond  of  the  substantial  kinds  of 
literature ;  and  we  might  here  state  a  characteristic  connected  there 
with,  which  might  very  profitably  be  adopted  by  other  mothers.  In 
stead  of  permitting  her  children  to  run  about  in  the  evenings,  acquiring 
vicious  and  improper  habits  from  the  evil-disposed  of  their  associates, 
it  was  her  invariable  rule,  so  soon  as  they  respectively  acquired  a  facili 
ty  for  reading,  to  have  them  take  their  seats  by  her  side  and  read  aloud 
a  certain  number  of  pages  of  history,  and  such  was  her  knowledge  of 
history,  that  she  could,  from  memory,  correct  any  mistake  committed 
by  them.  To  her  judicious  management  may  be  attributed  the  happi 
ness  and  satisfaction  she  experienced  in  after  life,  in  knowing  that  her 
nine  children,  five  daughters  and  four  sons,  were  comfortably  situated 
in  life,  worthy  of  and  possessing  the  highest  respect  of  the  community, 
without  a  blur  in  their  character  and  habits,  and  without  a  black  sheep 
in  the  flock.  We  have  already  stated  that  the  grandfather  settled  in 
Maryland;  he  was  a  mechanic,  and,  as  such,  located  in  Hagerstown, 
which  was  then  a  small  village,  where  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this 
notice  was  born,  on  the  17th  day  of  June,  1763.  He  was  a  sprightly 
boy,  of  fine  appearance  and  correct  habits,  and  acquired  the  notice  and 
friendship  of  Col.  Robert  Elliott,  the  father  of  the  late  Commodore 
Elliott  of  the  navy,  and  of  Col.  Eli  Williams,  the  brother  of  the  dis 
tinguished  General  Otho  Holland  Williams,  of  the  Revolutionary  army. 
Those  two  gentlemen  were  then  connected  in  an  extensive  mercantile 
business  at  Hagerstown,  and,  pleased  with  young  Bowman,-  solicited 
his  father  to  let  him  enter  their  house  as  an  apprentice,  which  was 
granted,  and  he  remained  there  until  the  termination  thereof,  exhibiting 
a  superior  business  talent,  and  acquiring  the  confidence  and  lasting 
friendship  of  his  employers.  Soon  after  the  time  of  the  expiration  of 
his  apprenticeship,  1787,  the  firm  of  Elliott  &  Williams  became  the 
commissaries,  or,  as  they  were  then  called,  the  governmental  contractors 
for  furnishing  supplies  to  the  western  armies,  deliverable  at  the  different 


198  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

posts  occupied  by  them.  They  were  well  acquainted  with  the  business 
qualifications  and  energy  of  young  Bowman,  and,  although  he  had  only 
reached  his  twenty -fourth  year,  he  was  dispatched  by  them  to  the  "  back 
woods"  to  attend  to  the  business  and  make  the  purchases.  At  that  time, 
that  part  of  Western  Pennsylvania  known  as  the  Monongahela  valley, 
was  the  extreme  western  frontier,  and  it  was  in  that  region  that  the 
contractors  were  dependent  for  the  obtainment  of  the  army  supplies. 
Young  Bowman  made  his  head-quarters  at  Itedstone  old  fort,  now 
Brownsville,  on  the  Monongahela  River,  and  continued  in  that  connection 
until  the  year  1794,  when  Colonel  Elliott  was  killed  by  the  Indians  and 
their  contract  terminated. 

In  that  year,  however,  the  rebellion,  known  as  the  Whisky  Insurrec 
tion,  broke  out  in  the  four  southwestern  counties  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
it  was  deemed  necessary  by  General  Washington,  the  then  president, 
to  dispatch  troops  for  its  suppression.  Col.  Williams  received  the  ap 
pointment  of  commissary  of  the  left  wing  of  that  army,  commanded  by 
General  Lee.  The  services  of  Jacob  Bowman  were  again  called  into 
requisition  by  the  contractors,  and  he  was  appointed  assistant-commis 
sary.  The  acceptance  and  performance  of  the  duties  assigned  to  him,  he 
was  well  aware,  might  jeopard  his  life,  inasmuch  as  his  residence  was 
in  the  infected  district,  in  the  midst  of  the  insurgents,  and  any  aid  given 
to  the  army  would  be  considered  inimical  to  their  cause.  Ever  pos 
sessing  a  warm  and  patriotic  feeling  for  his  country,  and  obedience  to 
her  laws,  he  was  not  deterred,  but  entered  upon  the  duties  thereof;  con 
siderable  finesse,  however,  had  to  be  used  to  prevent  the  destruction 
of  the  supplies.  We  will  here  mention  an  incident  which  took  place 
between  General  Lee  and  Colonel  Williams,  which  evidences  the 
implicit  confidence  reposed  in  the  energy,  firmness  and  business  tact 
of  Mr.  Bowman.  When  the  army  was  about  to  take  up  the  line  of 
march  from  Fort  Cumberland  to  the  seat  of  aggression,  General  Lee 
sent  for  Colonel  Williams,  the  commissary,  and  informed,  him  he  want 
ed  so  many  rations  at  certain  points  and  times  designated.  Colonel 
Williams  told  the  general  that  they  should  be  at  the  places  mentioned. 
"  What,  sir  !"  replied  the  general,  "  do  you  expect  to  obtain  your  sup 
plies  in  the  enemy's  country1?"  "Yes,  sir,"  said  Colonel  Williams;  "I 
have  now  a  young  man  in  their  midst,  whose  resolution  and  firmness 
I  can  vouch  for,  and,  if  the  rations  are  not  as  desired,  I  will  forfeit  my 
honor  as  a  commissary,  and  my  right  arm  to  boot."  The  supplies 
were  at  the  stated  points  when  the  army  reached  its  destination,  and 
such  was  the  surprise  and  gratification  of  General  Lee,  that  he  person 
ally  complimented  the  young  commissary,  and  solicited  him  to  enter 
the  regular  army  as  an  officer,  tendering  his  influence  at  head-quarters 
for  the  attainment  of  a  commission.  Jacob  Bowman  continued  his 
residence  at  his  adopted  location,  engaged  in  an  extensive  and  profitable 
mercantile  business,  and,  by  the  exercise  of  a  remarkably  sound  judg 
ment  and  judicious  management,  acquired  a  large  fortune.  He  held 
several  appointments  under  the  general  government.  He  was  Indian 
agent — through  his  hands,  under  the  then  existing  arrangements,  all  the 
annuity  goods  and  supplies  passed,  and,  in  return,  the  furs  which  were 
obtained  in  barter  therefor.  He  was  appointed  postmaster  during  the 
administration  of  Washington,  and  retained  it  under  the  various  con* 


JAMES  L.  BOWMAN,  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.  199 

flicting  heads  of  that  department,  until  the  accession  of  General  Jackson 
to  the  presidency,  with  whom  he  was  personally  acquainted,  but  from 
the  habits  and  disposition  of  the  man,  he  had  misgivings  as  to  his  qua 
lifications  for  the  office.  He  therefore  hesitated  not  in  bestowing  his  suf 
frage  upon  his  opponent.  At  the  time  of  his  displacement,  he  had  held 
the  office  longer  than  any  postmaster  in  the  United  States.  He  was 
the  originator  and  organizer  of  the  Monongahela  Bank  of  Brownsville  in 
18J4,  of  which  he  was  elected  president,  and  annually  re-elected,  without 
opposition,  until  his  voluntary  retirement,  in  1843,  in  consequence  of 
his  advanced  years  and  a  desire  to  retire  from  the  turmoils  of  busi 
ness.  He  died  on  the  2d  of  March,  1847,  at  the  advanced  age  of  84 
years.  As  an  accountant,  systematic  business  man  and  financier,  he 
was  excelled  by  few. 

A  frontier  settlement,  with  a  sparse  population,  affords  but  a 
meagre  opportunity  for  educational  purposes.  Teachers  seldom  pre 
sent  themselves,  and  such  as  do  are  not  very  profound  in  literature, 
nor  do  they  possess  the  capacity  for  imparting  such  learning  as  they 
may  possess  to  others.  The  subject  of  this  memoir  had  to  obtain  the 
first  rudiments  under  such  disadvantages.  His  father,  however,  was 
always  anxious  to  afford  his  children  a  good  education,  and  when  in  his 
thirteenth  year  a  teacher  was  employed  with  more  advanced  preten 
sions  as  the  head  of  a  select  school,  under  whose  direction  he  com 
menced  the  study  of  the  Latin  language,  appropriating  a  portion  of  his 
time  to  his  farther  advancement  in  the  English.  When  under  the 
tuition  of  this  teacher  he  acquired  more  instruction  in  one  year  than  in 
several  before,  thus  showing  that  it  is  cheaper  in  the  end  for  a  parent 
to  employ  a  competent  instructor,  at  a  higher  rate,  than  the  ordinary 
ones  at  their  minimum  prices.  At  the  age  of  fourteen  he  entered 
Washington  college,  where  he  continued  until  his  graduation,  in  1813. 
One  of  his  class-mates  was  General  Stokely,  of  Ohio,  who  has  recently 
received  from  the  president  the  appointment  of  chief  justice  of  Utah 
territory. 

During  his  collegiate  course  the  war  of  1812  was  declared,  and  the 
surrender  of  General  Hull  caused  a  great  excitement  in  western 
Pennsylvania,  inasmuch  as  it  was  currently  reported  that  the  enemy, 
with  a  considerable  force,  had  landed  on  the  south  shore  of  Lake  Erie, 
and  were  about  to  make  a  descent  upon  Pittsburgh.  The  intermediate 
territory,  being  at  that  time  thinly  settled,  would  have  afforded  but 
little  detriment  to  their  progress.  Volunteers  were  called  for  to  resist 
the  invasion,  and  the  student  of  whom  we  are  now  treating,  willing  to 
give  his  country  his  services  when  needed,  enrolled  himself  as  a  volun 
teer  in  a  company  formed  for  the  emergency,  although  he  had  not  yet 
reached  the  years  of  legal  enrollment.  .  The  line  of  march  was  takeri 
up,  but  the  company  had  not  proceeded  far  when  the  report  of  the 
danger  proved  to  be  untrue,  and  the  orders  were  countermanded. 
Possessing  a  fine  personal  appearance,  and  a  conciliatory  happy  dis 
position,  he  was  a  general  favorite  with  the  students  and  the  citizens  ot 
the  place ;  hence  the  years  spent  in  his  college  course  were  of  the  most 
pleasant  kind. 

He  had  a  disposition  for  a  military  life,  and  after  having  completed 


200  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

his  course  at  college  he  returned  and  spent  an  extra  session  wholly  in 
the  study  of  navigation,  with  the  view  of  qualifying  himself  for  the  ob- 
tainment  'of  a  commission  in  the  navy.  His  parents  were  averse  to  it, 
and  not  wishing  to  cross  the  hopes  and  desires  of  kind  and  indulgent 
parents,  he  abandoned  his  intention,  and  determined  to  turn  his  atten 
tion  to  the  profession  of  the  law.  In  1814  he  entered  as  a  law  student 
the  office  of  the  Hon.  John  Kennedy,  at  that  time  at  the  head  of  the  bar  in 
Fayette  county ,  and  afterwards  one  of  the  supreme  judges  of  Pennsylvania, 
with  whom  he  had  to  remain  for  three  years  in  compliance  with  the 
law  and  rules  of  court,  in  consequence  of  the  commencement  being 
made  in  his  minority.  In  1817  he  was  regularjy  admitted  to  the  bar 
of  Fayette  and  adjoining  counties,  and  his  prospects  of  success  in  the 
practice  were  quite  flattering,  but  his  views  were  again  frustrated  and  his 
career  in  life  directed  to  a  different  avocation.  His  father  had  been 
for  many  years  an  industrious,  energetic,  and  enterprising  merchant 
and  manufacturer,  and  wishing  to  withdraw  himself  in  some  measure 
from  the  confinement  of  mercantile  pursuits,  had  given  an  interest 
therein  to  a  young  man  whom  he  had  raised  as  a  clerk,  and  whose 
devotedness  to  his  interest  and  capacity  for  business  deserved  his  aid 
and  patronage.  One  year  had  but  passed  when  the  young  man's  health 
failed,  and  he  was  advised  to  seek,  for  a  time,  a  more  southern  clime  ; 
to  do  so  he  must  relinquish  the  business  in  which  he  had  embark 
ed,  and  not  wishing  to  introduce  a  stranger,  or  one  who  might  not 
be  agreeable,  a  proposition  was  made  to  the  subject  of  this  notice  to 
purchase  his  interest  and  take  his  place  therein,  which  being  acceptable 
to  the  other  partner,  was  acceded  to.  The  musty  law  books  were 
thrown  aside,  and  the  yard-stick,  the  ledger,  and  quill,  substituted  in 
their  stead.  His  attention  was  now  directed  to  his  mercantile  concern, 
and  continued  with  success  until  1825,  when  he  married  Miss  Mirtilla 
Beaver,  the  only  daughter  of  John  Beaver,  Esq.,  of  Beaver  county, 
Pennsylvania,  who  was  an  early  and  enterprising  pioneer  of  western 
Pennsylvania.  After  marriage  it  was  thought  advisable  to  concentrate 
his  accumulations  and  commence  business  on  his  separate  account.  In 
interior  towns  every  concern  has  its  own  regular  customers;  when  a 
new  one  opens  it  has  to  construct  a  foundation  for  itself.  Such  was  the 
case  in  this  instance,  but  by  his  conciliatory  manners,  popularity,  and 
business  tact,  he  was  not  long  in  doing  so.  A  friend  to  improvement 
and  the  advancement  of  his  native  place,  he  gave  a  portion  of  his  time 
and  influence  for  that  purpose,  and  heartily  responded  to  any  measures 
with  that  tendency.  He  was  a  prominent  member  of  committees,  and, 
although  young,  was  frequently  elected  a  councilman  and  mayor  of  the 
borough,  and  solicited  by  members  of  both  political  parties  to  become  a 
candidate  for  the  legislature,  but  having  no  aspirations  for  political 
preferment  he  declined. 

There  was  one  object  of  improvement  he  had  much  at  heart,  and 
greatly  desired  to  see  accomplished,  and  that  was  the  improvement  of 
the  Monongahela  River  by  locks  and  dams.  The  whole  valley  of  that 
stream  abounds  in  the  finest  veins  of  bituminous  coal,  from  which  the 
valleys  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  were  dependent  for  their  supplies  of 
that  mineral.  It  could  only  be  gotten  out  in  time  of  freshets,  which 


JAMES  L.  BOWMAN,  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.  201 

caused  an  uncertain  investment — a  scanty  and  unsteady  supply  to  those 
dependent  upon  it.  The  hills  immediately  around  Pittsburgh,  from  the 
immense  quantities  consumed  there,  were  becoming  somewhat  ex 
hausted,  and  would  soon  have  to  look  to  the  region  of  the  river  above 
for  a  supply,  and  being  in  the  occupancy  of  a  few,  transportable  by 
wagons,  resisting  competition,  the  price  was  likely  to  advance  beyond 
the  endurance  of  manufacturers.  Hence  the  necessity  for  an  improve 
ment  of  the  navigation  of  that  stream,  by  means  of  which  a  steady 
supply  could  reach  them,  and  a  competition  be  introduced  to  regulate 
the  price  and  retain  it  within  the  limits  of  manufacturers. 

A  petition  therefore  was  drawn  up  by  the  subject  of  this  notice,  ask 
ing  the  legislature  for  an  act  of  incorporation.  A  correspondence  was 
kept  up  by  him  with  the  leading  members  of  that  body,  and  his  wishes 
eventuated  successfully.  He  was  appointed  therein  a  commissioner 
for  opening  the  books  and  receiving  stock,  in  which  he  took  an  active 
and  laborious  part. 

His  hopes  and  prospects  were  measurably  frustrated  by  the  parsi 
monious  subscription  of  a  wealthy  man,  known  to  be  much  interested, 
pecuniarily,  in  its  completion.  Those  less  favored  by  means  and  interest 
were  deterred,  and  said  if  that  individual  did  not  put  his  shoulder  to 
the  wheel  it  was  useless  for  them  to  do  so.  At  Pittsburgh,  too,  where 
the  most  important  benefits  were  to  be  gained,  no  attention  was  paid, 
and  not  a  single  share  of  stock  taken  on  the  day  appointed  for  opening 
the  books.  He  who  had  taken  an  active  part  in  getting  up  the  measure 
was  necessarily  absent  in  a  distant  state  at  that  period,  and  on  his  re 
turn,  was  assailed  by  the  declarations,  "  it's  a  failure — the  jig's  up — it 

has  fallen  through,  no  use  to  try  farther,  Mr. wont  toe  the  mark, 

Pittsburgh  wont  do  anything,"  &c.,  and  other  declarations  of  similar 
import.  It  is  true,  he  felt  mortified  and  chagrined  at  the  result,  but 
not  deterred  from  another  effort.  He  was  well  aware  that  there  was 
an  uncertainty  in  depending  upon  capitalists  going  forward  to  apply 
their  funds  to  an  untried  investment.  Upon  reflection  he  determined 
to  avail  himself  of  a  trial  of  personal  application,  and  by  argument  and 
figures,  to  endeavor  to  convince  them,  that  their  doubts  were  errone 
ous,  and  that  it  must  eventually  prove  a  lucrative  investment.  After 
a  week  thus  spent  in  his  own  neighborhood,  he  was  successful  beyond 
his  most  sanguine  expectations.  The  gentleman  before  alluded  to, 
quintupled  his  original  amount,  and  others  followed  suit.  Thus  encour 
aged,  he  determined  to  visit  Pittsburgh  and  adopt  the  same  modus 
operandi.  In  company  with  a  gentleman  whom  he  knew  was  anxious 
for  the  work,  they  perambulated  the  streets,  alleys  and  by-ways  of  that 
city  for  days  in  succession,  with  the  stock-book  under  the  arm,  seek 
ing  out  the  capitalists  and  manufacturers,  showing  the  advantages 
of  the  contemplated  improvement  to  them  as  such — the  certain  competi 
tion  in  the  regular  supply  of  fuel  and  consequent  stability  of  price,  and 
also  expostulated  with  them  in  not  permitting  the  favorable  opportu 
nity  to  pass.  Their  efforts  were  successful — a  sufficiency  of  stock  had 
now  been  subscribed  to  obtain  letters  patent  and  organize  the  company, 
which  was  done. 

Thus  the  reader  will  see  that  he  might  be  called  the  father  of  that  im- 


202  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

provement ;  and  so  well  satisfied  were  the  stockholders  of  his  efficiency 
in  the  project,  that  at  the  organization  thereof,  he  was  strongly  so 
licited,  though  young  in  years,  to  become  a  candidate  for  the  presi 
dency  of  the  company,  which  he  declined,  wishing  it  to  be  conferred 
upon  one  who  had  more  practical  knowledge  in  the  construction  of  im 
provements  of  that  kind.  He  was  however  elected  a  manager  for 
several  consecutive  years.  In  process  of  time,  through  periods  of  dis 
couragement,  the  work  was  completed,  and  has  realized  all  the 
predicted  benefits  and  profitableness  of  investment  beyond  anticipation. 
From  a  few  thousand  dollars,  proceeds  of  the  mineral  brought  into  that 
valley,  along  the  extent  of  the  improvement,  it  has  increased  to  six 
hundred  thousand  dollars  and  yearly  is  increasing,  and  from  the  inex 
haustible  quantities  of  that  mineral,  its  accessibility  and  superior  quali 
ty,  the  Monongahela  valley  must  become  the  richest  and  most  desirable 
portion  of  the  United  States.  The  salubrity  of  the  climate,  the  pro 
ductiveness  of  the  soil,  and  the  trifling  expense  in  preparing  for  and 
mining  operations,  must  attract  thither  a  dense  population. 

Agriculture  was  at  a  low  ebb.  The  land  was  naturally  productive, 
but  the  skimming  process  too  much  pursued.  He  thought  a  great  im 
provement  might  be  made  in  the  grain  resources  of  the  country,  by  in 
fusing  into  the  minds  of  the  farmers  a  better  system  of  cultivation.  A 
good  farm  was  purchased  in  the  vicinity  of  his  native  town,  and  a  por 
tion  of  his  time  and  pecuniary  means  directed  to  its  improvement. 
Periodical  and  other  publications,  on  agricultural  subjects,  were  obtain 
ed,  and  attentively  perused  and  studied,  and  he  became  a  scientific 
farmer.  Opportunities  were  sought  for  conversation  with  farmers,  by 
which  he  might  impart  his  obtained  information,  and  urged  upon  them 
the  importance  of  subscribing  for  some  agricultural  paper,  by  means  of 
which  they  could  obtain  the  experience  of  hundreds,  dispersed  over  our 
extended  country.  A  good  deal  of  prejudice  existed  against  what  they 
termed  "  book-farming,"  and  many  were  unwilling  to  take  a  paper, 
although  he  pledged  himself  that,  at  the  end  of  the  year,  if  they  did  not 
like  it,  or  found  no  advantage  from  it,  he  would  repay  the  cost.  One 
person  to  whom  the  proposition  was  made  acceded,  and  at  the  end  of 
the  year  came  forward  with  a  list  of  the  names  of  fifteen  persons  who 
desired  the  "  Albany  Cultivator"  to  be  addressed  to  them  for  the 
then  succeeding  year. 

In  the  township  in  which  that  person  lives,  there  are  now  eighty  agri 
cultural  papers  taken,  a  township  society  formed,  and  a  greater  spirit 
for  the  improvements  of  stock  and  farming  generally  prevails  than  in 
any  other  section  of  the  county. 

He  had  been  a  director  of  the  Monongahela  Bank  of  Brownsville  for 
many  years,  when  under  the  presidency  of  his  father — an  institution 
which  has  sustained  an  unparalleled  confidence  in  the  community,  and 
is  probably  the  only  similar  institution  which,  in  all  the  mutations 
of  commercial  elations  and  depressions,  has  never  suspended  specie 
payments.  In  1843,  when  the  elder  gentleman  retired  from  the  presi 
dency,  the  subject  of  this  notice  was  unanimously  elected  the  president 
thereof,  and  each  year  since  has  thus  been  honored,  and  we  are  pleased 
to  say,  that  under  his  guidance  the  confidence  reposed  therein  has  not 


LA  FAYETTE  S.  FOSTER,  OF  CONNECTICUT.  203 

'Deen  diminished  or  impaired.  Having  an  abundance  of  what  is  termed 
"  this  world's  goods,"  and  an  only  son  to  inherit  the  same,  he  is 
not  over-solicitous  for  its  greater  accumulation,  and  has  therefore 
measurably  withdrawn  himself  from  business,  devoting  his  time  to  the 
institution  over  which  he  presides  and  the  cultivation  of  his  farm. 


LA  FAYETTE  S.  FOSTER,  LL.  D., 

OF  CONNECTICUT. 

THE  subject  of  the  present  sketch  was  born  in  the  town  of  Franklin, 
New  London  county,  Connecticut,  a  part  of  the  ancient  town  of  Nor 
wich,  on  the  22d  of  November,  1806. 

His  father,  Captain  Daniel  Foster,  was  a  man  in  moderate  circum 
stances,  of  honest  and  industrious  habits,  and  much  respected  in  the 
neighborhood  where  he  resided.  Captain  Foster,  in  company  with 
most  of  his  cotemporaries,  served  in  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  was 
personally  present  and  engaged  at  the  battles  of  White  Plains,  Still- 
water,  Saratoga  and  others  of  about  the  same  period.  His  patriotism 
and  ability  were  then  recognized,  and  during  the  time  he  was  in  active 
service,  in  the  campaign  of  '77,  he  held  the  honorable  position  of  adju 
tant  of  one  of  the  Connecticut  regiments,  Col.  Latimer's,  discharging 
the  duties  connected  with  his  office  much  to  his  own  credit  and  the  en 
tire  approval  of  all  of  his  superior  officers.  Captain  Foster  was  mar 
ried  in  1802  to  his  second  wife,  Welthea  Ladd,  of  Franklin,  by  whom 
he  had  two  children.  Fidelia  W.  Foster  and  La  Fayette  S.  Foster,  the 
subject  of  these  biographical  details,  who  was  born  as  before  stated  in 
1806. 

The  ancestors  of  Mr.  Foster  were  English,  from  the  county  of  Lan 
cashire,  in  England,  and  he  is  descended  directly  from  Miles  Standish, 
who  came  with  the  first  band  of  Pilgrims  in  the  Mayflower,  and  landed 
at  Plymouth  in  1620.  With  such  ancestors,  his  remote  one,  the  most 
distinguished  captain  of  his  time  in  New-England,  a  Pilgrim  of  the  first 
Pilgrim  band,  and  his  immediate  one,  a  brave  and  faithful  officer  in  the 
war  of  the  Revolution,  Mr.  Foster  inherits  as  much  of  true  greatness 
and  family  character  as  it  is  possible  to  inherit  in  this  republican  coun 
try.  An  honored  name,  brave  deeds  and  an  unstained  character  were 
the  legacies  of  the  past,  and  the  only  ones  which  were  transmitted  to 
him. 

Captain  Daniel  Foster  died  January  28th,  1824,  aged  79.  Mrs.  Fos 
ter,  his  wife,  died  February  14th,  1851,  aged  88,  having  lived  to  see  her 
son,  of  whom  she  was  justly  proud,  attain  the  high  position  in  which  he 
now  stands  in  his  native  state. 

From  the  time  he  was  of  suitable  age  to  attend  school  until  he  was 
16  years  old,  the  subject  of  our  sketch  enjoyed  only  those  limited  means 
of  education,  common  to  every  boy  in  New-England,  afforded  by  the 


204  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

common  school.  In  the  fall  of  1822,  then  about  16  years  of  age,  he 
went  to  Hartford  and  studied  with  the  late  Rev.  Abel  Flint,  D.  D. 
Dr.  Flint's  school  was  one  of  that  class,  common  at  that  time,  where  a 
few  pupils  were  received  into  the  family  of  the  teacher,  and  under  his 
personal  care  and  supervision,  educated  and  fitted  to  enter  college. 

He  remained  at  Hartford  about  nine  months,  diligently  improving 
all  the  advantages  within  his  reach,  when  Dr.  Flint,  by  reason  of  de 
clining  health  was  compelled  to  give  up  his  school. 

His  conduct  during  the  time  he  was  in  Dr.  Flint's  family  rendered 
him  an  especial  favorite  of  his  teachers,  who  showed  him  many  favors 
and  much  kindness. 

During  the  winter  of  1823  and  '24  he  taught  school  in  his  native 
town,  although  then  hardly  eighteen  years  of  age.  The  following  spring, 
in  May,  1824,  he  again  commenced  his  course  of  study  and  preparation 
for  college  with  the  Rev.  Cornelius  B.  Everest,  of  Windham,  with  whom 
he  remained  until  February,  1825,  when  he  entered  Brown  University, 
in  Providence.  He  remained  in  Brown  University  about  four  years, 
and  was  graduated  at  that  institution  in  September,  1828,  receiving  the 
highest  honors  of  his  class. 

The  winter  succeeding  his  graduation  he  taught  in  Providence  as  an 
assistant  in  the  school  of  Mr.  Roswell  C.  Smith. 

The  following  spring  he  returned  to  Norwich  and  commenced  the 
study  of  the  law  with  the  late  Hon.  Calvin  Goddard,  one  of  the  most 
distinguished  lawyers  of  his  day  in  Connecticut,  with  whom  he  remained 
until  December  of  the  same  year. 

He  then  went  to  Centreville,  Queen  Anpe's  county,  Maryland,  where 
he  passed  a  year  as  principal  of  an  academy. 

While  in  Centreville,  he  was  admitted  to  the  Maryland  bar,  but  did 
not  commence  the  practice  of  the  law. 

He  returned,  after  his  admission  to  the  bar  in  Maryland,  to  the  office 
of  Judge  Goddard,  with  whom  he  had  previously  studied,  and  continued 
his  studies  with  him  another  year.  At  the  completion  of  this  period, 
in  1831,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  New-London  county,  Connecti 
cut,  at  Norwich,  and  immediately  afterwards  opened  an  office  and  com 
menced  the  practice  of  his  profession  at  Norwich  town. 

In  1833,  at  the  solicitation  of  some  of  his  friends,  he  removed  from 
Norwich  to  Hampton,  in  Windham  county,  and  there  practised  for  a 
little  more  than  a  year.  From  Hampton  he  returned  to  Norwich  city 
and  opened  an  office,  where  he  has  remained  and  is  still  in  the  full 
practice  of  his  profession. 

In  the  spring  of  1835  he  took  the  editorship  of  the  Norwich  Republi 
can,  a  whig  journal,  but  finding  this  to  interfere  with  his  rapidly  increas 
ing  legal  business,  he  soon  withdrew  from  it  to  devote  himself  entirely 
to  his  profession. 

In  October,  1837,  he  was  married  tp  Joanna  Boylston  Lanman, 
daughter  of  the  Hon.  James  Lanman,  one  of  the  leading  men  of  the 
state,  a  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  also  a  senator  in  Congress. 
Their  union  has  been  blessed  with  three  children,  all  of  whom  have,  in 
the  course  of  Providence,  been  taken  from  them  at  an  early  age. 

Mr.  Foster  has  represented  his  town  frequently  in  the  state  legisla 
ture  from  1839  to  1849. 


LA  FATETTE  S.  FOSTER,  OF  CONNECTICUT.  205 

In  the  autumn  of  1846,  Mr.  Foster  visited  Europe,  and  passed  some 
time  traveling  in  England  and  on  the  Continent. 

In  1847  he  was  chosen  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives  of 
Connecticut,  and  again  in  1848  was  re-elected  to  the  same  responsible 
and  honorable  position. 

While  Speaker,  he  so  acquitted  himself  of  the  onerous  and  delicate 
duties  of  the  office  as  to  command  the  unqualified  approbation  of  the 
entire  house  over  which  he  presided.  His  reputation  as  a  presiding 
officer  has  never  been  exceeded,  if  ever  equaled  by  any  person  in  the 
state. 

In  the  winter  of  1850,  Mr.  Foster  received  the  nomination  of  his 
party  for  the  office  of  governor  of  the  state  of  Connecticut,  and  was 
their  candidate  for  two  successive  years ;  after  which,  although  strongly 
urged,  he  peremptorily  declined  a  re-nomination. 

In  1851  he  received  a  nomination  by  the  whig  party  for  the  office 
of  senator  of  the  United  States  from  Connecticut,  to  fill  the  seat  now 
occupied  by  the  Hon.  Isaac  Toucey.  The  whig  party  being  in  the  mi 
nority,  he  of  course  failed  of  an  election. 

In  the  autumn  of  1851,  the  degree  of  LL.  D.  was  conferred  upon 
him  at  the  annual  commencement  of  Brown  University. 

He  was  elected  Mayor  of  the  city  of  Norwich  in  the  summer  of  1851, 
and  again  in  1852  re-elected  by  a  unanimous  vote,  not  a  single  oppo 
sition  ballot  being  cast  against  him — a  compliment  as  gratifying  as  it 
was  deserved,  coming  as  it  did  from  those  with  whom  he  had  always 
lived,  and  who  knew  him  best. 

As  a  lawyer,  Mr.  Foster  stands  in  the  front  rank  of  his  profession  in 
his  native  state.  He  is  now  in  the  prime  of  life,  in  the  full  vigor  and 
strength  of  his  mental  powers,  and  in  the  enjoyment  of  unimpaired 
health.  Mr.  Foster,  in  the  commencement  of  his  legal  studies,  made  a 
thorough  elementary  preparation,  and  having  a  retentive  and  disciplined 
memory,  combined  with  a  brilliant  quickness  or  readiness  of  manner, 
he  is  enabled  to  make  instantly  available  all  his  learning  and  expe 
rience.  It  was  in  a  great  measure  owing  to  these  circumstances  that 
he  was  enabled  so  soon  to  attain  a  commanding  position  in  the  profes 
sion.  He  excels  both  as  an  advocate  and  as  a  counselor,  and  it  is  that 
happy  union  arid  blending  of  all  the  qualities  necessary  to  a  good  prac 
titioner  that  has  made  him  so  successful  in  his  profession. 

His  style  of  speaking  is  classic  and  severe,  distinguished  by  power 
of  argument,  appositeness  of  illustration  and  close  logical  demonstra 
tion.  One  of  its  most  striking  features  consists  in  the  entire  sincerity 
with  which  he  argues  his  cause,  leaving  no  doubt  on  the  minds  of  his 
auditory  as  to  his  own  belief  of  the  truth  of  what  he  is  saying.  His  elo 
cution  is  good,  although  the  intonation  of  his  voice  is  somewhat  sharp. 

Having  a  fine  command  of  the  purest  English,  and  a  knowledge  of 
its  weight  and  value  seldom  attained,  he  is  enabled  to  make  his  argu 
mentative  efforts  the  more  effective  from  the  precision  and  perspicuity 
with  which  they  are  rendered.  This  makes  him  powerful  in  arguing 
intricate  points  of  law  before  a  court.  When  addressing  a  jury,  he 
manages  to  fix  the  attention  of  the  jurors  at  the  outset,  before  going 
into  the  merits  of  the  case,  and  steadily  retains  it  unbroken  to  the  end. 
His  manner  is  perfectly  self-possessed,  his  language  is  in  the  purest 


206  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

taste,  and  his  arguments  are  embellished  with  those  graces  of  oratory 
which  indicate  the  finished  scholar  and  accomplished  lawyer.  He  is 
thus  enabled  in  a  double  manner  to  influence  a  jury  both  by  the  power 
of  argument  and  the  swaying  force  of  eloquence.  In  the  examination 
and  cross-examination  of  witnesses,  by  reason  of  his  strong  powers  of 
investigation,  he  is  peculiarly  effective,  and  displays  a  rare  knowledge 
of  human  nature.  The  fast  witness  he  checks,  the  timid  witness  he  en 
courages,  the  reluctant  witness  he  draws  out,  and  the  lying  witness  he 
so  tangles  in  the  mazes  of  his  own  falsehoods  that  he  strengthens  the 
very  cause  he  undertook  to  injure.  He  must  needs  be  a  skilful  and 
well-disciplined  liar  who  can  come  unscathed  and  unexposed  from  one 
of  Mr.  Foster's  cross-examinations. 

Mr.  Foster's  highest  ambition  has  been  to  excel  in  the  line  of  his 
profession,  to  attain  a  thorough  understanding  and  mastery  of  legal 
science,  and  to  this  end,  with  a  singleness  of  purpose,  he  has  directed 
the  untiring  industry  and  energies  of  a  lifetime. 

Shrewd  and  keen,  ever  on  the  look-out  to  detect  the  weak  points  of 
an  adversary's  position,  and,  if  open  to  ridicule,  his  ready  exposure  of 
the  weakness  frequently  gives  a  force  and  influence  favorable  to  his 
cause  beyond  the  power  of  the  severest  logic  or  closest  reasoning.  He 
possesses  the  highest  powers  of  wit,  together  with  a  keen  sense  of  the 
ridiculous,  and  his  retorts,  on  occasions  suitable  for  displaying  those 
powers,  are  unanswerable.  Another  marked  feature  in  the  professional 
career  of  Mr.  Foster  is  his  faithfulness  and  untiring  devotion  to  the 
interests  of  his  clients.  No  matter  how  trifling  the  amount,  or  how 
uncertain  the  prospect  of  remuneration  for  his  services,  he  works  just 
as  hard,  and  with  the  same  zeal,  as  though  the  case  involved  large 
interests  and  abundant  reward.  His  practice  is  very  large,  extending 
regularly  through  all  the  eastern  counties  -in  Connecticut,  and  to  a  con- 
siderable  extent  in  other  portions  of  the  state. 

The  private  life  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch  has  been  marked  by  the 
strictest  honor,  integrity,  benevolence,  and  justice.  Although  his  life 
has  been  passed  in  active  business  among  all  classes  of  men,  he  has  yet 
preserved  a  guileless  simplicity  of  character. 

In  his  political  experience,  though  ever  ready  to  devote  his  time  and 
talents  to  the  party  to  which  he  belongs,  yet  his  strength  of  principle 
and  upright  character  have  ever  prevented  his  playing,  in  the  least,  the 
demagogue,  and  led  him  to  an  honest  scorn  of  the  means  often  used, 
and  used  successfully,  too,  for  the  attainment  of  place  and  power.  He 
has  ever  avoided  rather  than  sought  the  arena  of  political  life,  though 
always  ready  to  assume  whatever  burden  of  duty  his  political  friends 
might  deem  it  expedient  for  him  to  bear.  This  is  owing,  in  a  great 
measure,  to  those  genial  influences  which  have  gathered  about  his  own 
hearth-stone,  he  being  blessed  with  a  companion  who  combines  such 
rare  attainments  of  mind  and  graces  of  character  that  he  has  ever  been 
ed  to  seek  his  highest  happiness  in  his  own  domestic  circle,  a  result 
which  must  inevitably  have  been  produced  upon  a  man  of  talent,  learn 
ing  and  refinement. 

Mr.  Foster  possesses,  in  a  high  degree,  those  social  qualities  which 

uster  around  the  finished  gentleman.     With  a  range  of  intelligence 

and  information — the  gathered  product  of  careful  study  and  discrimina- 


JOHN  PORTER  DOBYNS,  OF  KENTUCKY.  207 

tion  rarely  surpassed — he  adds  colloquial  powers  of  the  highest  order, 
a  brilliant  and  flashing  wit,  and  language  and  expression  in  the  purest 
taste.  In  all  his  attainments  he  is  modest  and  unpretending,  but  at 
the  same  time  fearless  in  the  expression  of  his  own  opinions,  and  the 
advocacy  of  his  own  views,  on  any  subject  which  may  chance  to  be 
under  discussion. 

With  a  large  charity  and  Christian  benevolence  his  liberality  is 
bounded  only  by  his  ability,  and  he  gives  freely  to  every  worthy  ob 
ject  for  which  application  is  made  to  him  for  assistance.  Mr.  Foster 
early  in  life  connected  himself  with  the  Congregational  church  and 
society  in  Norwich  town,  and  has  ever  sustained  the  character  of  a  con 
sistent  Christian.  Firm  in  his  religious  belief,  avoiding  bigotry  and 
fanaticism,  his  aim  has  been  to  regulate  his  life  and  conduct  in  accord 
ance  with  the  doctrines  and  principles  of  HIM  whom  he  strives  to 
follow,  and  in  whom  he  has  professed  faith. 

He  writes  as  he  speaks,  in  a  style  of  the  tersest  and  most  direct  ex 
pression,  and  in  the  purest  English.  He  has  on  several  occasions  been 
called  upon  to  lecture  before  colleges  and  literary  societies  and  lyceums. 
On  all  such  occasions  he  makes  thorough  preparation,  elaborates  with 
much  thought  and  research,  and  invariably  gives  to  his  hearers  a 
brilliant  and  profound  discourse. 

Mr.  Foster  commenced  life  with  only  that  inheritance  and  resource,  so 
often  the  sole  dependence  of  a  New-England  boy,  viz. :  himself.  By  a 
life  of  strict  integrity,  laborious  study,  energetic  action,  and  devotion 
to  the  duties  and  business  of  the  profession  he  assumed,  he  has  raised 
himself  to  rank  among  the  foremost  in  his  native  state.  Beloved 
with  a  fervent  warmth  of  attachment  by  all  who  know  him  personally, 
and  respected  by  all  men  of  all  parties,  he  stands  now  just  in  the  prime 
of  life,  at  the  head  of  his  profession,  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  state, 
and  the  acknowledged  leader  of  his  party.  In  the  coming  future  there 
are  no  honors  to  which  he  may  not  aspire,  and  no  place  which  he  would 
not  fill  with  dignity  and  honor  to  himself  and  credit  to  his  state  and 
country. 


JOHN  PORTER  DOBYNS, 

OF  MAYSVILLE,  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  MAYSVILLE  BRANCH  OF  THE  FARMERS' 
BANK  OF  KENTUCKY. 

THE  life  of  an  eminent  merchant  or  successful  business-man,  though 
full  of  activity  and  incidents,  usually  presents  but  few  salient  points  to 
excite  the  interest  of  the  general  reader.  But  to  achieve  distinction  or 
great  prosperity  in  such  pursuits  requires  qualities  of  a  high  order. 
These  will  be  readily  appreciated  by  all  who  tread  the  busy  thorough, 
fares  of  trade.  Ordinary  merit  may  attain  a  respectable  position  and 
enjoy  a  moderate  competence ;  but  to  spring  from  poverty  and  ob- 


208  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

scurity  to  the  first  place  of  monetary  credit  and  power  can  only  be  the 
fortune  of  a  gifted  personage.  Eminent  business  talent  is  composed  of 
a  combination  of  high  mental  and  moral  attributes.  It  is  not  simply 
energy  and  industry  ;  there  must  be  sound  judgment,  breadth  of  capa 
city,  rapidity  of  thought,  justice  and  firmness,  the  foresight  to  perceive 
the  course  of  the  drifting  tides  of  business,  and  the  will  and  ability  to 
control  them  ;  and  withal,  a  collection  of  minor  but  important  qualities 
to  regulate  the  details  of  the  pursuits  which  engage  attention.  The  sub 
ject  of  this  memoir  affords  an  exemplification  of  this  talent,  if  not  in  its 
highest  development,  yet  of  an  extraordinary  character ;  and  nothing 
but  the  limited  theatre  of  his  operations  and  the  nature  of  his  pursuits 
has  prevented  his  reputation  from  becoming  national. 

John  Porter  Dobyns  was  born  in  Mason  county,  Kentucky,  on  the 
6th  day  of  June,  1815,  of  respectable  parents,  whose  fortune,  however, 
did  not  admit  of  their  starting  their  son  in  life  with  those  advantages 
which,  to  a  certain  extent,  supersede  the  necessity  of  relying  upon  one's 
own  exertions.  His  education  was  limited,  but  practical.  Considerably 
before  the  period  of  his  majority  he  commenced  the  business  of  a  dry- 
goods  merchant  in  Elemingsburg,  Ky.  Here  he  was,  for  a  number  of 
years,  a  member  of  the  family  of  his  uncle,  Thomas  Porter,  now  living 
in  Covington,  Ky. — a  man  of  great  worth  and  integrity,  who  commenced 
life  poor,  and  by  his  energy  and  capacity  has  acquired  a  large  fortune. 
He  is  a  model  business-man,  of  sound  judgment,  and  true  nobility  of 
character.  Mr.  Dobyns'  association  with  him  was  fortunate.  To  his 
counsel  and  encouragement  and  example  he  is  much  indebted  for  his 
success  in  life,  and  has  always  been  proud  to  acknowledge  his  indebted 
ness. 

Mr.  Dobyns  continued  in  Flemingsburg  until  his  marriage.  The  bu 
siness  in  which  he  was  engaged,  in  a  small  country  town,  wanted  that 
excitement  which  his  mind  required ;  neither  did  it  afford  an  opportu 
nity  for  the  development  and  exercise  of  the  abilities  with  which  he  had 
been  endowed ;  consequently  he  abandoned  an  occupation  which  pro 
mised  so  little  reward,  and  settled  in  Maysville,  Ky.  This  city  is  ad 
vantageously  situated  on  the  Ohio  River,  one  of  the  great  thoroughfares 
of  western  trade,  and  is  the  business  mart  of  the  northeastern  portion 
of  Kentucky.  The  country  surrounding  it  is  noted  for  the  rich  growth 
of  several  of  the  staple  and  most  important  articles  of  produce;  conse 
quently,  the  attention  of  the  capitalists  and  business-men  of  the  nation 
has  been  drawn  to  it  as  a  depot  for  the  collection  and  sale  of  these  pro 
ducts.  This,  with  the  return  trade,  which  is  the  offspring  of  it,  has  made 
Maysville  an  active  and  thriving  city. 

Here,  Mr.  Dobyns,  without  means,  and  almost  an  entire  stranger, 
commenced  business  as  a  grocery  and  commission  merchant.  Sur 
rounded  on  all  hands  by  men  of  experience  at  the  head  of  old  established 
houses,  with  nothing  to  oppose  to  their  capital  and  influence  but  his  en 
ergy  and  capacity,  he  started  boldly,  and  with  judgment  and  hope,  into 
the  competition  for  business,  fortune,  and  public  usefulness.  Very 
soon  the  community  perceived  that  a  master-mind  was  among  them. 
His  energy  and  industry,  the  system  and  judgment  which  characterized 
his  operations,  and  the  uniform  success  which  attended  them,  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  public,  and  established  the  basis  of  a  sound  and  endur 


JOHN  PORTER  DOBYNS,  OF  KENTUCKY.  209 

ing  credit,  and  of  a  profitable  business.  His  prosperity  was  not  built 
upon  the  ruin  of  others,  but  was  mostly  the  result  of  such  business  as 
he  himself  had  drawn  to  the  place.  His  sagacity  as  a  speculator  has  been, 
indeed,  extraordinary,  and  the  repeated  success  of  his  ventures  adds  ra 
pidly  to  a  growing  fortune,  and  brings  with  it  the  confidence  of  the  peo 
ple,  who  are  glad  to  avail  themselves  of  his  advice  in  the  disposition  of 
their  commodities.  The  reputation  which  he  thus  acquired  in  his  own 
community  has  extended  itself  to  the  business  public  at  large  having 
correspondence  or  intercourse  with  the  city ;  and  he  has  thus  obtained, 
one  by  one,  extensive  and  lucrative  agencies  to  purchase  the  staple  com 
modities  of  the  country,  and  in  no  instance  has  he  failed  to  demonstrate 
his  intelligence,  activity,  and  fidelity. 

Such  has  been  his  constant  fidelity  in  this  department  of  business,  and 
the  consequent  increase  of  his  patronage,  that  he  has  been  compelled  to 
surrender  into  other  hands  the  grocery  and  commission  business  in 
which  he  originally  embarked,  and  which  he  conducted  so  prosperously. 
In  connection  with  Mr.  Coons,  a  man  of  eminent  worth  and  great  prac 
tical  business  talent,  he  is  the  owner  of  a  large  pork  establishment,  in 
which  the  business  of  purchasing,  slaughtering,  and  packing  pork,  is  ex 
tensively  carried  on ;  and  such  is  the  reputation  of  their  establishment 
that  speculators  and  capitalists  from  abroad  here  make  their  purchases, 
and  have  their  packing  done,  that  their  meat  may  go  into  market  with 
a  brand  so  widely  and  favorably  known  as  that  of  Coons  &  Dobyns. 

Systematic,  prompt,  and  persevering  in  the  management  of  his  diver 
sified  operations,  he  allows  no  derangement  of  his  affairs,  but  with  the 
practical  steadiness  of  a  pilot  directs  a  complicated  traffic  with  unerring 
precision  and  success.  In  the  short  space  of  ten  years,  from  being  an 
unknown  name  upon  'change,  he  is  now,  by  general  consent,  the  fore 
most  merchant  of  his  city,  with  a  reputation  for  foresight,  prudence,  and 
energy,  unequaled  by  that  of  any  man  of  his  age  in  the  western 
country. 

While  thus  lucratively  engaged  in  his  own  private  pursuits,  he  is  not 
forgetful  of  his  duties  as  a  citizen.  His  public  spirit  is  as  remarkable 
as  his  individual  energy.  Every  enterprise  for  the  promotion  of  the 
material  or  moral  interests  of  his  city  and  county  finds  in  him  an  ardent 
and  constant  friend.  He  has  been  liberal  in  his  contributions  towards 
the  erection  of  churches  and  for  their  support.  He  takes  special  interest 
in  the  cause  of  colonization ;  and  although  he  has  become  a  large  slave 
holder,  (by  the  purchase  of  slaves,  who,  in  working  for  him,  had  become 
so  much  attached  to  him  as  to  beg  him  to  buy  them,)  he  looks  forward 
with  confidence  to  the  establishment  of  some  just  and  beneficent  scheme 
by  which  we  may  be  relieved  from  the  unfortunate  institution. 

Some  twenty  years  since,  when  the  spirit  of  internal  improvement 
was  rife  in  the  land,  a  project  was  started  of  constructing  a  turnpike 
road  from  Maysville  to  Mount  Sterling,  which  would  open  an  avenue 
to  one  of  the  richest  portions  of  the  state.  By  state,  municipal  and 
individual  subscriptions  of  stock,  it  was  finished  for  a  short  distance. 
For  many  years  it  had  been  discontinued  for  want  of  means.  Some 
few  years' since,  the  attention  of  Mr.  Dobyns  was  directed  to  the  neces 
sity  of  its  continuance,  and,  by  the  energy  and  skilful  financial  manage 
ment  of  the  board  of  directors,  of  which  he  was  an  efficient  member, 

14 


210  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

the  road  has  been  entirely  completed,  and  now  throws  into  the  lap  of 
Maysville  the  trade  of  as  fair  a  country  as  there  is  upon  the  globe. 

Eecently,  the  citizens  of  Kentucky  have  embarked,  with  considerable 
zeal,  in  the  work  of  rail-road  improvements.  The  effort  has  been  to 
establish  through  the  state  a  great  thoroughfare  of  trade  and  travel  from 
the  east  to  the  southwest,  which  would  also  subserve  the  purposes  of  local 
commerce.  Mr.  Dobyns  is  actively  engaged  in  this  enterprise,  and  is  a 
member  of  the  board  of  directors  of  the  Maysville  and  Big  Sandy  Rail 
road  Company.  By  means  of  the  vigorous  and  skilful  operations  of 
that  board,  with  the  herculean  efforts  of  its  president,  Thomas  B.  Ste 
venson,  Esq.,  that  road  is  about  being  commenced,  and  will  certainly 
be  constructed  ;  and  thus  the  only  gap  in  Kentucky,  in  the  great  line 
of  connection  between  the  seaboard  and  the  Mississippi,  will  be  filled 
up. 

Mason  county  is  one  of  the  wealthiest  in  the  state ;  but,  owing  to 
the  want  of  scientific  knowledge,  association  and  competition,  its  re 
sources  have  not  been  fully  developed.  This  difficulty  is  now  being 
overcome,  and  a  new  era  in  the  history  of  the  county  commenced  by 
an  agricultural  and  mechanical  association,  originated  by  Mr.  Dobyns 
and  a  few  others.  No  other  enterprise  could  give  higher  tone  or  better 
direction  to  industry,  and  thus  confer  more  real  service  on  the  county. 

The  growing  commerce  of  Kentucky  requiring  an  addition  to  its 
banking  capital,  the  legislature,  in  1850,  chartered  the  Farmer's  Bank, 
a  branch  of  which  was  located  in  Maysville.  Mr.  Dobyns  was  promi 
nent  among  those  whose  representations  to  the  legislature,  as  to  the 
necessity  of  that  institution,  and  whose  influence  with  that  body  led  to 
its  establishment;  and,  as  one  of  the  commissioners  to  obtain  stock,  he 
has  been  remarkably  successful  in  inducing  capitalists  and  business 
citizens  at  home  to  make  investments  in  the  stock  of  the  bank.  Thus 
it  has  been  commenced  under  very  favorable  auspicies.  With  one 
consent  he  was  selected  as  the  president  of  the  branch  at  Maysville, 
and,  to  disparage  no  one,  we  may  justly  say,  that  a  better  selection 
could  not  have  been  made.  To  be  satisfied  of  this,  it  is  only  necessary  to 
look  to  the  reports  of  the  operations  of  this  branch,  and  the  amount  of 
its  dividends  since  its  establishment.  They  will  demonstrate  a  finan 
cial  skill  and  an  administrative  ability  in  its  head,  unsurpassed,  and 
perhaps  unequaled. 

A  very  marked  characteristic  of  Mr.  Dobyns  is,  that  he  never  ap 
pears  to  be  hurried.  However  multifarious  may  be  the  affairs  upon 
his  hands,  he  preserves  his  equanimity,  and  you  would  never  dream 
that  he  was  making  any  extraordinary  exertions  to  keep  his  business 
going.  This  arises  from  the  tact,  promptitude  and  system  (to  which 
we  before  alluded)  with  which  he  conducts  his  affairs. 

In  business,  Mr.  Dobyns  is  affable  and  accommodating.  Aside  from 
business,  he  is  a  most  agreeable  companion.  His  disposition  to  please, 
the  readiness  of  his  wit,  the  fluency  of  his  language,  the  fertility  of  his 
fancy  and  his  good  sense,  and  acute  perception  of  the  ludicrous,  make 
him  an  accomplished  conversationalist.  A  visitor  to  his  elegant  resi 
dence,  about  a  mile  from  the  city,  where,  under  the  management  of  his 
amiable  lady,  the  evidences  of  taste  and  refinement  are  rapidly  accumu 
lating,  will  never  fail  to  be  delighted  with  his  entertainment.  To  his  su- 


LOVLAND  PADDOCK,  OF  NEW-YORK.  21 1 

perficial  acquaintances  he  has  an  air  of  coldness  which  too  often  gives 
an  unfavorable  impression  of  his  character;  but  you  have  but  to  know 
him,  in  order  at  once  to  see  that  this  apparent  pride  is,  in  truth,  but  the 
consequence  of  a  natural  diffidence  and  reserve,  which  are  characteristic 
of  a  true  gentleman.  Th«re  is  no  man  living  to  whom  his  friends  would 
more  readily  apply  for  a  favor,  and  with  better  assurance  of  success, 
than  to  Mr.  Dobyns. 

In  one  particular,  in  which  business-men  are,  unfortunately,  too  gene 
rally  negligent,  Mr.  Dobyns  excels :  he  has  cultivated  his  epistolary 
style  to  a  degree  that  is  truly  remarkable  in  one  who  has  been  so  con 
stantly  engaged  in  active  business ;  and  all  who  are  familiar  with  his 
letters  will  bear  testimony  to  the  chaste  and  beautiful  language  in  which 
they  are  written,  and  the  perspicuity  and  precision  with  which  his  mean 
ing  is  conveyed.  He  does  not  confine  himself  to  the  stereotyped  forms 
of  business ;  but  the  liveliness  of  his  fancy  rarely  fails  to  relieve  the 
most  ordinary  communication  of  its  dullness  by  the  sudden  introduction 
of  some  humorous  sentence,  or  the  happy  turning  of  a  period. 

But  were  we  called  upon  to  state  the  quality  which  distinguishes  Mr. 
Dobyns,  and  to  which,  above  any  other,  he  is  indebted  for  his  success, 
we  would  say  it  is  the  determination  and  energy  with  which  he  com 
mences  and  prosecutes  every  undertaking.  This  led  to  the  bold  ven 
ture  of  settling  in  Maysville  without  friends  or  fortune ; — this  sustained 
him  amid  all  the  embarrassments  and  the  temporary  clouds  and  reverses 
incident  to  the  beginning  of  his  trade.  It  has  impressed  itself  so  deeply 
on  the  community,  that  he  can  command  more  credit  than  any  man  of 
his  means  in  the  state ;  and  the  confidence  of  the  people  in  the  triumph 
of  any  enterprise  is  at  once  secured  if  he  becomes  enlisted  in  it  with  zeal. 
This  is  so  true  that  it  has  become  almost  a  popular  motto.  With  his 
other  qualities  it  is  certain  to  give  him  the  highest  success;  and  it  is 
not  indulging  unreasonably  in  the  spirit  of  prophecy  to  say,  that,  if  his 
life  is  spared,  the  most  brilliant  fortune  and  the  happiest  future  await 
him. 

The  likeness  which  accompanies  this  brief  memoir  is  a  correct  repre 
sentation  of  its  subject,  and  at  once  strikes  the  beholder  as  indicative  of 
manliness,  nobility,  boldness,  and  talent. 


LOVLAND  PADDOCK, 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  BLACK  RIVER  BANK,  WATERTOWN,  NEW- YORK. 

IN  the  life  of  a  business-man,  whose  time  has  been  principally  de 
voted  to  mercantile  and  financial  operations,  it  will  not  be  expected  that 
we  shall  be  startled  by  the  brilliant  achievements  which  cluster  around 
the  records  of  a  military  genius,  nor  shall  we  be  charmed  by  those  bril 
liant  bursts  of  eloquence,  which,  like  flowers  glistening  with  the  morning 
dew,  were  decked  in  their  brightest  gems  as  they  came  sparkling  from 
the  lips  of  an  orator;  neither  shall  we  be  oppressed  by  the  heavy  weight 
•which  hangs  upon  the  broad  shoulders  of  a  statesman,  as  he  removes 


212  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

some  crumbling-stone,  or  strengthens  some  weakened  part  of  a  govern- 
ment's  foundation.  But  may  we  not  admire  the  perseverance  of  the 
penniless  boy,  who,  having  engaged  in  business,  we  find  on  the  road  to 
opulence  1  Shall  we  not  find  that  he  has  had  battles  to  fight  and  ene 
mies  to  conquer  1 — that  he  has,  day  by  day  and  year  by  year,  traveled 
steadily  on,  cutting  his  way  through  brambles,  and  clambering  over 
rugged  rocks,  thus  shunning  that  vale  to  the  right,  rich  in  golden  fruit, 
but  ready  to  be  buried  beneath  the  trembling  rocks  above,  and  avoiding 
to  cull  those  flowers  to  the  left  whose  very  roots  drink  of  the  miry  lake 
beneath  ?  May  we  not  often,  in  following  such  a  boy  from  youth  to 
age,  find  a  guide  for  the  rising  generation,  less  brilliant,  but  more  gene 
rally  useful,  than  in  that  of  military  heroes "?  It  may,  perhaps,  be  men 
tioned,  in  reference  to  the  parents  of  the  subject  of  this  memoir,  as  a 
singular  circumstance,  that  four  brothers  of  the  name  of  Paddock  mar 
ried  four  sisters  of  the  name  of  Lovland.  The  third  sister,  both  as  to 
age  and  as  to  time  of  marriage,  having  seen  her  two  elder  sisters  joined 
in  the  bands  of  matrimony — two  brothers  to  two  sisters — declared  that 
she  would  never  marry  a  Paddock,  because  she  would  not  do  just  as  her 
sisters  did.  Time  caused  a  change  in  her  resolution,  and  the  offered  hand 
of  a  third  brother  was  accepted.  The  offspring  of  this  marriage  was  five 
sons  and  four  daughters,  of  which  children,  Lovland  Paddock,  the  sub 
ject  of  this  sketch,  was  the  youngest  but  one.  He  was  born  at  Middle- 
town,  Connecticut,  on  the  15th  day  of  March,  1795.  His  father  was  an 
officer  in  the  Revolutionary  war,  and,  after  the  restoration  of  peace,  be 
came  owner  and  commander  of  a  vessel,  which  he  sailed  from  Middletown 
to  the  West  Indies.  Leaving  the  perils  of  the  "  vasty  deep,"  he  re 
moved  to  the  town  of  Frankfort,  in  Herkimer  county,  New-York, 
which  was  at  that  time  almost  a  wilderness,  and  looked  upon  as  being 
in  the  far  West.  Here,  with  his  small  means,  he  purchased  a  farm,  of 
about  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  upon  the  highlands  east  of  Utica, 
where  the  sweeping  winds  must  have  often  reminded  him  of  past  dan 
gers  on  his  ocean  home,  but  where,  in  the  peaceful  pursuit  of  agricul 
ture,  he  no  longer  sailed  in  danger  of  storms  or  shoals,  but  lived  and 
died  an  American  farmer.  The  subject  of  this  memoir  was  less  than 
two  years  old  at  the  time  his  father  purchased  the  above-mentioned 
farm.  Having  arrived  at  a  suitable  age,  he  commenced  attending  a 
district  school,  distant  about  a  half-mile  from  his  home.  Here,  both  the 
heat  of  summer  and  the  cold  of  winter  found  him  a  constant  visitor 
up  to  the  age  of  ten,  after  which  he  attended  school  only  winters,  de 
voting  his  time  during  the  summers  to  the  labors  of  the  farm,  to  which 
he  applied  himself  most  diligently.  The  country  to  which  his  father 
removed  was  calculated  to  instill  in  his  youthful  mind  vigor  and  perse 
verance,  as  well  as  to  form  habits  of  economy  and  upright  dealing ;  for 
nowhere  can  be  found  a  better  nursery  for  youth  than  in  our  farmers' 
homes,  with  their  just  principles  of  honesty  and  republican  simplicity. 
Here,  in  a  new  country,  he  saw  the  brawny  arm  of  the  woodsman  sink 
the  axe  deep  in  the  hardy  beech,  that,  stroke  after  stroke,  told  on  its 
trunk  as  it  came  crashing  to  the  ground,  and  that  perseverance  stood 
triumphant;  that  tree  followed  tree,  and  forest  followed  forest,  till  the 
yellow  grain  waved  where  once  the  sunshine  struggled  with  the  wild- 
wood  shade  to  smile  upon  the  earth ;  that  the  hands  which  felled  the 


LOVLAND  PADDOCK, OF  NEW- YORK.  213 

oak  or  held  the  plow  received  no  disdainful  grasp  for  their  honest  labors. 
Being  often  sent  to  Dtica  by  his  father  to  purchase  some  articles  of  mer 
chandise,  or  to  dispose  of  some  of  the  products  of  the  farm,  he  became 
acquainted  with  several  merchants  of  that  place,  and,  catching  some 
of  their  business  spirit,  he  dwelled  so  much  upon  the  idea  of  being 
a  merchant  that  he  became  dissatisfied  with  the  dull  routine  of  farm  life, 
and  earnestly  requested  his  father  to  allow  him  either  to  learn  a  trade 
or  to  become  a  clerk  in  some  store,  the  latter  of  which  he  preferred, 
both  because  it  suited  his  inclination  best,  and  because  he  had  an  offer 
from  a  merchant  at  Utica  to  teach  him  the  business.  At  this  time  he 
had  a  brother,  older  than  himself,  who,  having  some  years  previously 
left  for  the  Black  River  country,  had  settled  at  Watertown,  Jefferson 
county,  New-York,  where  he  was  engaged  in  keeping  a  country  store, 
containing  such  goods  as  were  suited  to  the  wants  of  a  new  and  sparsely- 
settled  country.  With  this  brother  his  father  finally  consented  to  his 
stopping.  Elated  with  the  prospect  of  having  his  most  anxious  wishes 
of  being  a  clerk  soon  realized,  the  farmer  boy,  unschooled  in  the  ways 
of  the  world,  bid  adieu  to  the  hills  of  his  early  association,  and  the 
orchards  he  had  planted  on  their  sides,  with  only  three  dollars  in  his 
pocket,  to  seek  his  fortune  amidst  busy  scenes  of  life,  where  many,  ex 
perienced  in  all  the  ways  of  trade,  seek  but  in  vain.  It  being  a  new 
country,  the  barter  system  was  the  only  one  that  prevailed  to  any  ex 
tent  ;  and  in  the  hard  work  of  cutting  wood,  measuring  grain,  packing 
pot-ashes,  and  occasionally  selling  goods,  there  was  little  fear  of  his  suf 
fering  for  the  want  of  exercise,  or  of  lessening  that  bodily  strength 
which  his  farm  life  had  previously  given  him.  Here  he  readily  gained 
considerable  knowledge  of  the  business  in  which  he  was  employed,  and 
soon  found  that  his  time  could  be  more  profitably  used  in  selling  goods 
and  keeping  books. 

In  the  year  1812  or  1813,  his  brother,  with  whom  he  was  stopping, 
became  interested  in  two  stores  at  Brownville,  and  being  also  made 
sheriff  of  the  county,  was  obliged  to  leave  his  store  at  Watertown  in 
charge  of  his  brother-in-law,  whom  he  had  associated  with  him  as 
partner.  Soon  after  the  war  of  1812  was  declared,  a  large  force  was 
collecting  at  Sacket's  Harbor,  distant  ten  miles  from  Watertown ;  he 
proposed  to  this  brother-in-law  to  let  him  take  to  that  place  from  three 
to  five  hundred  dollars'  worth  of  goods.  After  much  doubt  as  to  the 
success  of  this  operation  and  consequent  delay,  his  brother-in-law  con 
cluded  to  furnish  him  with  about  four  hundred  dollars  in  goods  which 
he  moved  into  a  small  room  near  the  barracks  at  Sacket's  Harbor. 
Being  somewhat  acquainted  with  the  officers  he  commenced  doing  a  profit 
able  business  in  a  small  way ;  he  continued  to  replenish  his  small  stock 
from  time  to  time,  as  needed,  for  some  three  months,  at  the  end  of 
which  time  General  Wilkinson's  army  was  ordered  to  rendezvous  at 
Sacket's  Harbor,  and  there  not  being  a  sufficiency  of  barrack-room,  the 
buildings  in  the  vicinity  were  used,  the  one  he  occupied  among  others, 
and  he  was  obliged  to  leave.  He  returned  to  Watertown,  and  on 
settlement  found  that  he  had  made  over  six  hundred  dollars  profits  in 
the  three  months.  His  brother-in-law  claimed  that  he  had  furnished  the 
goods  at  his  own  risk,  and  that  he  ought  to  have  one  half  the  profits; 
this  was  finally  agreed  to.  He  remained  with  his  brother-in-law  for 


214  SKETCHES  OP  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

some  time  in  the  spring  and  summer  of  1815.  He  also  received  direc 
tions  from  his  brother  John  to  take  charge  of  the  building  of  two  large 
brick  stores  at  Watertown.  He  labored  so  hard  in  the  building  of 
these  stores  that  in  the  fall,  worn  out  and  exhausted,  he  became  quite 
sick  for  a  time.  The  fall  of  the  same  year  he  engaged  his  services  at 
twenty-five  dollars  per  month  and  board  (at  that  time  considered  to  be 
be  very  high  wages  in  the  country)  to  Mr.  O.  Pierce,  to  take  charge 
of  one  of  the  two  stores,  the  building  of  which  he  had  the  previous 
year  been  overseeing,  and  which  Mr.  Pierce  had  now  rented  and  filled 
with  a  stock  of  goods. 

While  he  was  a  clerk  in  his  brother's  store,  merchants  from  New- 
York,  Albany,  and  other  cities,  occasionally  went  to  Watertown  and 
other  parts  of  the  country  for  the  double  purpose  of  collecting  debts 
and  making  new  customers,  and  frequently  made  his  brother's  house 
their  stopping-place.  There  were  no  livery-stables  at  that  time  at 
Watertown,  and  his  brother  would -often  send  his  horse  and  carriage, 
and  him  to  drive,  to  take  these  gentlemen  to  different  parts  of  the 
country.  In  this  way  he  became  acquainted  with  a  number  of  whole 
sale  merchants  in  New- York  and  other  cities.  .  He  often  expressed  to 
them  his  desire  to  become  a  merchant,  and  they,  seeing  his  anxiety  and 
feeling  that  they  might  safely  encourage  him,  told  him  that  whenever 
he  might  feel  disposed  to  commence  business,  to  call  on  them,  and  they 
would  supply  him  with  goods,  for  which  he  might  pay  them  when  he 
could. 

In  the  month  of  May,  1816,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  he  left  for 
New-York,  with  only  three  hundred  dollars,  (it  being  his  half  of 
the  profits  made  at  Sacket's  Harbor)  without  knowing  what  prospects 
lay  before  him,  and  being  in  doubt  whether  he  should  seek  employ 
ment  as  a  clerk,  or  endeavor  to  obtain  a  stock  of  goods.  He  passed 
through  the  Black  Eiver  country  to  Utica,  and  from  thence  to  Albany 
in  mud-wagons,  coaches  then  being  a  luxury  not  enjoyed  on  this 
route ;  and  after  lodging  one  night  at  Albany,  took  what  was  called  a 
fast  steamboat  for  New- York,  which  arrived  at  the  latter  place  in 
twenty-six  hours,  it  being  considered  at  that  time  a  rapid  passage, 
the  whole  time  of  traveling  from  Watertown  to  New- York  occupying 
four  days,  a  strong  contrast  to  the  present  speed  of  iron-horse,  which 
glides  over  the  distance  in  ten  hours.  After  arriving  at  New- York  he 
called  on  the  merchants  whose  acquaintance  he  had  made  at  Watertown ; 
the  most  of  them  received  him  with  pleasure,  and  with  invitations  to  stop 
with  them  at  their  homes.  He  had  prepared  himself  with  recommenda 
tions  from  many  of  the  most  respectable  persons  of  his  own  county, 
all  of  which  spoke  highly  as  to  his  business  capacity  and  integrity,  but 
frankly  stated  that  he  possessed  but  little  pecuniary  responsibility. 
With  several  offers  which  he  had  from  good  houses  to  stop  with  them 
as  clerk  at  good  salaries,  he  was  much  pleased,  but  felt  really  surprised 
upon  the  simple  statement  that  he  was  poor  but  honest,  and  competent 
to  have  any  reasonable  amount  of  goods  that  he  might  wish  for  offered 
to  him  on  his  own  individual  responsibility.  He  was  so  touched 
by  this  kindness  and  interest  in  his  favor,  that  he  delayed  several  days 
to  think  it  over,  as  he  dreaded  a  failure.  After  due  consideration  and 
advice,  he  concluded  to  take  the  goods,  and  selected  about  seven  thou 


LOVLAND  PADDOCK,  OF  NEW  YORK.  215 

sand  dollars'  worth  of  such  kinds  as  were  suitable  to  a  country  store. 
To  secure  his  creditors  against  loss  as  far  possible,  he  promptly 
got  these  goods  insured  in  the  Howard  Insurance  Company,  it  being 
the  first  policy  issued  in  Jefferson  county.  He  hired  a  store  of 
his  brother,  the  building  of  which  he  had  superintended,  and  com 
menced  business  in  good  health,  full  of  ambition,  and  with  a  determi 
nation,  to  succeed.  He  had  calculated  that  as  he  was  a  good  salesman, 
and  was  well  acquainted  with  most  of  the  inhabitants  of  his  own  county, 
he  could  safely  rely  upon  them  for  help  in  this  undertaking  ;  in  this  he 
was  not  disappointed,  for  upon  the  first  opening  of  his  store  he  had  all 
that  himself  and  a  boy  could  conveniently  attend  to.  Knowing  that 
his  future  credit  must  stand  or  fall  with  the  promptitude  with  which  he 
should  meet  his  present  obligations,  he  did  not  wait  for  them  to  become 
due,  but  whenever  he  could  remit  a  few  hundred  dollars,  did  so,  taking 
care  to  send  each  creditor  an  amount  proportionate  to  his  claim.  In 
this  manner  he  had  been  able  to  remit  about  three  thousand  dollars 
in  about  three  months,  which  not  only  strengthened  his  credit  in  New- 
York,  but  was  a  matter  of  convenience  to  him,  as  there  were  no  banks  in 
his  own  village.  By  close  attention  to  his  business,  he  was  able,  before 
the  expiration  of  the  first  year,  not  only  to  pay  off  all  his  first  purchase, 
but  also  in  part  for  goods  ordered.  In  the  mean  time  his  brother,  John 
Paddock,  who  had  been  largely  engaged  in  trade,  died,  leaving  his 
affairs  in  an  embarrassing  condition,  which,  together  with  the  failure  of 
one  of  his  partners  to  a  large  amount,  leaving  a  large  debt  against  the 
firm,  nearly  exhausted  his  brother's  estate.  Although  the  subject  of 
this  notice  was  in  no  manner  connected  with  his  brother  in  business 
affairs,  and  although  he  had  prospered  to  his  highest  expectations, 
he  nevertheless  feared  that  the  loss  of  his  brother,  and  consequently  the 
loss  of  influence  which  his  reputation  would  give,  might  discourage  his 
creditors  in  supplying  him  with  a  full  stock  of  goods.  In  May,  1817, 
about  one  year  from  the  time  of  making  his  first  purchase,  he  made  his 
second  trip  to  New- York.  On  his  arrival  in  the  city  he  found  that 
most  of  his  creditors  had  full  confidence  in  him,  and  were  willing 
to  supply  him  with  what  goods  he  might  wish  to  purchase.  He  con 
tinued  on  prosperously  until  the  fall  of  1820,  when  he  discovered  that 
his  success  in  business  had  awakened  the  envy  of  his  competitors. 
Rival  merchants  had  preceded  him  to  New- York,  and  there  they 
had  whispered  into  the  ears  of  his  creditors  tales  of  falsehood,  thinking 
that  by  casting  foul  blots  of  suspicion  on  his  responsibility,  they  might 
relieve  themselves  from  competition.  The  seed  they  had  sown  had 
taken  root,  and  he  found  of  all  his  creditors  but  one  who  stood  by 
him.  John  Stewart,  Jr.,  now  the  Hon.  John  Stewart — a  generous  man, 
and  a  noble  merchant — not  only  supplied  him  with  goods,  but  came  for 
ward  and  gave  his  name  in  pledge  for  goods  purchased  of  other  mer 
chants,  who,«having  become  frightened  by  false  reports,  refused  to  for 
ward  them  without  security.  His  strong  desire  to  prosper  as  a 
merchant  was  now  increased  by  the  knowledge  that  he  had  enemies  to 
revel  over  his  downfall,  and  a  noble  friend  to  suffer  by  the  same.  He 
therefore  determined  that  no  neglect  or  want  of  perseverance  on 
his  part  should  prevent  him  from  meeting  every  obligation  ;  in  this  he 


216  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

was  successful ;  and,  when  in  the  following  fall  he  again  visited  the  city, 
found  no  difficulty  in  obtaining  goods. 

In  the  following  spring,  being  twenty-three  years  of  age,  he  married 
Sophia  A.  Foster,  a  native  of  Kowe,  Massachusetts,  whose  only  fortune 
consisted  of  herself,  but  in  whom  he  found  an  amiable,  intelligent  and 
industrious  wife,  who  was  well  calculated  to  encourage  and  sustain  him 
in  the  arduous  duties  of  life,  and  who  found  more  pleasure  in  making 
her  household  expenses  conform  to  the  dictates  of  reason,  than  she 
would  have  done  in  squandering  larger  sums  in  the  frivolities  of 
fashion  and  folly.  Feeling  it  to  be  her  duty  as  a  wife  and  a  mother  to 
devote  her  time  to  the  care  of  the  family  circle,  she  found  her  greatest 
pleasure  beneath  the  roof  of  her  husband's  house.  With  the  simplicity 
of  her  ancestors,  pilgrims  in  the  May-FJower,  she  now  finds  in  her  hus 
band's  ample  fortune,  no  pride  to  bar  her  from  association  with  the  low 
and  the  humble,  whenever  help  and  sympathy  may  sooth  them  in  their 
sorrows.  About  once  in  six  months  he  continued  to  make  purchases ; 
having  gradually  extended  his  business,  he  found  it  still  necessary  to 
obtain  his  goods  on  credit,  especially  4s  he  made  most  of  his  sales  on 
time.  He  continued  on  in  this  way  up  to  the  year  1828,  when  he  found 
that  he  was  able  to  purchase  his  entire  stock  of  goods  for  cash ;  having 
a  sufficiency  to  do  so,  over  and  above  his  stock  in  trade,  debts  due 
him,  and  stock  in  the  Jefferson  County  Bank,  of  which  he  was  elected  a 
director.  This  success  in  business  he  attributes  greatly  to  the  care  with 
which  he  incurred  liabilities,  and  the  promptitude  with  which  he 
met  them.  Having  extended  his  mercantile  business  as  far  as  the  de 
mand  for  goods  would  admit  of,  it  became  necessary  for  him  to  find 
other  sources  of  investment  for  his  surplus  means,  which  were  continu 
ally  increasing.  Having  gained  some  knowledge  of  banking  by  being  a 
stockholder  and  director  in  the  Jefferson  County  Bank,  he  concluded  to 
take  a  considerable  amount  of  stock  in  the  Sacket's  Harbor  Bank,  of 
which  he  was  also  elected  a  director.  At  that  time,  as  well  as  at  the 
present,  he  was  deeply  impressed  with  the  belief,  that  under  a  republi 
can  form  of  government,  every  person  should  enjoy  like  rights  and 
privileges,  and  was  therefore  very  hostile  to  all  kinds  of  monopolies 
and  special  privileges,  particularly  those  enacted  by  legislative  bodies 
in  favor  of  particular  persons  or  corporations.  The  old  safety-fund 
system  of  banking  he  believed  to  be  wrong,  both  because  it  gave 
to  certain  individuals  rights  which  it  withheld  from  the  great  body 
of  the  people,  and  also  because  it  offered  but  an  uncertain  security  to 
the  bill-holder.  When  the  policy  of  passing  the  free  banking  law  was 
agitated,  he  felt  much  interest  in  its  success ;  as  it  was  general  in  its 
character  and  free  to  all,  he  considered  that  it  would  act  as  a  great 
leveler  to  special  legislation.  He  saw  that  in  the  security  provided 
for  the  redemption  of  bills,  the  poor  laborer  would  no  longer  be  rob 
bed  of  his  hard-earned  dollars.  At  this  time  he  was  considerably 
interested  in  the  safety-fund  banks,  but  felt  willing  to  suffer  any  loss 
that  might  be  caused  by  the  depreciation  of  his  stocks,  should  the  free- 
banking  law  pass,  in  consideration  of  the  great  general  benefit  it  would 
confer.  By  close  attention  to  business  he  had  greatly  increased  his  capita), 
and  in  order  to  invest  his  surplus  funds,  associated  with  others  in  1839, 


LOVLAND  PADDOCK,  OP  NEW-YORK.  217 

soon  after  the  passage  of  the  free  banking  law,  for  the  purpose  of  start 
ing  a  bank  under  its  provisions ;  he  took  largely  of  the  stock  and  was 
elected  president  of  the  same;  he  continued  to  be  connected  with  this 
institution  as  its  president  for  about  two  years,  when  becoming  dissat 
isfied  with  the  disagreement  among,  and  the  bad  management  of  some  of 
its  officers,  he  disposed  of  his  interest  at  a  sacrifice,  and  resigned  his  office. 
In  the  spring  of  1842,  he  relinquished  the  mercantile  business,  and 
in  the  summer  of  1844  established  a  bank  of  his  own,  which  he  named 
the  Black  River  Bank.  He  continues  proprietor  of  this  institution  at 
the  present  time,  and  has  increased  its  capital  to  four  times  its  original 
amount.  While  prosecuting  his  mercantile  business,  he  had  at  various 
times,  as  favorable  opportunities  offered,  made  investments  in  real  es 
tate  with  his  surplus  capital ;  on  some  of  these  purchases  he  erected 
stores  and  houses,  while  others  already  built  upon  he  greatly  improved. 
A  fire  which  occurred  in  May,  1849,  at  Watertown,  destroyed  nearly 
all  the  business  portion  of  the  village ;  on  this  occasion  he  had  six 
stores  and  his  banking-house  reduced  to  ashes.  He  immediately  com 
menced  to  remove  the  smouldering  rubbish  preparatory  to  the  erection 
of  several  splendid  stores,  for  the  plan  of  which  he  visited  some  of  our 
cities  most  noted  for  their  beautiful  buildings.  In  a  few  months  an  ele 
gant  structure  facing  the  public  square  graced  the  spot  where  so  short 
a  time  previously  laborers  were  nimbly  flinging  the  heated  bricks  from 
the  blackened  mass  of  ruins.  The  following  spring  he  built  the  arcade, 
which  is  widely  celebrated  for  its  beauty  and  singularity ;  it  extends 
from  Washington-street  to  Arcade-street.  On  each  side  of  a  large  and 
airy  hall,  which  is  beautifully  sky-lighted,  is  a  row  of  stores  filled  with 
rich  goods.  Easy  flights  of  stairs  lead  to  balconies  above  and  in  front 
of  offices  occupied  by  artists,  lawyers,  doctors  and  others.  The  whole 
building  is  well  lighted  and  aired,  and  is,  both  as  to  size  and  beauty, 
superior  to  every  other  of  the  kind  in  the  empire  state.  At  all  seasons 
of  the  year  arid  in  all  weather  it  affords  a  pleasant  promenade  ;  in  the 
evening  an  additional  charm  is  lent  to  its  beauty  as  the  gas-lights  throw 
their  brilliant  rays  "o'er  the  fair  and  the  brave"  who  congregate  there  in 
numbers  both  for  pleasure  and  business.  Although  busily  engaged  in 
his  mercantile  and  banking  operations,  he  has  found  leisure  moments 
to  cultivate  his  mind  by  reading  and  study,  and  to  improve  and  beau 
tify  the  grounds  about  his  home,  not  only  by  the  help  of  laborers  but 
with  his  own  hands.  The  cultivation  of  a  garden  has  always  afforded 
him  a  great  source  of  pleasure,  which  by  early  rising  he  has  found  time 
to  enjoy,  and  at  the  same  time  to  feel  his  body  invigorated  and  his  mind 
elevated  by  this  healthful  employment.  The  many  trees  which  have 
been  planted,  grafted,  trimmed  and  otherwise  carefully  attended  to — 
some  with  their  deep  cool  shade,  others  with  their  ripened  fruit — are  now 
repaying  him  most  bountifully  for  the  attention  he  bestowed  upon 
them  while  others  were  dreaming  on  their  downy  couch.  The  asso 
ciations  of  farm  life  still  cling  about  him.  Some  two  and  a  half  miles 
from  Watertown  he  owns  and  carries  on  a  very  large  farm ;  here  he  is 
often  found  not  only  suggesting  improvements,  but  sometimes  engag 
ing  in  them  personally.  From  his  extensive  acquaintance,  influence 
and  capacity,  he  might  have  received  high  political  favors ;  but  feeling 
that  in  accepting  of  office  he  would,  by  attending  to  its  duties  properly 


218  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

sacrifice  his  business  interests,  left  them  to  those  who  had  time  to  spare 
and  political  wishes  to-  be  gratified.  In  reference  to  his  acquisition  of 
property,  it  has  been  said  of  him  as  of  others,  that  everything  he  touched 
turned  to  gold,  carrying  the  idea,  perhaps,  that  chance  was  on  his  side. 
When,  however,  we  take  into  consideration  that  his  whole  life  has  been 
one  of  strictly  business  habits ;  that  he  has  been  temperate  in  all  things; 
that  he  has  pursued  his  calling  with  diligence  and  perseverance ;  that  he 
has  neither  turned  to  the  right  nor  the  left  in  pursuit  of  jack-o'-lanterns — 
we  say,  when  these  things  are  taken  into  consideration,  that  it  can  be  only 
the  superficial  observer  who  would  attribute  his  success  to  chance.  In 
thus  taking  a  glance  at  the  life  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  we  find  that 
the  plowboy,  now  as  an  able  financier  and  a  wealthy  capitalist,  adds 
another  to  the  number  of  those  living  self-made  men,  who,  like  marked 
trees  in  a  dense  wilderness,  point  out  the  way  to  places  of  prosperity. 


HON.  WILLIAM  LAWRENCE, 

OP  OHIO,  LATE  REPORTER  TO  THE  SUPREME  COURT. 

No  country  presents  so  many  incentives  to  laudable  ambition  as  the 
United  States  of  America.  Under  the  equalizing  and  liberal  policy  of 
our  republican  institutions  obscurity  of  birth  is  no  bar  to  the  attain 
ment  of  any  distinction  for  which  the  head  and  the  heart  are  qualified. 
They  encourage  talent  to  venture  on  a  career  of  emulation,  and  insure 
to  virtuous  merit  a  rich  and  ample  reward.  Beautifully  was  the  in 
fluence  of  this  generous  policy  portrayed  by  the  subject  of  this  sketch 
in  one  of  his  youthfu-l  orations  :  "  We  recognize  no  favored  class,  no 
privileged  few,  with  greatness  thrust  upon  them.  Titles,  and  distinc 
tion,  and  name,  come  not  by  blood  or  birth.  The  contest  for  honor, 
andpower,  and  place,  is  open  to  all  whom  philanthropy  or  patriotism  or 
glory  may  prompt  to  participate.  No  royal  munificence  dispenses  its 
patents  of  nobility  or  entwines  the  laurel  wreath  round  skulls  of  empti 
ness.  No  feudal  charter  here  makes  kings  or  peers.  Ours  is  the  no 
bility  of  merit,  the  offspring  of  genius  and  talent  and  virtue.  Its  only 
patent  is  the  seal  of  Omnipotence,  its  only  patronage  the  suffrage  of 
freemen."  Nobly  has  the  subject  of  this  brief  sketch  illustrated  the 
sentiment  to  which  his  youth  gave  utterance.  No  ancestral  fortune 
unlocked  for  him  the  treasures  of  knowledge.  For  him  no  ancestral 
name  secured  the  favor  and  society  of  the  learned,  the  opulent,  and 
great,  relieving  the  way  to  eminence  of  half  its  ruggedness.  But  by 
an  energy  and  genius  exclusively  his  own,  he  has,  in  an  eminent  degree, 
exemplified  the  maxim : 

*  Quisque  suse  fortune  faber." 

A  century  or  more  ago,  during  the  early  settlement  of  Pennsylvania, 
two  brothers,  by  the  name  of  Lawrence,  emigrated  from  Europe,  per 
haps  Sweden,  and  purchased  a  large  tract  of  land  on  the  Delaware 
River,  near  Philadelphia.  They  embarked  with  a  vessel  in  trade  on 


WILLIAM  LAWRENCE,  OF  OHIO.  219 

the  river,  and  lost  their  land  by  permitting  the  claim  of  adverse  occu 
pants  to  ripen  into  title.  One  of  these  brothers  emigrated  to  western 
Pennsylvania,  settled  near  Brownsville,  and  is  perhaps  the  ancestor  of 
the  western  Pennsylvania  Lawrences.  The  other  brother  married  a 
French  lady,  and  had  a  numerous  offspring.  One  of  these  was  David 
Lawrence,  a  substantial  farmer,  who  died  about  1805,  near  Philadelphia, 
leaving  a  family  of  several  children,  without  any  estate.  Amongst 
them  was  Joseph,  an  orphan  boy,  friendless  and  portionless,  who  was 
apprenticed  for  seven  years  to  the  business  of  blacksmithing,  and  faith 
fully  served  out  his  term.  At  the  expiration  of  his  term,  while  yet  a 
youth,  he  enlisted  as  one  of  the  Philadelphia  Guards,  in  the  war  of 
1812,  and  served  during  the  war.  On  the  restoration  of  peace  he  re 
moved  to  Ohio,  where  he  was  married  to  Temperance  Gilchrist,  a 
native  of  Virginia,  a  lady  of  great  benevolence,  of  exemplary  piety, 
and  many  virtues. 

WILLIAM  LAWRENCE,  the  subject  of  this  memoir,  the  only  surviving 
representative  of  these  parents,  was  born  at  the  beautiful  village  of 
Mount  Pleasant,  Jefferson  county,  Ohio,  June  26th,  1819. 

At  this  place  the  father  pursued  his  calling  as  a  mechanic  for  many 
years,  but  subsequently  removed  to  Bellefontaine,  in  Logan  county, 
Ohio,  where,  engaged  in  the  quiet  pursuits  of  agriculture,  he  still  sur 
vives  to  rejoice  with  parental  pride  and  satisfaction  in  the  success  and 
reputation  of  his  son ;  the  mother  sleeps  in  the  little  graveyard  near  by. 

At  Mount  Pleasant,  William  was  early  placed  at  the  village  school, 
where  he  soon  evinced  an  ardent  love  of  books,  and  discovered  a  pre 
cocity  and  sprightliness  indicative  of  his  future  success.  With  un 
usual  rapidity,  and  a  thoroughness  which  would  have  been  creditable 
to  riper  years,  he  mastered  the  branches  taught  in  the  village  school, 
and  displayed  at  this  early  day  those  superior  powers  and  qualities  of 
mind  with  which  his  subsequent  career  has  shown  him  to  be  so  emi 
nently  gifted. 

In  the  spring  of  1830,  his  father  retired  to  a  farm  which  the  fruits  of 
his  industry  had  enabled  him  to  purchase  near  the  village  of  Richmond. 
Here  he  engaged  in  the  twofold  occupation  of  husbandman  and  mechanic, 
in  which  the  village  school-boy,  the  blacksmith's  son,  was  associated, 
and  for  a  time  forced  to  relinquish  his  devotions  to  Minerva,  and  wor 
ship  alternately  at  the  shrines  of  Vulcan  and  Faunus.  The  change 
was  by  no  means  agreeable  to  the  taste  of  young  Lawrence.  The 
visions  of  forensic  encounters  and  legislative  triumphs  had  already  be 
gun  to  arise  in  his  youthful  imagination.  He  had  "  tasted  the  Pierian 
spring,"  and  thirsted  to  quaff  the  full  goblet.  Like  the  exile  for  his 
native  shore,  he  sighed  for  those  pleasures  and  pursuits  more  congenial 
to  his  tastes.  Yet  years  were  destined  to  separate  him  from  his  idol. 
But  they  were  years  in  which  he  emphatically 

"  Learned  to  labor  and  to  wait." 

It.  was  the  remark  of  the  great  Roman  poet,  that 

'  Nil  sine  magno, 
Vita,  labore,  mortalibus  dedit." 

"  There  is  no  excellence  without  labor.  It  is  the  fiat  of  fate  from 
which  no  power  of  genius  can  absolve  us."  He  is  a  melancholy  pic- 


220  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

ture,  whose  active  and  soaring  genius  is  the  tenant  of  a  frail  and  feverish 
body,  whose  delicate  physical  frame  refuses  to  support  the  grasp  and 
vigor  of  a  giant  intellect,  and  the  ambition  that  impels  him  onward. 

Mr.  Lawrence  is  gifted  with  a  vigor  of  constitution  and  power  of  en 
durance,  without  which  few  could  accomplish  the  immense  labor  he 
has  performed ;  and  a  yet  smaller  number  at  his  age  attain  the  emi 
nence  he  enjoys — a  vigor  and  power  which  he  is  proud  to  attribute  to 
the  manly  exercises  of  the  workshop  and  the  farm,  and  by  which  he 
has  sustained  that  labor  which  the  "  fiat  of  fate"  has  made  inseparable 
from  excellence. 

But  the  cultivation  of  letters  was  not  entirely  neglected  during  these 
years.  Not  more  easily  can  genius  be  subdued  to  contentment  in  the 
daily  rounds  of  mill-horse  drudgery,  than  the  caged  eagle  to  forget  his 
native  mountains.  The  aspirations  of  young  Lawrence  were  not  to  be 
confined  solely  to  the  anvil  and  the  plow.  Each  leisure  moment  found 
him  indulging  in  the  perusal  of  works  of  history  and  poetry,  and  during 
the  winter  months,  a  "  quarter"  was  generally  spent,  under  the  instruc 
tion  of  the  "  dominie,"  at  the  "  log  school-house" — one  of  those  "  col 
leges  of  the  people,"  famous  in  the  annals  of  the  northwest.  These  are 
the  pillars  of  our  political  fabric,  in  which  is  early  instilled  into  the 
minds  of  American  youth  that  first  great  principle  of  government, 
namely,  "how  to  be  governed."  But  even  here  is  most  pertinaciously 
maintained  the  "  glorious  right  of  rebellion" — in  vindication  of  which, 
it  is  related  that  young  Lawrence  was  sometimes  found  overstepping  the 
bounds  of  "  obedience  to  law,"  and  heading  an  assault,  which  not  un- 
frequently  terminated  in  the  capture  of  the  dominie.  But  the  young 
rebels  always  restored  their  captive  to  liberty,  upon  the  invariable 
condition  that  he  would  "  treat"  for  peace,  and  proclaim  a  general  am 
nesty. 

But  young  L.  was  destined  to  find  a  theatre  more  favorable  to  the 
development  of  his  intellectual  powers.  In  the  autumn  of  1833,  he 
was  placed  under  the  instruction  of  the  Eev  JOHN  C.  TIDBALL,  who  had 
then  recently  opened  a  classical  seminary  near  the  Ohio  River,  above 
Steubenville.  With  this  gentleman,  who  was  a  ripe  and  accomplished 
scholar,  he  made  rapid  progress  in  the  acquisition  of  knowledge,  and 
laid  the  foundations  of  his  fine  classical  education.  Notwithstanding  the 
interruptions  experienced,  by  being  frequently  summoned  to  aid  in  the 
labors  of  his  father's  farm,  he  was  never  behind  his  class,  but  was  dis 
tinguished  for  the  ease  with  which  he  mastered  the  sciences,  and  the 
elegance  of  his  translations  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  languages.  He 
was  continued  at  this  institution  of  learning  until  the  spring  of  1836, 
when  his  father,  who  appreciated  habits  of  business  no  less  highly  than 
the  advantages  of  an  accomplished  education,  procured  for  his  son  a 
situation  as  a  merchant's  clerk  in  his  native  village.  In  this  vocation, 
young  Lawrence,  in  despite  of  entreaties  and  remonstrances  to  the  con 
trary,  was  doomed  to  pass  the  summer  of  that  year.  His  feelings  on 
the  occasion  are  expressed  thus,  in  a  letter  to  a  young  friend.  "  I  have 
quit  the  academy ;  it  may  be  forever — have  been  constrained  to  ex 
change  the  society  of  the  muses  for  the  companionship  of  mammon — 
the  heroes  of  Homer  and  Virgil  for  the  hucksters  of  thimbles  and  tape ; 
and  to  feel  that  this  is  the  end  of  all  my  hopes,  the  ultima  ihule  of 


WILLIAM  LAWRENCE,  OF  OHIO.  221 

my  ambition !  Oh,  I  could  weep  more  tears  than  the  Pleiad  sisters  ! 
But,  farewell — a  long  farewell  to  you,  my  S.,  my  books  and  all  my 
greatness.  I  shall  no  more  be  with  you,  my  S. — inter  sylvas  academi 
qucerere  verum"  But  that  was  a  fortunate  day  for  Mr.  L.  on  which  he 
became  a  merchant's  clerk.  He  there  acquired  what  books  cannot  sup 
ply — accurate  and  active  business  habits,  which  have  secured  to  him 
the  character  of  a  "  first-rate  business  man" — a  name  he  has  justly  earn 
ed  by  the  astonishing  rapidity  and  systematic  method  with  which  he 
dispatches  the  business  transactions  of  his  profession. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  Mr.  Lawrence  first  witnessed  a  display  of 
forensic  eloquence  which  kindled  his  youthful  ardor  into  enthusiasm. 
He  had  read  with  intense  delight  the  models  of  Greek  and  Roman 
oratory,  and  the  richest  gems  of  British  and  American  eloquence.  But 
now  he  had  seen  and  heard  that  of  which  he  had  before  only  read. 
Writing  to  a  young  friend,  to  whom  he  described  the  scene,  and  the 
effect  it  produced  on  his  own  mind,  he  said,  "  I,  too,  will  be  a  lawyer." 
Accordingly,  with  the  reluctant  consent  of  a  parent  now  overcome  by 
entreaties  irresistible  for  their  pathos,  and  the  glowing  representations 
of  future  distinction  which  sprung  from  the  fevered  fancy  of  an  enthu 
siastic  boy,  young  Lawrence  was  entered  as  a  student  of  Franklin  Col 
lege,  at  New  Athens,  Ohio,  in  the  autumn  of  1836.  Well  does  the 
writer  of  this  sketch  remember  the  light  heart  and  buoyant  step  with 
which  he  set  forward  on  foot  to  enter  upon  this  new  career.  In  the 
fall  of  1838,  he  was  graduated,  by  the  faculty  of  that  institution,  with 
the  degree  of  A.  B. ;  and  the  complimentary  honor  of  pronouncing  the 
valedictory  oration,  on  the  occasion  of  the  commencement,  was  con 
ferred  upon  him.  In  1846,  the  degree  of  A.  M.  was  conferred  on  him 
by  the  same  institution.  It  was  an  exceedingly  short  period  which  Mr. 
Lawrence  employed  to  achieve  the  honors  of  college,  but  "  Laurus  dig- 
nissimo  detur"  was  the  proffered  palm,  and  he  determined  to  win  and 
wear  it.  He  appreciated  the  value  of  a  thorough  classical  education,  as  the 
sure  foundation  of  future  eminence, and  for  it  he  "trimmed  the  midnight 
taper."  But  he  was  not  a  "  book- worm"  merely,  With  a  zealot's 
devotion  he  made  everything  subservient  to  his  future  profession. 
With  reference  to  this,  all  his  studies  were  directed.  To  acquire  a 
fluency  in  speaking,  the  graces  of  declamation  and  skill,  and  delibera 
tion  in  debate,  he  entered  heartily  into  all  the  exercises  and  polemics 
of  the  literary  societies.  Many  of  his  college  fellows  still  remember 
the  adroitness  with  which  he  rarely  failed  to  prostrate  his  antagonist 
and  carry  his  point  in  triumph. 

On  leaving  college,  Mr.  L.  immediately  proceeded  to  Morgan  county, 
Ohio,  to  which  place  his  parents  had  then  recently  removed.  There  he 
commenced  the  study  of  his  favorite  profession  under  Jas.  L.  Gage,  Esq., 
then  the  oldest  and  ablest  member  of  the  McConnellsville  bar.  Under 
the  instruction  of  this  excellent  gentleman,  he  prosecuted  his  studies 
with  characteristic  vigor  and  success,  until  the  winter  of  that  year. 
Becoming  impressed  at  that  time  with  the  necessity  and  importance  of 
self-reliance,  and  determined  thenceforth  to  enjoy — 

"  The  glorious  privilege 
Of  being  independent," 


222  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

he  took  charge  of  a  district  school,  and  turned  "  dominie"  during  that 
winter.  In  the  following  summer  he  became  associated  with  Miss  Cor 
nelia,  daughter  of  Col.  William  Hawkins,  of  McConnellsville.  in  con 
ducting  the  "  Village  School."  This  amiable  and  accomplished  lady 
Mr.  Lawrence  subsequently  "led  to  the  altar,  and  followed  to  the  tomb." 

During  the  period  Mr.  L.  was  engaged  in  teaching,  his  devotion  to  his 
favorite  profession  was  in  nowise  relaxed.  He  continued  to  pursue  it 
with  his  accustomed  zeal  and  industry,  and  had  already  become  quite 
a  formidable  adversary.  Many  an  anecdote  is  told  of  his  forensic  en 
counters  at  this  time,  before  "the  dignitaries  who  presided  on  the 
township  bench."  The  law  granting  the  right  of  trial  by  jury  before 
magistrates  had  then  recently  gone  into  operation.  The  members  of  the 
profession  were  frequently  summoned  to  appear  as  advocates  before 
these  juries  thus  impanneled.  Before  these  courts,  Mr.  L.,  though  not 
yet  admitted  to  practice  in  the  higher  courts,  had  frequent  opportunities 
of  meeting  the  veterans  of  the  profession ;  many  of  whom  still  remem 
ber  the  skill  with  which  he  baffled  their  experience,  and  the  power  with 
which  he  combated  their  arguments.  Such  was  the  original  of  his 
reputation  as  an  advocate.  It  was  not  the  offspring  of  a  first  great 
triumph,  springing  into  full  life,  like  the  fabled  Juno  from  the  brain 
of  Jove;  it  was  the  polished  column,  rather  than  the  mountain  tossed 
up  by  a  throe  of  nature. 

In  the  fall  of  1839,  Mr.  L.  was  entered  as  a  student  of  law  in  the 
law  department  of  the  Cincinnati  College.  At  this  institution  he 
enjoyed  the  instruction  of  the  Hon.  Timothy  Walker,  author  of  "  The 
Introduction  to  American  Law,"  and  one  of  the  most  profound  jurists 
of  this  or  any  other  country.  Under  the  instructions  of  Judge  Walker, 
adorned  and  enriched  by  the  varied  learning  and  classical  taste  of  that 
distinguished  man,  Mr.  L.  laid  broad  and  deep  the  foundations  of  his 
future  reputation  at  the  bar.  His  application  was  intense.  He  devoted 
sixteen  hours  each  day  to  study  and  the  exercises  of  the  lecture-rooms. 
He  reaps  the  reward  of  his  industry  now.  In  March,  1840,  he  was 
graduated  at  this  institution  with  the  degree  of  L.  B.  But  he  had  not 
yet  attained  to  the  age  of  majority,  and  was  therefore  compelled  to  defer 
making  application  for  admission  to  the  bar. 

In  November,  1840,  he  was  admitted,  and  opened  an  office  at 
McConnellsville,  where  the  recollection  of  his  encounters  introduced 
him  at  once  to  a  full  and  lucrative  practice,  in  which  he  continued  how 
ever  but  for  a  short  time.  He  had  been  invited  the  previous  winter 
to  report  the  proceedings  of  the  Ohio  legislature  then  in  session 
at  Columbus,  which  he  declined.  At  the  earnest  solicitations  of  Charles 
Scott,  Esq.,  publisher  of  "  The  Ohio  State  Journal,"  he  accepted  the 
position,  and  reported  the  proceedings  of  the  Ohio  House  of  Repre 
sentatives  for  the  columns  of  that  paper,  during  the  session  of  1S40-'41. 
During  which  session  he  was  also  the  Columbus  correspondent  of  two 
political  papers.  Mr.  L.  wields  the  pen  of  a  ready  writer,  which  ren 
dered  the  labors  of  the  position  but  little  more  than  an  agreeable  relaxa 
tion  from  the  pursuit  of  his  favorite  study.  The  able  and  excellent 
manner  in  which  he  discharged  the  duties  of  reporter  may  be  seen  by 
reference  to  the  files  of  the  Journal.  The  speeches  of  members  rarely 


WILLIAM  LAWRENCE,  OF  OHIO.  223 

suffered  in  the  reporting.  In  fact,  he  is  suspected  in  some  instances 
of  playing  the  part  which  Sam.  Johnson  is  said  to  have  done  for  certain 
worthies  of  the  British  Parliament,  "reported  their  speeches  in  his 
garret." 

Whilst  here,  he  formed  an  acquaintance  with  many  of  the  most  dis 
tinguished  men  of  the  state,  which  has  since  ripened  into  an  intimacy 
that  has  been  of  great  advantage  to  him,  in  both  his  professional 
and  political  career.  By  strict  attention  to  the  rules  and  proceedings 
of  the  house,  he  also  acquired  an  accurate  knowledge  of  the  details  of 
legislation,  which  has  since  made  him  formidable  as  a  parliamentary 
tactician. 

In  the  summer  of  1841,  Mr.  Lawrence  located  in  Bellefontaine,  Ohio, 
where  he  accepted  the  tender  of,  and  formed  a  professional  copartner 
ship  with  the  Hon.  Benj.  Stanton,  which  continued  for  the  period  of  three 
years.  During  this  period  he  gave  abundant  evidence  of  his  great  accu 
racy  in  the  details  of  professional  business,  a  promptness  and  punctu 
ality  in  the  discharge  of  its  duties,  and  an  extensive  and  profound  knowl 
edge  of  the  principles  of  law,  which  early  secured  to  him  the  confidence  of 
clients,  and  a  deservedly  high  reputation  as  a  lawyer.  Since  the  disso 
lution  of  the  copartnership,  he  has  continued  the  practice  of  his  profes 
sion  with  marked  ability  and  eminent  success.  Scarcely  an  important* 
cause  has  been  tried  in  Logan  county  in  which  he  has  not  been  retained 
in  some  stage  of  its  progress  ;  and  now,  though  still  a  young  man,  he 
enjoys  an  extensive  practice  of  the  highest  order  on  the  circuit,  and  in 
the  state  and  federal  courts. 

But  the  anecdotes  of  trials  at  the  bar,  and  the  traditions  of  the  pro 
fession,  have  but  "  a  local  habitation."  These  soon  pass  away  and  are 
forgotten.  The  only  imperishable  monuments  of  fame  are  the  works 
and  recorded  memorials  which  men  leave  behind  them.  Mr.  Lawrence 
has  already  secured  for  himself  a  place  in  the  judicial  history  of  his 
native  state,  and  has  inscribed  his  name  upon  the  reported  volumes  of 
her  judicial  decisions.  Although  in  the  volumes  of  reports  but  meagre 
sketches  of  the  arguments  of  counsel  are  given,  yet  enough  however 
remains  to  bear  evidence  of  his  ability,  laborious  research  and  profound 
judicial  learning. 

On  the  20th  March,  1851,  the  general  assembly  of  Ohio,  by  joint 
resolution,  elected  Mr.  Lawrence  reporter  of  the  supreme  court  in  bane. 
It  was  a  flattering  compliment  to  his  legal  attainments,  that  he  should 
be  proposed  for  nomination  by  the  Hon.  Charles  C.  Convers,  an  eminent 
lawyer,  and  elected  by  the  legislature  of  his  native  state,  as  the  succes 
sor  of  Charles  Hammond,  Esq.,  P.  B.  Wilcox,  author  of  the  Digest, 
Edwin  M.  Stanton,  now  of  the  Pittsburgh  bar,  and  Hiram  Griswold,  of 
the  Cleveland  bar.  In  the  capacity  of  reporter  Mr.  L.  prepared  for  the 
press  the  20th  volume  of  the  Ohio  reports,  the  last  of  the  series  under  the 
then  constitution  of  the  state.  In  the  preparation  of  this  volume  he 
has  not  disappointed  the  high  expectations  of  those  who  confided  it  to 
him.  In  propriety  of  arrangement,  in  the  classification  of  cases,  in  the 
digest  of  arguments,  in  copiousness  of  index  and  citation  of  authorities, 
this  volume  is  not  inferior  to  any  of  its  predecessors.  Of  this  volume 
the  Cincinnati  Atlas,  the  editor  of  which  is  a  lawyer,  thus  speaks  : 


SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

"  For  the  first  time  in  the  Ohio  reports  an  attempt  has  been  made  in 
this  volume  to  reduce  the  arrangement  of  the  decisions  to  something 
like  a  system.  A  division  is  made  as  follows : 

<;  1.  Criminal  cases. 

"  2,  Civil  cases  at  law. 

"3.  Chancery  cases. 

"  Interspersed  through  the  work  are  the  notes  of  the  reporter,  refer 
ring  to  previous  cases  in  the  Ohio  reports  upon  the  same  points,  as  well 
as  to  the  reports  of  other  states,  a  service  which  cannot  fail  to  recom 
mend  itself  favorably  to  the  consideration  of  all  the  members  of  the 
legal  profession. 

"  Much  as  the  name  of  Charles  Hammond  is  revered  in  certain  lo 
calities,  we  cannot  but  wish  that  some  one  possessing  the  systematic 
ability  of  Mr.  Lawrence  had  commenced  the  arrangement  of  the  Ohio 
reports." 

The  Western  Law  Journal,  in  alluding  to  the  volume,  says :  "  The 
reporter  is  a  very  learned  and  accomplished  lawyer,  and  has  rendered 
important  service  to  the  state  as  a  legislator.  *  *  *  The 
performance  is  a  very  complete  one,  quite  equal  to  the  best  of  its  pre 
decessors,"  &c. 

The  re-organization  of  the  judiciary  system  under  the  new  constitution 
and  the  consequent  revulsion  in  politics,  terminated  the  services  of 
Mr.  Lawrence  as  reporter.  Such  is  a  brief  outline  of  his  professional 
career. 

As  a  lawyer  he  has  acquired  a  reputation  for  technicality  in  pleadings 
and  practice.  But  it  is  the  technicality  of  learning,  and  is  always  em 
ployed  honorably.  He  never  resorts  to  an  unfair  advantage  even  in 
the  most  desperate  cause.  His  intercourse  with  his  brethren  of  the 
profession  is  characterized  by  the  utmost  candor,  integrity  and  frank 
ness.  He  is  polite  and  respectful  to  the  court,  mild  and  gentlemanly 
in  his  examination  of  witnesses,  and  courteous  in  his  address  and  de 
portment  to  the  jury,  which  qualities  have  rendered  him  a  general 
favorite  of  the  bar. 

His  humanity  is  no  less  commendable  than  his  learning.  No  man, 
however  indigent,  ever  vainly  solicited  his  professional  services  in  a 
just  cause ;  and  once  engaged,  he  makes  the  cause  his  own.  His  chief 
error,  if  error  it  may  be  called,  is  in  the  pertinacity  with  which  he  vin 
dicates  the  persecuted  and  friendless. 

Mr.  Lawrence  is  gifted  with  a  mind  remarkable  for  the  equipoise  of 
its  faculties  rather  than  for  any  striking  singularity.  He  is  endowed 
with  great  powers  of  analysis  and  quickness  of  perception,  which  enable 
him  instantly  to  discover  the  strong  and  weak  points  of  a  cause,  and 
with  an  astonishing  subtilty  of  logic,  by  which  he  rarely  fails  to  fortify 
or  expose  them  as  the  case  may  require.  The  dexterity  with  which  he 
conducts  a  cause,  and  the  merciless  minuteness  with  which  he  sifts  the 
conscience  and  the  memory  of  a  witness,  leaves  little  room  for  more 
than  a  discussion  of  the  legal  principles  addressed  to  the  court.  Yefc 
if  the  emergency  demands  it  he  is  no  less  formidable  as  an  advocate 
than  ^  tactician.  The  clear  statement  of  his  propositions,  the  perspicuity 
of  his  diction,  and  the  marked  dignity  and  earnestness  of  his  manner, 


T7ILLIAM  LAWRENCE,  OF  OHIO.  225 

rarely  fail  to  carry  conviction.  His  eloquence  cannot  be  characterized 
as  powerful  or  imposing.  He  seldom  wields  a  herculean  club,  but  he 
throws  a  polished  shaft  with  unerring  precision  and  irresistible  effect, 
and  on  proper  occasions  he  rises  to  the  emergency  and  deals  herculean 
blows.  The  eminent  ability  of  the  gentlemen  with  whom  his  profes 
sion  has  brought  him  in  contact,  occasionally  afforded  a  field  for  this 
higher  order  of  forensic  disputation.  The  Hon.  Sampson  Mason,  now 
U.  S.  District  Attorney  for  Ohio,  Hon.  Charles  Anthony,  and  the  late 
Hon.  Israel  Hamilton,  both  formerly  occupying  the  same  position, 
Hon.  Joseph  E.  Swan,  the  learned  author  and  jurist,  Hon.  John  A. 
Corwin,  of  the  supreme  bench,  Hon.  "Win.  A.  Rogers,  Hon.  B.  Stanton, 
and  others  of  acknowledged  ability  and  deserved  reputation,  are  the 
class  of  men  whom  Mr.  Lawrence  has  been  accustomed  to  meet  on  the 
circuit  and  encounter  at  the  bar.  But  his  powers  of  oratory  have  found 
a  field  for  their  highest  display  on  a  different  stage. 

Mr.  Lawrence  has  had  a  brilliant,  though  as  yet  but  a  brief  career  as 
a  politician.  In  his  early  youth  he  became  an  enthusiastic  admirer  of 
Mr.  Clay,  and  espoused  the  political  faith  of  that  distinguished  states 
man.  As  early  as  1840  he  arrayed  himself  under  the  banner  of  the 
late  President  Harrison,  and  lent  his  youthful  powers  to  carry  the  elec 
toral  vote  of  Ohio  for  her  loved  and  honored  hero.  His  reputation  as 
a  popular  orator  gave  him  prominence  before  the  public,  and  in  1845 
he  was  elected  prosecuting  attorney  for  Logan  county,  an  office  which 
he  held  one  year  and  resigned.  In  1846  he  was  elected  to  represent 
the  counties  of  Logan  and  Hardin  in  the  lower  house  of  the  Ohio  legis 
lature.  Having  served  with  much  ability  in  this  position  for  two  suc 
cessive  sessions,  he  was  promoted  to  the  senate  by  the  counties  of 
Marion,  Union,  Hardin  and  Logan.  During  his  first  session  in  the 
legislature  in  1846  and  '47,  though  one  of  the  youngest  members,  he 
took  a  prominent  stand  on  every  important  measure  of  policy  intro 
duced,  and  in  their  discussion  discovered  talents  for  legislative  debate 
of  a  very  high  order. 

*         *         *         *         *         ***** 

The  versatility  of  Mr.  L.'s  powers  is  equal  to  the  generous  impulses 
of  his  heart.  Whether  the  occasion  demands  the  persuasion  of  eloquence 
or  the  power  of  the  pen,  he  is  alike  prepared  for  either.  Many  of  his 
orations  and  addresses  have  been  published,  but  we  cannot  go  further 
into  detail.  The  influence  of'his  oratory  has  been  felt  at  the  bar,  before 
the  popular  assembly,  and  in  the  councils  of  his  native  state.  The  pro 
ductions  of  his  pen  have  adorned  and  dignified  the  political  and  periodi 
cal  literature  of  the  times.  But  we  must  bring  our  sketch  to  a  close. 
We  will  merely  add  that,  with  the  people,  Mr.  L.  is  deservedly  a  favor 
ite.  His  familiar  address,  his  popular  manners,  his  unaffected  sympathy 
with  the  masses,  could  not  fail  to  secure  to  him  many  and  devoted 
friends,  which,  on  all  occasions  when  a  candidate  for  the  popular  suf 
frage,  has  obtained  for  him  more  than  the  vote  of  his  political  party.  In 
an  eminent  degree  was  this  shown  on  a  recent  occasion,  when,  as  a  can 
didate  for  judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  of  his  judicial  district, 
the  political  complexion  of  which  is  largely  of  the  opposition,  he  received 
some  six  hundred  votes  above  his  party  strength.  Though  unsuccessful, 

15 


226  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

yet  defeat,  under  such  circumstances,  was  not  less  gratifying  and  com 
plimentary  to  one  so  young,  than  victory,  achieved  by  mere  force  of 
party  drill,  with  diminished  vote.  At  the  recent  whig  state  convention, 
he  was  selected  from  his  congressional  district  as  the  candidate  for  pie- 
sidential  elector  on  the  ticket  for  General  Scott. 


HON.  NATHANIEL  KIDLEY  EAVES, 

J 

OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA. 

THE  honorable  Nathaniel  Ridley  Eaves  was  born  in  the  State  of 
Virginia,  in  the  town  of  Bellfield,  on  the  Meherrin  Eiver.  His  mother 
died  when  he  was  but  five  days  old,  leaving  three  sons  and  a  daughter. 
His  father  was  a  native  of  Greenville  county,  Va.,  and  served  in  the  Re 
volutionary  war,  at  the  close  of  which,  being  then  quite  young,  he  was 
stationed  at  Nansemond  River,  where  he  became  acquainted  with  the 
mother  of  Mr.  Eaves,  and,  after  the  war  terminated,  married  her.  She 
was  a  Holiday,  and  her  ancestors  were  among  the  first  permanent  set 
tlers  in  Nansemond  county.  Mr.  Eaves'  father,  shortly  after  the  death 
of  his  wife,  removed  to  the  State  of  South  Carolina,  and  settled  in 
Chester  District,  on  the  Catawba  River. 

Mr.  Eaves  received  most  of  his  academical  education  at  Mt.  Bethel 
Academy,  in  Newberry  District,  after  which  he  entered  the  South  Caro 
lina  College,  and  graduated  in  the  year  1815.  He  was  always  greatly 
attached  to  his  alma  mater,  and  in  his  subsequent  senatorial  career  was 
devoted  to  its  interests  and  prosperity,  being  usually  a  member  of  the 
standing  committee,  whose  more  special  duty  it  was  to  superintend  the 
concerns  of  the  college,  education,  and  religion. 


[NOTE. — In  the  preparation  of  this  biographical  sketch,  the  writer  acknowledges 
his  great  obligations  to  the  following  gentlemen,  whose  names  alone  are  a  sufficient 
guarantee  for  the  correctness  of  their  statements,  viz. :  to  Major  Matthew  Williams, 
an  eminent  lawyer  of  Chesterville  ;  to  Captain  John  A.  Bradley,  a  native  of  the  same 
place,  a  gentleman  of  high  respectability  and  great  intelligence,  and  who  has  known 
Mr.  Eaves  intimately  ;  to  Lieutenant  J.  T.  Walker,  a  gallant  officer  of  the  Palmetto 
regiment,  who  was  with  him  in  all  the  battles  fought  in  Mexico  ;  to  J.  F.  G.  Mittag, 
Esq.,  of  Lancaster,  a  gentleman  well  known  for  his  learning  and  scientific  character, 
and  who  studied  law  with  him ;  and  to  0.  D.  Melton,  Esq.,  an  eminent  member  of 
the  Chesterville  bar.    In  some  instances,  the  writer  has  incorporated  the  memoranda 
of  these  gentlemen  into  the  narrative  without  the  slightest  alteration.    He  has  been 
solicitous  to  present  only  the  most  prominent  points  in  the  character  and  career  of 
the  distinguished  individual,  who,  from  considerations  of  friendship  and  a  long  ac 
quaintance,  flatteringly  committed  to  him  the  task  of  preparing  some  notice  of  him 
lor  publication.      He  has  omitted  much  that  is  interesting  that  he  might  have  said, 
and  which  he  would  be  fully  sustained  in  saying  by  a  large  amount  of  official  and 
documentary  testimony,  of  the  highest  character,  that  lies  before  him  ;  but  had  he 
published  all,  a  brief  and  hasty  narrative  would  have  swelled  into  the  proportions  of 
a  history,  and  would  have  been  wholly  unfitted  to  the  pages  of  the  work  in  which 
this  sketch  appears.] 


NATHANIEL  RIDLEY  EAVES,  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  227 

After  receiving  his  degree  of  bachelor  of  arts,  he  entered,  as  a  law 
student,  the  office  of  the  late  Colonel  Joseph  Gist,  of  Union  District,  one 
of  the  most  eminent  and  successful  practitioners  at  the  bar  in  the  up- 
country  of  South  Carolina.  In  the  spring  of  1819,  Mr.  Eaves,  having 
received  his  license,  commenced  the  practice  of  the  law  at  Chester 
Court-house ;  and  so  great  was  the  esteem  in  which  he  was  held  by  his 
late  instructor,  that  the  latter,  having  proposed  terms,  entered  into  a  co 
partnership  with  him  in  the  practice  of  his  profession. 

The  father  of  Mr.  Eaves  was  possessed  of  but  a  small  estate.  His 
children  were  justly  entitled  to  a  handsome  property  in  right  of  their 
mother ;  but  being  on  his  way  to  Virginia  to  claim  it  in  their  behalf, 
he  was  taken  sick,  and  died ;  and  during  the  long  minority  which  fol 
lowed,  there  being  no  person  to  represent  and  prosecute  the  claim,  the 
property  was  dissipated.  The  small  patrimony  left  Mr.  Eaves  from 
his  father's  estate  was  wholly  exhausted  in  obtaining  an  education ;  and 
at  the  period  of  his  entering  upon  the  active  duties  of  life,  he  had  little 
or  nothing  upon  which  to  depend  but  his  own  exertions.  Under  these 
discouraging  circumstances,  he  entered  upon  the  duties  of  his  profession 
in  the  midst  of  a  community  comparatively  rude,  and  which  had  not 
then  attained  to  the  high  degree  of  social  refinement  which  has  since  dis 
tinguished  it.  By  his  energy  and  indomitable  perseverance,  coupled 
with  habits  of  economy,  he  soon  triumphed  over  all  difficulties,  acquired 
the  confidence  of  his  fellow-citizens  as  a  man  of  ability  and  unflinching 
integrity,  and  attained  to  a  very  lucrative  practice  in  his  profession.  A 
literary  friend  says,  it  is  difficult  to  understand  the  secret  of  Mr.  Eaves' 
singular  success  at  the  bar ;  but  he  was  successful,  above  all  men  he 
ever  knew,  in  the  management  of  intricate  cases  of  old  date  and  long 
standing,  which  had  been  given  up  by  other  members  of  the  profession 
as  hopeless.  He  was  patient,  hopeful,  and  persevering,  above  most 
men.  Owing  to  his  skill  in  the  management  of  financial  affairs,  and 
his  high  reputation  for  probity,  he  has  been  entrusted,  to  a  large  extent, 
with  the  management  of  the  property  of  widows  and  orphans,  and  the 
administration  of  the  estates  of  intestates,  and  in  all  cases  has  he  dis 
charged  these  delicate  and  responsible  trusts  with  fidelity  and  justice. 
Recollecting  the  difficulties  he  had  to  encounter  himself  when  he  entered 
upon  his  profession,  he  has  been  especially  kind  to  young  men  laboring 
under  similar  difficulties,  and  has  generously  assisted  a  number  to  ob 
tain  an  education  and  profession  when  he  saw  but  little  prospect  of  re 
muneration. 

Mr.  Eaves,  as  a  lawyer,  is  not  so  remarkable  for  the  quickness  with 
which  he  arrives  at  his  conclusions,  as  for  their  certainty,  and  for  the 
caution  with  which  he  expresses  a  legal  opinion.  If  he  is  not  always 
prepared  to  solve  an  intricate  query,  he  reserves  his  judgment  until, 
by  a  patient  examination  of  authorities,  his  mind  is  fully  made  up  on 
the  subject,  and  he  then  gives  his  reply  without  hesitation.  He  has 
thus  acquired  the  confidence  of  his  clients  in  the  correctness  of  his  judg 
ment  on  all  occasions.  As  a  speaker  at  the  bar,  as  well  as  in  the 
Senate  chamber,  his  style  is  rather  discursive,  but  he  always  succeeds 
in  presenting  the  strong  points  of  his  case  with  a  force  that  produces 
conviction,  sometimes  indulging  in*witticisms  and  original  remarks  at 
the  expense  of  an  opponent,  which  are  a  source  of  amusement  to  the 


228  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

court  and  jury.  His  learning  is  less  profound  than  accurate,  less  com 
prehensive  than  particular.  He  is  endowed  with  a  large  share  of  what 
is  called  hard  common  sense — a  most  invaluable  trait  in  a  lawyer, 
and  which  compensates  for  the  absence  of  more  showy  accomplish 
ments — to  which  he  adds  what  is  equally  essential  to  success  in  any  of 
the  walks  of  life,  a  thorough  knowledge  of  mankind.  There  may  be 
much  in  his  speeches  that  is  irrelevant  to  the  matter  in  hand,  but  what 
is  relevant  and  important  is  sure  to  be  found  in  them ;  and  if  a  particu 
lar  string  in  the  human  heart  is  to  be  touched,  he  knows  where,  when, 
and  how  to  touch  it,  so-  as  to  obtain  the  response  he  calls  for.  The 
same  characteristic  enthusiasm  and  perseverance  which  have  marked 
his  career  in  other  respects  have  distinguished  his  course  at  the  bar. 
If  he  undertakes  a  case,  he  devotes  himself  to  it,  heart  and  soul,  for  the 
sake  of  justice,  truth,  the  cause  of  his  client,  and  his  own  reputation. 
He  is  overborne  by  no  difficulties,  and  dispirited  by  no  failures  in  the 
progress  of  his  cause.  It  is  his  determination  to  succeed,  in  defiance  of 
all  obstacles,  that  so  often  crowns  his  labors  with  singular  success,  con 
trary  often  to  the  expectations  of  his  friends  and  his  opponents. 

Since  the  year  1824,  Mr.  Eaves  has  generally  represented  his  dis 
trict,  either  in  the  house  of  representatives  or  the  Senate  of  South 
Carolina.  He  has  great  personal  popularity  and  influence,  but  in  ob 
taining  his  seat  in  either  branch  of  the  legislature  he  has  generally  en 
countered  pretty  serious  opposition,  with  the  exception  of  the  last  can 
vass,  in  1848,  when  he  was  returned  to  the  senate  without  opposition. 
As  a  politician  he  has  no  consolidation  propensities,  but  is  a  thorough 
consistent  state-rights  democrat,  of  the  Jefferson  school.  In  1830,  Mr. 
Eaves,  in  common  with  many  other  politicians,  was  somewhat  slow  in 
making  up  his  mind  as  to  the  expediency  of  nullification,  but  finally 
avowed  himself  in  favor  of  that  measure.  His  hesitation,  however, 
prevented  his  obtaining  a  seat  in  the  state  convention,  which  passed 
the  nullifying  ordinance,  although  he  received  the  nomination  of  his 
friends.  The  same  cause  operated  to  prevent  his  return  to  the  state 
senate  at  the  next  election,  when  he  was  defeated  by  a  most  respect 
able  and  popular  opponent.  The  question  with  him  then  was  simply 
a  question  of  expediency.  In  principle  he  is,  and  always  has  been,  an 
advocate  of  the  doctrines  of  state-rights  and  state-sovereignty,  as  laid 
down  in  the  celebrated  Virginia  and  Kentucky  resolutions  of  '98  and 
'99.  Perceiving  his  error  on  that  occasion,  he  has  always  since  ex 
pressed  his  opinions  on  all  vital  questions  with  promptitude,  firmness, 
and  decision,  and  after  having  once  taken  his  position,  has  maintained 
his  opinions  with  intrepidity  and  zeal,  suffering  nothing  to  divert  him 
from  his  purpose.  In  the  recent  controversy  of  South  Carolina  with 
the  federal  government,  growing  out  of  the  slavery  agitation,  he  was 
among  the  first  to  take  part  with  the  secessionists,  and  to  advocate  a 
withdrawal  of  the  state  from  the  Union,  as  preferable  to  a  continuance 
in  it  in  a  state  of  perpetual  hostility.  He  believed  that  it  was  not  only 
the  right,  but  the  duty  of  the  state  to  secede,  rather  than  submit  longer 
to  unjust  and  unconstitutional  legislation,  which  placed  in  continual 
jeopardy  not  only  the  property,  but  the  lives  of  his  fellow-citizens, 
and  threatened  to  overthrow  the  pillars  of  constitutional  liberty  itself. 
Though  the  party  with  which  he  acted  on  this  occasion  was  ultimately 


NATHANIEL  RIDLEY  BATES,  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA,  229 


defeated,  he  has  not  seen  cause  to  retract  or  abandon  its  principl< 
principles  which  he  adopted  from  a  thorough  conviction  of  their  con 
servative  character,  and  which  he  still  approves.  Mr.  Eaves  is,  at  this 
time,  a  member  of  the  state  senate,  but  having  signified  his  intention 
to  terminate  his  long  legislative  career,  he  has  declined  being  a  candi 
date  for  re-election. 

We  now  turn  to  a  portion  of  Mr.  Eaves'  history  upon  which  his 
friends  are  apt  to  dwell  with  no  less  pride  than  pleasure,  and  which 
ought  to  render  his  name  conspicuous  in  our  American  annals. 

When  a  requisition  was  made,  by  the  general  government  upon  the 
state  of  South  Carolina,  for  one  regiment  of  volunteers  to  serve  during 
the  war  with  Mexico,  Mr.  Eaves  was  among  the  first  to  volunteer  his 
services,  and  took  an  active  part  in  raising  the  company  which  marched 
from  Chester  District — the  first  district  in  the  state  which  responded  to 
the  call  for  volunteers.  He  made  several  speeches  at  the  court-house, 
appealing  to  the  patriotism  of  his  fellow-citizens,  and  persuading  them, 
with  all  the  enthusiasm  so  peculiar  to  him,  to  enrol  their  names  in  the 
company.  But  when  he  beheld  the  tears  and  distress  of  the  women, 
who  were  alarmed  at  the  prospect  of  a  temporary,  if  not  a  final,  separa 
tion  from  their  husbands,  his  own  sympathies  were  deeply  moved.  He 
then  insisted  that  no  married  man  should  volunteer — that  they  should 
stay  at  home  and  take  care  of  the  women  and  children — a  proposition 
which  was  applauded  by  all  present,  and  which  diffused  joy  and  kindled 
gratitude  where  only  feelings  of  grief  and  sadness  were  experienced  be 
fore.  As  the  young  men  rushed  forward  to  enrol  their  names  as  volun 
teers,  he  exclaimed,  amidst  the  applauses  of  the  crowd,  "  We  are  mak 
ing  soldiers  faster  than  the  Mexicans  can  make  bullets  to  kill  them !" 
The  company  thus  raised  was  composed  of  young  unmarried  men  of 
unblemished  character.  Mr.  Eaves  neither  sought,  nor  would  he  accept, 
any  office  in  the  company,  except  that  of  bearing  the  flag  presented  to  it 
by  the  ladies,  but  volunteered  in  it  as  a  mere  private  soldier,  although 
he  had  long  held  a  military  commission  of  a  high  grade.  Subsequently, 
however,  when  the  regiment  went  into  active  service,  he  was  appointed 
by  Colonel  Butler  to  disburse  the  appropriation  of  twenty  thousand 
dollars  made  by  the  state  for  the  use  of  the  regiment.  At  the  termina 
tion  of  the  war,  he  accounted  to  the  state  for  every  dollar  of  the  fund 
expended  by  him  as  disbursing  officer.  Although  unaccustomed  to 
hard  labor,  he  endured,  through  all  the  vicissitudes  of  a  trying  campaign, 
the  fatigues  of  a  common  soldier  much  better  than  numbers  who  were 
accustomed  to  labor  on  a  farm.  By  strict  attention  to  his  diet,  he  ge 
nerally  enjoyed  excellent  health,  and,  while  many  young  men  returned 
home  with  constitutions  impaired  by  an  unwholesome  climate  and 
habits  of  indulgence,  he  returned  to  his  country  in  better  health  than 
he  enjoyed  when  he  left  it.  He  fought  in  the  ranks  as  a  private,  in 
every  battle  in  which  his  regiment  was  engaged  in  Mexico,  in  all  of 
which  battles  he  displayed  the  coolest  bravery,  and  was  always  found 
in  the  front  rank  inciting  to  victory.  He  used  a  fine  percussion -lock 
musket,  presented  to  him  by  Major  Huger,  of  the  United  States  Ord 
nance  Department.  After  the  army  had  arrived  at  Puebla,  and  during 
the  time  of  their  stay  there,  an  order  was  issued  by  General  Scott  for 


230  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

the  soldiers  to  return  their  muskets  to  the  ordnance  department,  in  or 
der  that  such  as  required  it  should  be  repaired  for  service,  inasmuch  as 
the  army  was  about  to  march  in  a  few  days  for  the  city  of  Mexico. 
Major  Huger,  having  heard  favorably  of  Mr.  Eaves,  sent  for  him,  and 
told  him  ;'  he  wanted  to  make  him  a  present  of  a  musket,  on  condition 
that  he  would  not  dishonor  it,  and  would  name  it  the  Huger  gun." 
Mr.  Eaves  replied,  that  "  he  would  cheerfully  name  it  as  requested,  and 
that  his  bones  should  bleach  on  the  heights  of  Puebla  before  he  would 
dishonor  the  gun  !"  They  separated,  and  next  met  in  the  city  of  Mex 
ico,  when  Major  Huger  said,  "  he  rejoiced  to  meet  him ;  that  he  had 
heard  a  good  report  of  him ;  that  when  he  gave  him  the  gun,  he  felt 
confident  that  he  would  sustain  his  character  for  bravery."  Mr.  Eaves 
brought  this  gun  home  with  him,  and  values  it  highly. 

It  may  be  interesting  and  profitable  to  follow  the  course  of  this  gal 
lant  soldier  from  the  time  of  his  leaving  South  Carolina,  early  in  Janu 
ary.  1847,  till  his  return  home  the  following  December,  and  to  point 
out  some  of  the  most  interesting  incidents  that  happened  to  him  and  his 
brave  associates  during  the  interval.  Fortunately,  most  of  the  letters 
written  by  him  to  his  friends  during  his  absence,  have  been  preserved, 
so  that  he  may  be  made  the  narrator  of  his  own  progress. 

The  order  calling  the  regiment  into  immediate  service  and  directing 
the  several  companies  composing  it  to  rendezvous  at  Charleston,  was 
issued  during  the  session  of  the  legislature  of  the  state,  and  whilst  Mr. 
Eaves  was  in  attendance  as  a  member  of  the  senate.  Having  obtained 
leave  of  absence,  he  returned  to  Chester  court-house  in  time  to  take  up 
the  line  of  march  with  his  company  from  that  point.  This  march  he 
performed  on  foot  to  Columbia,  a  distance  of  sixty  miles,  starting  on  the 
5th  of  December,  1846,  and  reaching  Columbia  on  the  8th  day  of  the 
the  same  month.  He  proceeded  thence  with  the  company  to  Charleston. 
After  being  regularly  mustered  into  service,  and  the  regiment  not  be 
ing  ready  to  proceed,  he  obtained  a  furlough,  and  returned  to  Columbia 
on  the  13th  December,  to  attend  to  his  legislative  duties.  The  follow 
ing  letter  was  then  written  by  him  to  his  sister,  Mrs.  Esther  Buford,  of 
Chester  C.  H. 

"  COLUMBIA,  Dec.  14,  1846. 

"  DEAR  SISTER, — I  received  your  kind  letter  on  my  arrival  yester 
day,  from  Charleston.  I  am  well ;  but  the  blisters  on  my  feet,  which 
were  occasioned  by  marching  from  Chester  to  this  place,  are  not  yet 
well,  and  they  are  somewhat  painful.  Friends  from  all  quarters  of  the 
state  greet  me  whenever  they  see  me.  The  Charleston  people  speak 
iu  the  highest  terms  of  the  Chester  company.  Yesterday  morning,  I 
left  the  company  at  Camp  Magnolia,  three  miles  this  side  of  Charleston 
— all  well,  except  a  Mr.  Brakefield,  who  was  quite  indisposed  from  a 
cold  taken  on  the  route.  I  called  at  his  tent  before  I  left,  and  found 
him  better. 

"  I  obtained  a  furlough  to  repair  to  this  place  to  perform  my  duties 
in  the  legislature  to  the  end  of  the  session.  I  shall  return  to  the  camp 
on  Saturday,  the  1st  proximo. 

"  Please  go  to  my  farm  and  see  that  my  negroes  are  well  clad.     Do 


NATHANIEL  RIDLEY  EAVES,  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  231 

the  best  you  can  for  me  in  my  absence.     I  have  an  abiding  hope  of 
seeing  you  all  again.     Remember  me  to  your  daughters. 

"  I  remain,  affectionately,  your  brother, 

"N.R.  EAVES." 

The  next  letter  in  order  before  us  is  one  addressed  to  C.  D.  Melton, 
Esq.,  attorney-at-law,  Chester  C.  H.,  and  is  dated, 

"  OFF  MOBILE  BAY,  January  29,  1847. 

"  DEAR  SIR, — I  have  only  to  say  that  we  have  encountered  unpa 
ralleled  hardships.  We  have  been  anchored  in  this  bay  one  day  and 
night,  and  experienced  a  storm  yesterday  and  throughout  last  night, 
not  equaled  or  surpassed  in  this  region  for  twenty  years  back.  Our 
sufferings  are,  at  this  time,  extreme.  One  vesssel  came  in  sight  of  us 
with  volunteers  who  wished  to  get  on  board.  The  storm  was  so  great 
they  had  to  fly  for  safety.  In  attempting  to  get  ashore,  the  small  ves 
sel  was  wrecked,  and  they  had  to  swim  three  quarters  of  a  mile.  They 
are  this  morning  being  placed  on  the  Alhambra,  the  vessel  in  which  the 
colonel  and  suite,  with  myself  and  four  companies,  are.  There  were 
one  hundred  and  sixty  persons,  it  is  said,  on  board  a  steamboat  that 
was  blown  up  last  night,  including  nearly  one  hundred  ladies.  The 
ladies,  it  is  said,  were  nearly  all  saved — the  men  nearly  all  lost  their 
lives.  This  morning,  those  who  witnessed  the  catastrophe  represent  it 
as  the  most  awful  sight  they  had  ever  seen.  I  am  in  good  health. 

"  Your's  truly, 

N.  R.  EAVES." 

We  hear  nothing  further  of  Mr.  Eaves  till  his  arrival  in  Mexico.  His 
first  letter  written  thence  is  addressed  to  his  connections,  Messrs.  S. 
Alexander  and  C.  D.  Melton,  and  is  as  follows : 

"Loses,  MEXICO,  February  28,  1847. 

"  GENTLEMEN, — I  have  not  received  a  letter  from  any  one  in  South 
Carolina  since  I  left  Camp  Johnson,  at  Hamburg.  We  arrived  at  this 
place  on  the  12th  instant,  and  have  been  here  ever  since.  We  start  to 
morrow  for  Vera  Cruz.  Forty  or  fifty  ships  will  sail  at  the  same  time. 
The  enemy  have  been  looking  and  preparing  for  us.  All  the  dis 
tinguished  men  of  the  army  are  here,  except  Generals  Taylor  and 
Worth.  It  is  believed  we  shall  be  received  with  a  severe  struggle.  La 
Vega  is  commander  of  that  place.  It  is  General  Scott's  determination 
to  attack  it,  for  weal  or  for  woe,  between  this  and  the  tenth  of  March. 
We  expect  to  encounter  great  peril  in  landing,  as  it  will  doubtless 
be  under  a  heavy  fire  from  the  enemy.  Time  must  develop  the  result. 
u  We  have  suffered  since  we  left  Hamburg  more  than  I  will  here  at- 
fcempt  to  describe.  After  we  arrived  at  Griffin,  Georgia,  we  had 
to  encounter  all  the  inconveniences  of  cold  incident  to  a  severe  winter, 
until  we  reached  Mobile.  When  we  left  that  point  and  got  aboard  the 
ship  Alhambra,  we  were  seventeen  days  in  crossing  the  gulf  of  Mexico, 
till  our  arrival  at  the  place  we  now  are.  We  encountered  all  the 
perils  of  three  northers,  known  to  be  so  dangerous  in  this  region.  In 
fact,  we  all  thought  we  should  be  lost.  One  ship  in  our  company  was 


232  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

lost,  filled  with  Louisianians,  about  ten  miles  from  this  point,  aacl 
between  this  point  and  Tampico.  The  next  day  we  passed  the  wreck, 
and  saw  many  Mexicans  on  the  shore,  gathering  the  valuables  that 
were  drifted  from  the  ship.  The  poor  ship-wrecked  fellows  all  got  on 
shore  in  the  enemy's  country, — about  three  hundred  of  them,  and  only 
saved  fifty  of  their  guns.  They  struck  for  Tampico.  The  Mexicans 
heard  of  them,  and  assembled  a  large  force ;  but  before  they  attacked 
them,  they  called  on  them  to  surrender.  The  officer  in  command  asked 
for  four  hours  to  consider  what  to  do.  As  soon  as  the  Mexicans  retired 
to  their  location,  the  officer  caused  a  large  number  of  fires  to  be  built, 
with  a  view  to  delude  them.  As  soon  as  the  fires  began  to  burn, 
he  struck  for  Tampico,  the  nearest  point  of  safety,  and  arrived  there 
without  being  attacked  by  the  Mexicans. 

"  In  one  of  our  vessels,  there  were  between  five  and  six  hundred 
souls — soldiers  and  officers.  We  encountered  every  peril  incident  to 
sea-life,  except  a  shipwreck.  One  poor  soldier  died  on  the  voyage.  We 
buried  him  on  Sunday,  in  the  usual  method  of  burials  at  sea,  by  envi 
roning  his  body  in  a  coarse  sail-cloth  shroud  and  a  blanket  tightly  corded 
over  it.  To  the  feet  were  attached  about  400  Ibs.  of  bricks.  He  was 
laid  on  a  broad  plank  on  the  edge  of  the  ship,  and,  after  the  reading  of 
a  solemn  and  impressive  service,  the  body  was  plunged  into  the  water, 
and  went  down  as  so  much  lead.  I  was  anxious  to  see  the  last  of  the 
poor  volunteer,  and  got  a  good  way  up  on  the  ropes  above  the  hull 
of  the  ship,  when  I  witnessed  the  whole  ceremony. 

"  On  the  12th  of  February  we  landed  off  the  island,  and,  on  the  13th, 
went  on  shore.  It  is  a  fairy  little  spot,  about  one  mile  in  circumfer 
ence,  and  six  miles  distant  from  the  main  land.  It  was  covered  with 
vines  and  shrubbery  of  numberless  kinds,  with  the  India-rubber  and 
the  lime  tree,  together  with  flowers  of  every  variety  of  hue,  and 
in  great  abundance.  The  island  appears  to  be  a  formation  of  decom 
posed  shells,  of  which  there  are  many  rare  and  curious  specimens. 
The  climate,  during  the  day,  is  intensely  hot,  and  during  the  northers, 
which  occur  about  every  six  days,  and  which  continue  to  blow  from  one 
to  three  days,  there  is  a  continual  north  wind,  the  harshness  and  cold 
ness  of  which  try  the  stoutest  constitutions.  After  this,  the  weather 
becomes  calm  and  serene,  and  the  heat  continues  to  increase  in  intensity 
until  it  becomes  almost  intolerable.  Then,  after  about  six  days, 
another  norther  commences,  and  these  variations  of  climate  and  tem 
perature  continue  until  about  the  15th  of  April. 

"  Colonel  Butler  is  with  us,  and  will  continue  with  us  during  our 
stay  on  this  island.  General  Twiggs  called  on  us  yesterday,  and  will 
remain  with  us  until  to-morrow,  at  which  time  we  shall  all  leave 
for  Vera  Cruz.  He  speaks  of  the  Palmetto  regiment  as  one  of  the 
finest  he  ever  saw.  This  small  island,  but  a  few  days  back,  was 
a  desert  wild ; — now  it  is  lined  with  tents,  and  has  five  or  six  thousand 
occupants.  Several  thousands  have  not  landed,  but  remain  in  the 
vessels.  Adieu! 

"  Yours  truly, 

"N.B.  EAVES.'* 

An  anecdote  is  told  of  Mr.  Eaves,  which  proves  that  the  most 
intrepid  valor  is  not  proof  against  the  overpowering  assaults  of 


NATHANIEL  RIDLEY  EAVES,  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  233 

sickness.  On  the  passage  from  Mobile  bay  to  Lobos  Island,  a  violent 
storm  arose,  during  which  most  of  the  soldiers,  including  the  colonel 
of  the  regiment,  were  very  sea-sick,  and  retained  their  berths.  Mr. 
Eaves,  getting  out  of  his,  seized  hold  of  the  cabin  door  in  order  to  sus 
tain  himself,  uttering  as  he  did  so  some  exclamations,  which  afforded 
his  friends,  particularly  the  colonel,  much  merriment,  and  which  were 
often  repeated  afterwards  at  his  expense.  Not  aware  that  he  had 
auditors,  Mr.  Eaves  thus  soliloquized :  "  Here  am  I,  N.  R.  Eaves, 
from  Chester.  I  had  friends,  home  and  wealth,  as  much  as  any  reason 
able  man  should  ask,  and  here  have  I  thrown  myself  on  the  mercy  of  a 
rude  element  that  has  no  mercy.  But  give  me  one  foot  again  on  terra 
frma,  and  I  defy  creation !" 

It  appears  from  a  letter  subsequently  written  to  Mr.  Melton,  that  the 
army  did  not  leave  Lobos  Island  until  the  3d  of  March.  On  the  9th, 
the  disembarkation  of  troops  commenced  ;  on  the  13th,  the  investment 
of  the  city  was  completed;  on  the  18th,  trenches  were  opened  at  night; 
on  the  22d,  the  city  was  summoned  to  surrender, — on  refusal,  seven 
mortars  opened  a  fire  of  bombs ;  on  the  24th,  the  navy  battery,  consist 
ing  of  three  long  thirty-two  pounders  and  three  sixty-eight  pounders, 
Paixhan  guns,  opened  a  fire  in  the  morning,  distance  700  yards ;  on  the 
25th,  another  battery  opened  a  breach  in  the  wall  of  the  city.  The  fire 
was  very  destructive  to  the  town.  Early  in  the  morning  of  the  26th, 
the  enemy  proposed  a  surrender, — commissioners,  on  the  American 
side,  Generals  Worth  and  Pillow,  and  Col.  Totten.  On  the  29th, 
negotiations  were  completed ;  the  city  and  castle  surrendered,  and  the 
Mexican  troops  marched  out  and  laid  down  their  arms.  The  American 
troops  occupied  the  city  and  batteries  of  the  town  and  castle.  At  noom 
of  that  day,  the  American  ensign  was  hoisted  on  both,  and  was  saluted 
by  the  American  vessels.  The  garrison  of  about  four  thousand  men, 
laying  down  their  arms  as  prisoners  of  war,  were  sent  to  their  homes 
on  parole.  Five  generals,  sixty  inferior  officers,  and  two  hundred  and 
seventy  company  officers,  were  among  the  prisoners.  The  total  loss  of 
the  American  army,  from  the  day  of  landing,  (March  9th,)  was  sixty- 
five  persons  in  killed  and  wounded.  The  slaughter  of  the  Mexicans 
was  immense. 

The  commanding  general  was  stationed  in  the  city,  while  his  second 
in  command  held  the  castle.  Their  regular  force  was  about  three  thou 
sand,  arid  they  had  about  the  same  number  of  irregulars.  Outside  the 
city  was  General  La  Vega,  with  a  force  of  from  six  thousand  to  ten 
thousand  cavalry.  Colonel  Harney,  with  between  two  hundred  and 
four  hundred  United  States  dragoons,  charged  on  and  repulsed  this  im 
mense  force  with  terrible  carnage,  scattering  them  in  all  directions. 

Such  was  the  intelligence  brought  by  the  Princeton,  which  sailed  from 
Vera  Cruz  on  the  29th  March,  after  the  surrender  had  taken  place,  bear 
ing  dispatches  to  our  government, — intelligence  which  diffused  joy,  pride 
and  exultation  throughout  all  our  cities  and  our  whole  Amirican  popu 
lation.  Never  had  a  siege,  undertaken  under  such  disadvantageous  cir 
cumstances,  been  attended  with  such  glorious  results.  It  is  without  a 
parallel  in  the  annals  of  military  warfare. 

In  a  letter  addressed  by  Mr.  Eaves  to  the  late  Samuel  Weir3  Esq., 


234  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

of  Columbia,  South  Carolina,  a  spirited  account  of  the  investment  and 
surrender  of  Vera  Cruz  is  given.     The  following  is  the  letter : 

"  VERA  CRUZ,  April  9,  1847. 

"  DEAR  SIR,— I  have  but  a  few  moments  to  write,  but  comply  with 
my  promise  to  write  you  when  anything  of  importance  occurs.  We 
have  taken  this  place,  and  also  Alvarado,  forty  miles  distant. 

"  Had  I  time  to  give  you  a  full  description  »of  the  capture  of  Vera 
Cruz,  it  would  interest  you  greatly.  Laying  a  map  of  Mexico  before 
you,  you  will  conceive  of  the  chaparal,  from  shore  to  shore,  as  lined 
with  fifteen  thousand  persons.  You  will  see  a  small  island  two  miles 
below  the  city  and  castle.  Between  that  island  and  the  shore,  imagine 
you  behold  fifty-odd  vessels,  which  comprise  the  fleet.  Half  of  the 
above  number  of  men  are  put  into  surf-boats,  forming  one  grand  line. 
After  these  boats  are  filled  with  the  required  number,  all  strike  for  the' 
shore.  When  the  ardent  souls  approach  within  fifty  feet  of  the  land, 
they  leap  out  of  the  boats  in  four  feet  of  water,  and  rush  to  the  shore 
with  almost  deafening  shouts.  The  boats  soon  return  for  the  balance 
of  the  army,  to  which  our  regiment  was  attached.  As  soon  as  they  are 
all  landed  the  line  of  march  is  formed  to  surround  the  city,  keeping  out 
of  reach  of  its  bombs  and  cannon-shots,  as  an  incessant  firing  was  com 
menced  upon  us  from  the  time  of  landing.  This  was  on  the  10th  of  March, 
and  we  had  all  our  cannon,  munitions  of  war  and  provisions  to  land,  and 
roads  to  cut  through  the  roughest  country  your  eyes  ever  beheld.  It 
took  us  from  this  time  to  the  21st  to  fix  the  batteries  and  get  prepared 
for  the  attack.  In  the  mean  time,  the  infantry  had  made  the  necessary 
roads,  and  the  road  was  now  filled,  from  shore  to  shore,  two  miles  in 
extent,  with  living  souls.  During  their  advance,  frequent  skirmishes 
took  place,  when  some  were  killed,  and  Colonel  Dickinson  and  others 
were  wounded. 

"  The  line  being  completed,  no  Mexican  was  permitted  to  go  into  the 
city  or  to  leave  it.  Eumor  said  there  were  five  hundred  trying  to  get 
in,  but  they  were  afraid  to  make  the  attempt.  About  one-third  of  the 
cannons  and  bombs  were  fixed  on  batteries,  and  delay  was  threatening 
to  be  an  evil.  General  Scott  determined  to  commence  an  attack  on  the 
22d  March,  which  he  did.  General  Worth's  battery  was  placed  six 
hundred  yards  southeast  of  the  town,  and  the  marine  battery  between 
this  and  the  gulf,  east  of  the  town,  and  some  three  or  four  guns  west  of 
Worth's.  Matters  being  thus  arranged,  we  commenced  a  heavy  and 
incessant  fire  on  the  town,  which  was  kept  up  day  and  night,  till  the 
evening  of  the  25th,  when  the  enemy  sent  out  a  white  flag,  soliciting  a 
truce  of  twenty-four  hours,  in  order  to  bring  in  their  dead.  The  General 
granted  them  four.  Early  in  the  morning  of  the  26th  they  again  com 
municated  with  General  Scott,  proposing  to  surrender  the  town,  castle, 
military  stores,  cannon,  &c.,  and  stating  that  they  would  be  prepared  to 
make  the  surrender  on  the  29th,  which  accordingly  they  did. 

"  I  should  have  stated,  that  before  we  commenced  cannonading  and 
bombarding  the  town,  the  General  sent  in  a  white  flag  requiring  them 
to  surrender,  and  if  not  disposed  to  do  this,  requesting  them  to  remove 
the  women  and  children,  and  also  giving  an  opportunity  to  the  minis. 


NATHANIEL  KIDLEY  EAVES,  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  235 

ters  of  other  nations  to  leave.  General  Morales  disdainfully  replied  to 
this  by  saying  that  he  would  not  surrender,  nor  would  he  remove  the 
women  and  children ;  that  he  would  defend  the  city  with  his  best  skill 
and  ability  so  long  as  one  particle  of  the  materials  of  which  it  was  com 
posed  adhered  to  another,  and  then  turned  and  walked  off.  The  minis 
ters  did  not  leave,  nor  the  women  and  children. 

"  On  the  night  of  the  22d,  the  soldiers  having  nothing  to  do  but  await 
the  order  for  a  charge,  and  the  nights  being  clear  with  moonlight,  1,  with 
hundreds  of  others,  ascended  some  barren  sand  hills  to  witness  the  fir 
ing.  I  must  say  the  scene  was  grand  beyond  description,  each  party 
apparently  contending  with  the  other  which  should  shoot  the  most  and 
the  fastest.  I  became  much  excited  at  times,  when  it  would  appear  that 
the  enemy  had  the  advantage  of  us ;  but  soon  again  we  could  see  our  bat 
teries  again  letting  loose  on  them.  We  could  see  the  bombs  coursing 
through  the  air  by  the  match  and  hear  them  falling  on  the  houses  and 
in  the  streets.  Many  houses  were  greatly  injured,  and  are,  at  the  time 
I  now  write,  undergoing  repairs.  Such  is  the  case  with  the  great  tavern 
situated  on  the  Plaza  where  I  am  quartered. 

"  After  we  had  taken  this  city,  General  Quitman's  division,  to  which 
the  Palmetto  regiment  was  attached,  was  ordered  to  go  and  take  Alva- 
rado,  forty-five  miles  distant.  We  started  on  the  30th  March  for  that 
place,  but  on  our  arrival,  found  it  perfectly  defenceless.  All  had  fled 
except  a  few  who  were  friendly  to  us.  We  took  thirty-four  pieces  of 
cannon  and  placed  them  on  board  our  ship,  which  is  still  left  there. 
We  returned  in  eight  or  nine  days  from  the  time  of  starting  from  this 
place,  and  have  been  here  ever  since.  The  army  has  been  marching 
by  parcels,  for  several  days  back,  to  Jalapa.  We  expect  to  follow  in 
three  or  four  days. 

"  I  remain,  yours  truly, 

"N.  R.  EAVES." 

Mr.  Eaves  complains,  in  his  letter  of  the  28th  February,  written  to 
Messrs.  Melton  and  Alexander,  that  he  had  received  no  letters  from 
South  Carolina  since  he  left.  It  must  have  been  highly  gratifying  to  his 
feelings,  therefore,  when  perhaps  he  began  to  believe  himself  neglected 
by  his  friends,  to  receive  the  following  kind  and  complimentary  letter 
from  his  Excellency  David  Johnson,  then  Governor  of  South  Carolina, 
written  in  reply  to  a  letter  of  Mr.  Eaves,  of  the  22d  March : 

"COLUMBIA,  15th  May,  1847. 

"Mr  DEAR  MAJOR, — Your  favor  of  the  22d  March,  although  written 
so  long  ago,  contains  so  many  exciting  incidents  that  I  took  the  liberty 
to  give  it  to  the  press  for  publication,  in  the  belief  that  it  would  be  ac 
ceptable  and  interesting,  not  only  to  your  personal  friends  but  to  the 
public  generally.  By  me  it  is  the  more  appreciated  as  coming  from 
a  tried  friend,  one  who,  prompted  by  patriotism  alone,  has  given  up  all 
the  comforts  that  wealth  could  afford,  and  the  enjoyment  of  social  life 
in  the  midst  of  numerous  friends,  to  become  the  tenant  of  "  the  tented 
field,"  and  breast  the  dangers  of  the  battle-field.  But  you  will  have 
your  reward.  Our  people,  one  and  all,  take  the  deepest  interest  in  all 
the  privations  and  sufferings  of  our  gallant  Palmetto  regiment,  and  will 


236  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

receive  all  our  sons,  on  their  return,  with  open  arms.     Old  Chester  will 
not  forget  her  own. 

"  Our  last  advices  locate  the  Palmetto  regiment  at  Jalapa,  and  the 
advance  of  the  army  at  Perote,  driving  the  enemy  before  you,  or 
rather  scattering  them  to  the  winds.  Such  is  our  confidence  in  our 
children  that  there  is  an  universal  regret  and  sympathy  felt  for  you 
that  you  were  not  in  a  position  to  share  in  the  signal  and  glorious  vic 
tory  of  Cerro  Gordo.  We  know,  however,  that  it  was  not  of  your 
own  seeking,  or  your  own  fault.  It  wTould  be  cruel  to  wish  it ;  but  if 
another  trial  of  strength  must  come  I  should  delight  to  hear  that  the 
Palmetto  banner  waived  in  the  front  of  the  storm,  for  I  know  the  regi 
ment  will  prove  worthy  of  the  state  they  represent. 

"  We  have  very  little  local  news  of  interest.  The  most  exciting  is  a 
visit  from  the  Hon.  Daniel  Webster,  of  the  Bay  state.  He  is  now 
here,  having  visited  Charleston.  He  has  received,  both  here  and  in 
Charleston,  the  attentions  and  courtesies  due  to  his  high  attainments 
and  character,  and  will  go  away  better  informed  of  our  peculiar  in 
stitutions,  and  well  satisfied  with  the  usage  he  has  received  at  our 
hands.  Of  your  immediate  connections  I  have  no  information  of  re 
cent  date,  and  I  suppose  they  keep  you  advised  of  everything  that  con 
cerns  themselves.  The  courts  of  appeal  are  now  in  session,  and 
necessarily  all  the  judges  and  your  friends  of  the  bar  are  present,  all 
in  good  health  and  spirits,  except  our  friend  Chancellor  Harper,  whose 
health,  although  much  improved,  is  not  yet  perfectly  restored. 

"  Pray  let  me  hear  from  you  frequently,  at  least  from  every  stage 
on  your  route  to  the  city  of  Mexico,  which  is  understood  to  be  your 
destination.  Remember  your  friends  when  revelling  in  the  halls  of 
Montezuma. 

"Very  truly  and  sincerely, 

"  DAVID  JOHNSON. 
"  MAJOR  N.  R,  EAVES." 

The  next  letter  of  Mr.  Eaves  which  informs  us  of  the  progress  of 
events  and  of  the  army  in  Mexico,  is  one  bearing  date  June  3,  1847, 
written  from  Puebla,  and  addressed  to  Messrs  Melton  and  Alexander. 
It  is  a  voluminous  epistle,  containing  a  narrative  of  the  most  important 
events  that  had  happened  to  himself  and  to  the  Palmetto  regiment  from 
the  time  of  their  leaving  South  Carolina  up  to  the  time  when  the  letter 
was  written.  As  an  account  of  many  of  these  occurrences  has  been 
given  in  previous  letters,  we  shall  make  only  such  extracts  from  the 
one  before  us  as  seem  to  be  necessary. 

Some  misapprehension  appears  to  have  prevailed  at  home  as  to  the 
part  which  the  Chester  company  had  taken  in  the  investment  and 
capture  of  Vera  Cruz.  Mr.  Eaves,  anxious  to  maintain  the  honor  of 
that  very  gallant  company,  says  of  it,  in  the  letter  before  us,  in  the 
way  of  vindication : 

"  I  see  that  it  is  the  impression  of  the  Chester  people  that  their  boys 
took  no  part  in  this  victory.  This  is  a  great  mistake.  Immense  work 
had  to  be  done  before  the  bombardment  of  the  city  could  take  place. 
This  work  was  to  be  done  during  the  night-time.  Hence  our  regiment 
had  to  furnish  its  quota,  which  was  one  hundred  men  every  night,  and 


NATHANIEL  RIDLEY  EAVES,  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  237 

never  did  men  labor  harder  or  more  zealously  than  they  did  in  digging 
ditches,  and  in  making  embankments,  and  forts,  which  were  erected 
within  six  hundred  yards  of  the  city.  The  enemy  all  this  time  were 
firing  on  us  from  the  city,  and  we  literally  had  to  dodge  them,  or  their 
balls  would  have  destroyed  hundreds  of  our  men  while  they  were  con 
structing  roads  to  surround  the  city  through  immense  sand  hills.  These 
sand  hills  are  enclosed  with  shrubbery  of  every  kind,  while  the  valleys 
are  filled  with  chaparal  and  vines,  all  appearing  parched  to  death  for 
want  of  rain.  Now,  sirs,  I  assert  that  our  regiment  did  as  much,  and  I 
say  more,  in  preparing  for  the  bombardment  than  any  other  part  of  the 
army,  up  to  the  time  of  loading  and  shooting  the  cannons,  which  be 
longed  alone  to  the  gunners  of  the  army." 

In  this  letter  we  have  an  account  of  the  surrender  of  the  city,  and  as 
it  is  peculiarly  characteristic,  we  shall  take  leave  to  insert  here : 

"  I  was  present,"  he  says,  "  at  the  scene.  As  I  looked  around  on  the 
pretty  green  plain,  about  two  miles  long  and  one  wide,  lined  all  around 
with  soldiers,  clad  in  their  best  attire,  I  thought  I  had  never  witnessed 
a  grander  or  more  imposing  sight.  Scott,  Worth,  and  the  other  officers 
of  the  army  standing  in  the  centre  of  this  plain,  looked  as  if  anxiously 
waiting  to  march  into  the  city.  On  the  arrival  of  the  appointed  hour 
thirty -five  hundred  or  more  Mexicans,  coming  from  the  city,  first  form 
a  line  of  about  a  mile,  and  after  stacking  their  guns,  form  a  line  within 
the  stacked  guns.  Presently  come  all  the  citizens,  from  the  infant 
slung  to  its  mother's  back,  up  to  the  oldest,  including  the  sick,  the  lame, 
halt,  and  blind,  so  as  to  include  all.  When  I  ran  my  eyes  up  the  American 
line,  grandeur,  greatness,  and  power,  occupied  my  thoughts.  When  I 
cast  them  along  the  Mexican  line,  nothing  but  misery  and  wretchedness 
appeared,  and  sorrow  and  pity  agitated  my  breast.  I  began  to  regret 
that  I  had  ever  come  so  far  to  fight  such  a  miserable,  pitiful,  and  worth 
less  people.  This  scene  repaid  me  for  all  my  sorrows,  trials,  and 
difficulties.  After  all  the  officers  on  both  sides  had  advanced,  and  the 
necessary  forms  of  surrender  had  been  gone  through  with,  the  whole  of 
the  Mexicans  were  ordered  to  march,  which  they  did,  advancing  into 
the  country,  and  our  army,  at  the  same  time,  commenced  marching 
into  the  city.  They  marched  slowly,  with  five  or  six  bands  of  a  choice 
quality  accompanying  them. 

"  At  this  period  I  was  at  a  loss  how  to  follow,  as  Colonel  Butler  was 
not  present.  Being  unwell,  I  thought  I  would  play  old  soldier  on  Gen. 
Scott  and  all  the  rest.  I  was  neatly  clad  in  my  military  habit,  with 
polished  sword  and  belt.  As  the  officers  passed  me,  I  called  up  some 
twenty  young  men,  who  were  well  mounted,  and  asked  them  if  they 
wished  to  go  into  the  city  with  the  first  Americans  who  entered,  and  see 
the  Mexican  flag  go  down,  and  the  American  flag  go  up.  They  said  they 
would  do  anything  I  ordered  to  get  a-going.  I  then  told  them  to  form 
a  line  two  deep.  I  took  the  head  ;  ordered  them  to  march  on,  which 
they  did — all  giving  way  to  us,  recognizing  us  as  a  guard.  I  halted  in 
the  Plaza,  which  is  a  long  space,  with  extensive  buildings  on  all  sides. 
There  I  remained  till  the  officers  dismounted,  and  took  their  seats  in 
their  respective  departments.  I  then  ordered  my  men  to  march,  took 
them  through  all  the  streets,  in  order  to  witness  the  destruction  that 
had  been  effected,  and  then  dismissed  them  to  go  to  their  respective 
quarters." 


238  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

Reasons  are  assigned  in  this  letter  why  Mr.  Eaves  and  the  Palmetto 
regiment  were  not  present  at,  and  did  not  participate  in,  the  battle  of 
Cerro  Gordo. 

"We  returned  from  Alvarado,"  he  says,  "under  a  forced  inarch,  in 
order  to  overtake  Generals  Worth  and  Twiggs,  who  had  commenced 
their  march  onward  to  Mexico.  They  had  a  severe  fight  at  Cerro  Gordo 
on  the  17th,  18th,  and  19th  of  April.  We,  under  a  hurried  march,  en 
deavored  to  be  with  them;  but  the  battle  ended  on  Sunday,  the  19th, 
and  we  arrived  there  on  Wednesday,  the  22d,  following.  Gen.  Scott 
probably  intended  that  our  regiment  should  remain  behind,  that  it 
might  serve  as  a  rear  guard,  upon  which  the  army  might  fall  back  in 
case  of  necessity.  As  an  evidence  of  this,  after  we  had  taken  up  the 
line  of  march,  he  ordered  our  regiment  to  remain  at  a  village  some 
seventeen  miles  from  Vera  Cruz,  and  there  wait  until  further  orders. 

"  I,  now  having  leisure,  rode  over  the  entire  battle-ground,  and  so 
horrible  a  sight  1  never  before  beheld.  Hundreds  and  hundreds  of  dead 
Mexicans  lay  putrifying  in  the  sun — some  with  their  legs,  some  with 
their  arms,  and  many  with  their  heads,  gone.  The  scene  was  enough  to 
melt  with  pity  the  most  obdurate  heart.  I  then  went  to  the  hospitals. 
There  I  saw  numbers  of  our  men  who  had  lost  their  limbs — some  a  leg, 
others  an  arm,  some  shot  through  the  body,  some  through  the  thigh, 
others  through  the  arm,  and  others  again  through  the  foot.  Many  of 
them  suffered  extreme  agony.  I  went  also  to  see  the  wounded  Mexi 
cans,  where  similar  spectacles  were  exhibited,  except  that  our  own  men 
had  to  wait  on  them  and  feed  them,  as  all  the  well  Mexicans  were  off, 
being  frightened  almost  out  of  their  lives.  There  was  a  marked  differ 
ence  between  the  character  of  the  different  hospitals.  The  Americans 
were  cheerful,  though  suffering  much,  while  the  Mexicans  were  greatly 
depressed  and  dispirited.  Indulging  my  curiosity  in  this  way,  I  could 
usually  delay  one  or  two  hours,  and  then  catch  up  with  the  army." 

In  this  letter,  we  have  a  description,  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  Eaves,  of 
the  great  national  road. 

"  In  reaching  this  point,"  he  says,  "  we  have  passed  over  the  great  na 
tional  road  leading  from  Vera  Cruz  to  the  city  of  Mexico.  It  is  the 
most  splendid  work  of  the  kind,  probably,  to  be  found  in  any  country. 
It  is  said  to  have  cost  the  Spaniards  forty  millions  of  dollars!  The 
paving  is  of  solid  stone  all  the  way  over  the  mountains,  being  thirty  feet 
in  width  throughout  nearly  the  entire  distance,  with  a  wall  of  cement  on 
each  side,  wherever  circumstances  require  it.  The  bridges  which  are 
set  over  the  water-courses  are  of  a  style  and  durability  which  cannot 
be  surpassed  in  any  country  in  the  world." 

Having  thus  made  allusion  to  this  celebrated  road,  he  returns,  in  his 
narrative,  to  Cerro  Gordo. 

"We  marched  on  from  that  point  to  Jalapa,  Generals  Scott,  Worth, 
and  others,  having  taken  possession  of  it  before  we  arrived.  Jalapa  is 
a  large  city,  abounding  with  every  kind  of  fruit.  It  is  situated  on  the 
side  of  a  large  hill,  so  large  that  it  may  almost  be  called  a  mountain. 
All  the  streets  are  paved.  We  encamped  two  and  a  half  miles  beyond 
the  city,  on  the  way  to  Perote,  where  we  remained  several  days.  We 
then  took  up  the  line  of  march,  intending,  as  we  proceeded,  to  attack 
that  ill-fated  place  where  every  tenth  man  of  the  Texans  who  were  cap- 


NATHANIEL  RIDLEY  EAVES,  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  239 

tured  by  the  inhabitants  was  shot.  I  saw  in  the  castle  there  the  skulls 
and  bones  of  the  Texans  thus  killed,  heaped  up  in  a  mound,  in  the  centre 
of  which  was  a  cross.  Perote  is  quite  a  handsome  city,  situated  at  the 
foot  of  several  mountains,  and  near  the  great  perpetual  snow-mountain 
called  Orizabo. 

"  From  Perote  we  marched  to  this  city,  Puebla,  where  we  arrived 
on  the  13th  May,  after  passing  through  many  fine  villages.  At  Anco- 
zoque,  twelve  miles  distant,  Santa  Anna,  lying  hid  behind  some  large 
sand-hills,  with  fifteen  thousand  men,  suffered  General  Worth  to*  pass 
on  without  interruption.  His  object  was  to  attack  our  division,  which 
was  enfeebled  by  disease  and  forced  marches  up  the  mountains,  he  sup 
posing  that  we  were  a  day's  march  behind  Worth ;  but  in  this  he  was 
mistaken.  By  pursuing  our  course  with  great  expedition,  night  and 
day,  we  had  nearly  come  up  with  General  Worth's  division,  who,  dis 
covering  that  Santa  Anna  was  between  him  and  us,  turned  upon  the  old 
fox,  and  soon  put  him  and  his  forces  to  flight.  Our  regiment  arrived  in 
time  to  form  a  line  of  battle.  The  sight  of  us  coming  up  precipitated 
their  flight.  Had  we  been  aware  that  we  were  so  near  the  enemy,  we 
could  have  intercepted  and  captured  Santa  Anna  without  failure.  At 
this  battle,  as  he  called  it  in  his  dispatches,  he  admitted  that  he  had  lost 
one  hundred  and  fifty  men,  but  stated,  at  the  same  time,  that  he  had 
killed  fifty  Americans.  The  truth  is,  we  lost  none. 

"  We  then  took  up  the  line  of  march,  with  three  thousand  effective 
men  and  one  thousand  sick,  together  with  wagoners  and  teamsters, 
making  in  all  four  thousand.  We  marched  until  we  got  within  one  mile 
of  this  city,  and  halted.  Soon  after  this  was  done  the  citizens  hoisted 
a  white  flag.  This  was  the  day  of  the  election  of  President.  As  we 
passed  through  the  city,  they  looked  voracious  enough  to  eat  up  our 
little  band  alive.  I  tried  to  make  the  best  observation  I  could,  and  I  do 
believe,  although  in  this  I  may  err,  that  there  were  eighty  or  a  hundred 
thousand  Mexicans  present  on  this  occasion.  We  got  possession  of  the 
second  finest  city  in  Mexico,  and  have  been  stationed  here  ever  since. 

"  Puebla  is  the  handsomest  city  I  have  seen,  in  or  out  of  our 
government.  It  is  about  two  and  a  half  miles  long  and  one  and  a-half 
wide.  The  streets  are  straight,  and  run  parallel  with  each  other.  The 
side-walks  are  all  elegantly  flagged  or  paved  with  hewn  stone.  It  is 
called  the  "City  of  Steeples."  There  are  forty -four  splendid  cathedrals 
in  the  city,  some  of  which  are  said  to  have  cost  ten  millions  of  dollars. 
There  are  three  hundred  resident  priests,  whose  personal  appearance 
and  dress  are  somewhat  peculiar  and  worthy  of  note.  They  have  upon 
their  heads  a  round  place  from  which  the  hair  is  shaved,  in  circumfer 
ence  about  the  size  of  an  ordinary  tin  cup.  In  some  the  denuded  spot 
is  smaller.  Around  the  head,  an  inch  above  the  ears,  and  up  to  this 
point  and  all  below,  front  and  rear,  the  hair  is  shaven  off.  At  a  dis 
tance,  they  look  as  if  they  had  a  black  belt  two  inches  wide  around 
their  heads ;  and,  to  complete  the  picture,  they  have  the  body  part  of 
their  hats  made  low  and  round,  apparently  to  fit  their  heads  close 
ly,  with  a  brim  a  foot  wide,  which  they  bind  over  the  crown  in  the  centre. 
They  wear  this  hat  on  all  occasions  lengthwise,  front  and  rear.  In 
other  respects,  their  dress  is  not  wholly  unlike  that  of  the  priestly  order 
in  Catholic  countries.  I  must  defer  giving  you  a  description  of  the 


240  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

cathedrals,  convents,  and  other  public  edifices,  to  another  opportunity. 
They  are  costly,  and  built  on  a  scale  of  great  magnificence. 

"  When  Santa  Anna  made  his  escape  from  our  troops,  he  fled  to 
Mexico,  where  he  caused  himself  to  be  proclaimed  president ;  but  in  a 
few  days  his  seat  became  so  uneasy  to  him,  that  he  called  together  the 
powers  of  the  government,  gave  up  the  national  keys,  and  announced 
his  intention  to  retire  to  private  life  or  leave  the  empire. 

"  We  will  march  shortly  to  the  city  of  Mexico,  at  what  time  pre<- 
cisely  I  cannot  say.  Our  fates  we  cannot  predict,  but  our  watchword 
is  '  Onward,  let  come  what  may !' 

"  I  am  in  a  wonderful  country,  and  cannot  understand  how  a  popula 
tion  of  eighty  thousand  souls  should  allow  an  army  of  only  three  thou 
sand  effective  men  to  take  such  a  populous  and  magnificent  city  as 
this. 

"  Your's  truly, 

"N.  R.  EAVES." 

The  next  letter  of  Mr.  Eaves  is  addressed,  like  the  preceding  one,  to 
Messrs.  Melton  and  Alexander.  It  is  as  follows  : 

"  SAN  AUGUSTIN,  MEXICO,  Aug,  30,  1847. 

"  GENTLEMEN, — I  wrote  you  both  by  Captain  Kennedy.  I  hope  you 
got  those  letters,  as  they  furnished  a  detail  of  facts  up  to  our  arrival  at 
Puebla.  I  here  send  you  an  account  of  occurrences  from  that  period 
to  the  present. 

"  We  left  Puebla  on  the  8th  of  August,  and,  after  a  fatiguing  march, 
arrived  at  this  place  on  the  evening  of  the  19th  inst.  The  battle  of 
Contreras  was  commenced  by  the  divisions  of  Generals  Pillow  and 
Twiggs ;  and  the  New- York  and  South  Carolina  regiments,  which  com 
posed  the  second  brigade  of  General  Quitman's  division,  under  the 
command  of  General  Shields,  were  sent  to  their  support.  Contreras  is 
a  strongly -fortified  place,  situated  on  a  road  leading  to  the  city  of  Mexi 
co  from  the  west,  and  about  eight  or  nine  miles  distant  from  it.  From 
this  place  our  regiment  passed  through  a  pathless  region  of  country, 
almost  inaccessible,  over  precipices  of  rock  that  appear  to  have  been 
thrown  up  by  some  volcanic  eruptions,  and,  through  a  dense  shrubbery, 
with  all  kinds  of  cactus,  which  made  it  more  difficult  to  pass.  Our 
regiment  was  on  the  march  that  night  until  one  o'clock,  when  a  halt 
was  made  at  the  village  of  Contreras,  about  one  mile  above  the  battle 
ground,  and  between  it  and  Mexico.  It  rained  hard  all  night,  which  made 
it  the  most  disagreeable  night  I  ever  experienced.  I  was  not  in  the  battle 
of  Contreras  with  the  regiment,  owing  to  this  cause :  I  had  a  horse,  and 
not  being  able  to  ride  or  to  lead  him  over  the  precipitous  pathway,  I 
followed  on  till  I  quite  lost  the  route  of  the  regiment,  and  it  being  very 
dark,  I  was  injured  by  a  fall  on  a  cluster  of  cactus.  Falling  in  with 
Captain  Martin's  artillery  force,  I  there  remained  all  night. 

"  By  daylight  in  the  morning,  Colonel  Riley,  with  his  regiment  of 
rifles,  and  I  with  them,  charged  the  enemy.  They  fled  before  the  charge, 
and  were  intercepted  by  the  Palmetto  regiment,  which  was  situated  be 
tween  Fort  Contreras  and  the  city  of  Mexico,  about  a  half  mile  from 
the  fort.  The  fort,  cannon  and  munitions  of  war  were  soon  in  our  pos- 


NATHANIEL  RIDLEY  EAVES,  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  241 

session.  We  captured  a  hundred  and  eighty-one  Mexicans,  and  left  a 
hundred  and  twenty  dead  on  the  field.  Among  the  prisoners  of  war 
was  General  Mendoza,  who  surrendered  his  sword  to  Colonel  Butler, 
while  the  junior  officers  and  soldiers  surrendered  their  swords  and  guns 
to  Captain  Dunovant.  Captain  Marshall  was  left  at  this  battle-ground 
to  guard  the  cannon  and  munitions  of  war,  and  to  take  care  of  the  pri 
soners.  During  his  stay  there,  he  took  forty  odd  prisoners  more.  Of 
course,  he,  and  those  with  him,  were  not  in  the  subsequent  battle  that 
was  fought,  which  they  regretted  exceedingly.  It  is  said  that  the  Pal 
metto  regiment  displayed  a  degree  of  skill  and  bravery  in  the  battle  at 
Contreras  unsurpassed  by  any  regiment  in  the  army.  I  joined  my 
regiment  early  that  morning,  before  the  close  of  the  battle,  and  before 
they  had  prepared  to  commence  their  line  of  march  to  the  subsequent 
battle,  that  of  Churubusco.  In  this  battle,  all  the  officers  and  soldiers 
of  the  Chester  company  were  engaged,  and  won  for  themselves  unfading 
glory." 

Mr.  Eaves,  while  twining  round  the  brows  of  his  companions  in  arms 
deserved  laurels,  omits,  with  his  characteristic  modesty,  to  refer  to  the 
part  which  he  himself  enacted  on  this  occasion,  but  which,  from  the 
gallantry  and  coolness  he  exhibited,  richly  deserves  notice,  and  cannot 
be  omitted  in  this  connection.  Having  to  take  care  of  the  prisoners 
and  the  wounded,  the  Palmetto  and  New- York  regiments  were  delayed 
and  prevented  from  being  present  in  season  for  the  first  attacks  on 
Churubusco  and  Tete-de-Pont.  They  were  ordered,  on  their  arrival,  to 
make  a  demonstration  back  of  the  forts  and  the  city,  where  they  en 
countered  the  rear-guard  of  Santa  Anna's  army.  The  New-York  regi 
ment  was  in  advance  of  the  Palmetto,  and,  upon  the  first  fire,  which 
was  very  heavy,  they  recoiled  and  took  shelter  behind  a  hacienda.  The 
South  Carolina  regiment  came  forward,  formed  a  line,  they  being  the 
left  regiment,  and  Mr.  Eaves,  being  a  member  of  company  B.,  the  left 
company  of  the  regiment,  was  thrown  in  a  position  where  he  could  be 
well  noticed  by  all  who  were  engaged.  He  stepped  to  the  left,  and  in 
advance  of  his  company  some  five  paces,  and  there,  although  exposed  to 
a  galling  fire  of  seven  thousand  escapades,  by  which  one-half  of  the 
Palmetto  regiment  fell,  either  killed  or  wounded,  Mr.  Eaves,  still 
maintaining  his  self-possession,  on  each  time  after  discharging  his  gun, 
would  cock  it  and  blow  into  the  muzzle  to  ascertain  if  the  touch-hole 
was  clear  and  open,  and  then  deliberately  re-load  and  fire. 

The  gallant  Colonel  Butler,  who  was  the  mess-mate  and  bosom  com 
panion  of  Mr.  Eaves,  fell  at  Churubusco.  It  made  quite  a  change  in  his 
camp  life — a  change  that  he  was  entirely  unprepared  for.  His  servant 
Edmond,  who  had  followed  him  through  the  campaign  with  the  greatest 
fidelity,  was  sick.  So  it  became  necessary  for  the  hero  of  this  biogra 
phy,  who  has  been  so  properly  entitled  "  the  little  warrior,"  to  mess  about 
with  his  companions  without  any  definite  place  for  shelter.  But  his 
position  was  a  proof  of  how  much  he  had  endeared  himself  to  each 
member  of  the  regiment  and  other  officers  of  the  army,  for  all  claimed 
him  as  their  friend,  and  were  anxious  to  prove  the  fact  by  giving  him 
the  largest  share  of  their  scanty  meals.  Eventually  he  became  tne 
mess-mate  of  the  officers  of  the  Chester  company.  They  were  proud 
that  he  had  cast  his  lot  among  them  instead  of  choosing  for  his  com- 

16 


242  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

panions  those  who  were  higher  in  office  and  who  had  intreated  him  to 
partake  of  their  fare. 

On  the  13th  of  September,  he  was  at  the  charge  on  Chapultepee. 
The  hill  and  castle  are  surrounded  by  low,  flat  grounds,  with  deep 
ditches  made  there  for  the  double  purpose  of  defence  to  the  castle  and 
irrigation  of  the  tillable  lands.  They  are  so  deep  that  the  soldiers 
could  only  pass  through  them  with  the  aid  of  each  other.  It  was  his 
misfortune  to  be  in  one  of  the  deepest  of  these  ditches  until  his  com 
panions,  who  had  passed  through  by  his  assistance,  were  all  on  the  flat 
lands.  Forgetting  that  they  had  left  him  in  this  position,  they  advanced 
at  double  quick  time.  He  strove  to  climb  the  bank,  but  all  his  efforts 
were  vain.  He  then  commenced  wading  through  the  mud  and  water, 
hoping  by  some  chance  to  gain  his  regiment  again.  Discovering  some 
soldiers  of  another  regiment  who  had  deposited  themselves  there  for 
safe-keeping,  he  told  them  that  "  they  were  cowards,  and  unworthy  the 
name  of  American  soldiers,"  and  commanded  them  to  assist  him  out 
of  his  difficulty.  But  they  were  so  panic-struck  that  they  threw  him 
out  on  the  wrong  side,  when  he  had  the  mortification  to  see  his  regi 
ment  approaching  the  wall  at  the  base  of  the  hill  beneath  the  enemy's 
batteries.  There  he  stood  a  target  for  a  thousand  escapades,  yet  re 
solved  to  die  fighting.  It  was  at  this  time  and  place  that,  as  he  raised 
his  head  to  aim  his  musket  at  some  one  whom  he  thought  worthy  of 
being  shot  by  him,  a  ball  struck  the  palmetto  on  his  cap,  and  passed 
through,  slightly  grazing  his  head  and  tearing  private  papers  which  he 
had  placed  in  his  cap  for  safe-keeping. 

When  the  regiment  arrived  beneath  the  wall  and  were  secure  from 
the  enemy's  fire  until  a  breach  could  be  made  in  it  through  which  to 
pass,  Mr.  Eaves'  perilous  position  was  seen  by  all.  He  was  not  able 
to  proceed,  and  was  too  brave  to  occupy  that  much  detested  ditch, 
which  seemed  to  defeat  his  dearest  purpose,  to  live  or  die  with  his  regi 
ment.  But  he  was  no  sooner  seen  than  some  of  his  brave  companions 
volunteered  to  bring  him  to  the  regiment  or  perish  with  him — a  pur 
pose  which  they  triumphantly  accomplished,  but  not  until  he  was  twice 
wounded  and  his  clothes  much  torn.  He  reached  his  regiment  just  as 
the  breach  in  the  wall  was  made  sufficiently  low  to  be  scaled,  and 
being  assisted  by  his  companions,  he  was  in  their  eagerness  literally 
thrown  over,  being  among  the  first  to  enter.  Regaining  his  feet,  he 
seized  the  Palmetto  flag,  mounted  the  cliff,  rushed  up  through  the  castle, 
where,  having  first  assisted  to  run  up  the  American  flag,  he  mounted 
the  parapet,  and  with  his  gun  in  one  hand  and  his  regimental  banner  in 
the  other,  he  stood  conspicuous,  waving  it  with  the  oft-repeated  excla 
mation,  "  Hurra  for  South  Carolina !"  The  cheering  was  not  confined 
to  his  regiment  alone,  but  all  who  saw  it  with  one  impulse  joined  in  a 
long  and  loud  huzza  for  the  flag  and  the  gallant  spirit  who  bore  it ! 

But  the  glories  of  that  day  were  not  yet  ended.     There  were  other 

§  lories  to  be  yet  achieved  by  that  gallant  army  before  the  sun  had  set. 
carcely  had  the  army  realized  the  fact  that  the  castle  was  theirs,  when 
they  were  ordered  to  advance  along  the  aqueducts,  in  order  to  charge 
the  forts  and  take  possession  of  the  city  of  Mexico,  which  lay  about  one 
league  distant.  The  gallant  Quitman,  who  commanded  the  division 
against  the  Garita  de  Belen,  to  effect  his  object  with  the  more  certainty, 


NATHANIEL  RIDLEY  EAVES,  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  243 

put  a  rifle  and  a  musket  alternately,  that  whilst  the  latter  was  making 
the  charge  the  former  might  act  as  sharp-shooters  to  take  the  enemy 
from  their  cannon.  The  promptness  and  decision,  with  which  the  com 
mander's  orders  were  executed  soon  rendered  victory  complete,  and  the 
Palmetto  banner  floated  triumphantly  in  the  city  of  Mexico  two  hours 
in  advance  of  any  other  American  standard.  (See  General  Quitman's 
Report.)  In  this  engagement  Mr.  Eaves  acted  with  his  accustomed 
coolness  and  intrepidity.  His  conduct  was  observed  by  Gen.  Quitman, 
who  exclaimed,  "  See  little  Eaves, — how  cool  he  is ;  as  though  he  were 
shooting  at  snipes !" 

When  the  division  entered  the  city,  it  was  impossible  to  get  the 
heavy  American  cannon  of  Captain  Drum's  command  over  the  high  and 
well  ditched  fortifications  of  the  Garita  de  Belen ;  but  there  was  a  piece 
of  artillery  within  the  breastworks,  placed  in  such  a  situation  that  the 
Mexicans  could  not  get  it  out.  Drum  had  but  few  soldiers  with  him, 
and  he  called  upon  some  of  the  Palmetto  regiment  to  assist  him.  There 
were  two  companies  of  the  Pennsylvania  regiment  and  the  rifle  regi 
ment  present.  Upon  the  call  being  made  upon  the  Palmetto  regiment, 
Mr.  Eaves  and  several  others  obeyed  the  call,  and  assisted  in  adjusting 
the  piece,  and  turning  it  upon  the  enemy,  continued  to  man  the  piece 
until  the  ammunition  was  exhausted.  Drum,  putting  his  hand  on  the 
shoulder  of  Eaves,  exclaimed,  "  We  have  given  it  to  them !"  and  after 
leaving  the  cannon  two  or  three  paces,  was  shot  in  two !" 

After  the  entrance  of  the  army  into  the  city  of  Mexico,  Mr.  Eaves 
found  many  occasions  for  the  exercise  of  his  feelings  of  humanity  and 
generosity.  Hundreds  of  the  wounded  Mexicans  lay  in  the  streets, 
neglected  by  their  countrymen  and  exposed  to  all  the  anguish  of  their 
sufferings  without  the  kindly  ministrations  of  a  friend,  or  even  the  com 
fort  of  a  shelter  from  the  weather.  As  these  instances  would  fall  under 
his  observation  he  would  set  about  the  relieving  of  their  condition,  a 
work  in  which  he  would  often  draw  liberally  on  his  own  purse.  In 
other  instances  he  would,  assuming  an  air  of  authority,  compel  the 
heartless  citizens,  who  carelessly  passed  by  their  suffering  fellows,  to 
remove  them  into  houses  and  provide  for  their  necessities. 

The  same  promptings  of  generosity  influenced  his  conduct  towards 
his  companions  in  arms.  The  sick  found  in  him  an  attentive  and 
watchful  friend,  who  would  suffer  them  to  want  for  nothing  which 
money  could  purchase.  His  purse  was,  indeed,  at  all  times  open  to  the 
drafts  of  his  companions,  and  no  one  ever  found  his  necessities  disre 
garded.  To  various  members  of  his  regiment  he  liberally  supplied  the 
means  of  returning  to  their  friends  and  their  country,  and  that,  too,  very 
often  without  the  prospect  of  being  repaid. 

It  was  the  intention  of  Mr.  Eaves,  when  he  left  South  Carolina,  to 
return  home  in  season  to  perform  the  duties  that  devolved  on  him  as 
senator  at  the  ensuing  session  of  the  general  assembly.  The  war  was 
now,  in  fact,  ended.  All  the  fighting  that  was  to  be  done  was  over, 
and  there  was  nothing,  so  far  as  the  honor  of  his  country  was  concerned, 
to  detain  him  longer  in  Mexico.  He  accordingly  applied,  soon  after 
the  entrance  into  the  city,  for  leave  of  absence  for  six  months,  which, 
in  consideration  of  the  circumstances,  was  readily  granted,  and  he  was 
honorably  discharged. 


244  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

The  following  are  the  documents  connected  with  his  discharge : 

"  CITY  OF  MEXICO,  October  26,  1847. 
«To  CAPT.  H.  L.  SCOTT,  A.  A.  A.  General. 

"SiR: — I  have  the  honor  to  request  a  furlough  for  six  months, 
to  enable  me  to  return  home  to  discharge  the  duties  of  my  civil  office, 
being  Senator  from  Chester  District,  South  Carolina.  The  legislature 
of  that  state  convenes  on  the  4th  Monday  in  November  next,  and  it  is 
important  that  I  should  be  there  as  early  as  practicable. 

"  N.  R.  EAVES,  Private  Co.  B. 

"  Palmetto  Regiment." 

"  I  certify  that  private  N.  R.  Eaves  is  the  State  Senator  from  Chester 
District,  South  Carolina ;  that  he  has  been  doing  duty  in  my  company, 
and  was  present,  fighting  valiantly,  in  all  the  battles  fought  in  the  valley 
of  Mexico,  (except  at  Molino  del  Rey,  in  which  the  Palmetto  Regi 
ment  was  not  engaged,)  and  that  he  behaved  with  credit  and  distinction 
to  himself,  having  been  slightly  wounded  in  four  places.  I  therefore 
respectfully  recommend  that  his  request  be  granted. 

"R,  G.  M.  DUNOVANT,  Capt.  Co.  B. 

"  8.  C.  Volunteers." 
"  Approved. 

'"  A.  H.  GLADDEN,  Major  Com.  Pal.  Reg.  S.  C.  V. 
"  CITY  OF  MEXICO,  October  26,  1847." 

"  Respectfully  referred  and  recommended. 

"SAML.  E.  WATSON,  Lt.  Own.  First  Brig.  V.  D." 

"CITY  OF  MEXICO,  October  26,  1847. 
"To  CAPT.  H.  L.  SCOTT,  A.  A.  A.  General. 

"  It  is  due  to  N.  R.  Eaves,  private  in  Company  B.,  Palmetto  Regi 
ment,  S.  C.  V.,  to  state  that  he  is  the  State  Senator  from  Chester  Dis 
trict,  and  whilst  discharging  his  duties  at  Columbia,  S.  C.,  in  that 
office,  a  call  was  made  by  the  Secretary  of  War  upon  the  state  for  one 
regiment  of  volunteers,  to  serve  during  the  war  with  Mexico.  He  left 
his  seat  in  the  Senate,  and  promptly  repaired  to  his  district  and  enrolled 
his  name  as  a  private. 

"  From  the  high  position  he  occupied,  and  the  patriotic  motives  that 
induced  him  to  volunteer,  the  field-officers  were  induced  to  place  in  his 
hands  the  $20,000  appropriated  by  the  state  and  placed  at  their  dispo 
sal.  He  has  therefore  acted  in  the  capacity  of  paymaster  to  the  regi 
ment.  As  that  fund  is  now  nearly  exhausted,  and  feeling  disinclined 
to  see  him  shoulder  his  musket,  the  call  for  his  civil  services  induces 
me  respectfully  to  request  that  his  petition  be  granted.  He  has  been 
in  all  the  battles  fought  in  the  valley  of  Mexico  in  which  his  regiment 
participated.  On  these  occasions,  he  shouldered  his  musket,  and 
behaved  with  great  gallantry  and  bravery. 
"  Very  respectfully, 

"A.  H.  GLADDEN,  Major  Pal.  Reg.  S.  C.  V." 

"  I  have  known  Major  Eaves  since  his  arrival  at  Lobos,  and  found  him 
always  attentive  to  his  duty,  and  at  all  times  ready  for  any  service. 

"  D.  E.  TWIGGS,  Br.  Gen.  U.  S.  A? 


NATHANIEL  RIDLEY  EAVES,  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  245 

"  I  have  commanded  the  Palmetto  Regiment  at  all  the  battles  fought 
in  the  valley  of  Mexico,  and  can  vouch  for  the  bravery  and  gallantry  of 
Major  Eaves  in  all  those  battles,  as  well  as  for  his  good  conduct  on  all 
occasions. 

"  JAMES  SHIELDS,  Brig.  Gen" 

"  Respectfully  referred  and  recommended. 

"SAML.  E.  WATSON,  Lt.  Col.  Com.  1st  Brig.  Vol.  Div." 

"Recommended  by 

"  J.  A.  QUITMAN.  Maj.  Gen? 
"  Honorably  discharged, 

"  By  command  of  Major-General  SCOTT." 

"  H.  L.  SCOTT,  A.  A.  A.  General.'* 
"  Head-quarters  of  the  Army,  October  26,  1847." 

"NATIONAL  PALACE,  MEXICO,  October  28,  1847. 
"  MAJOR  EAVES, — Sir : — Allow  me  to  take  the  liberty,  now  that  you 
are  about  to  leave  for  your  native   land,  to  present  to  you  my  heart 
felt  regret  at  your  departure. 

"  A  companion  and  soldier,  one  who  has  shared  all  the  perils  and 
fatigues  of  this  campaign,  cheerful  under  every  sky,  and  foremost  in 
every  engagement!  1  am  certain,  sir,  you  have  nobly  represented 
your  district  and  state,  and  I  trust  a  grateful  country  will  respect  your 
patriotic  disposition. 

"  With  great  respect, 

"  Your  friend  and  servant, 

"  N.  J.  WALKER,  Capt.  Co.  K,  S.  C.  F." 

Shortly  after  receiving  his  discharge,  Mr.  Eaves  embarked  for  South 
Carolina,  via  New-Orleans.  Upon  his  arrival  in  Columbia,  at  night,  a 
torchlight  procession  was  formed,  and  he  was  conducted  through 
the  city  in  triumph.  The  legislature  being  then  in  session,  the  Senate, 
of  which  he  was  a  member,  adopted,  on  the  next  day,  a  report  and 
resolutions  highly  complimentary  to  him.  The  following  is  the  report 
of  the  Senate  committee  to  whom  were  referred  the  documents  and 
correspondence  connected  with  his  discharge : 

"  The  Committee  on  the  Military  and  Pensions,  to  which  was  refer 
red  certain  documents  in  relation  to  the  Honorable  N.  R.  Eaves,  sub 
mits  the  following  report : 

"  The  committee  have  given  the  subject  referred  due  deliberation: 
The  documents  show,  that  in  December  last,  the  Honorable  N.  R. 
Eaves  was  the  Senator  in  the  present  General  Assembly  from  Chester 
District ;  which  fact  comes  within  the  knowledge  of  your  committee, 
and  of  the  whole  Senate:  that  he  united  himself  as  a  private  in  the 
company  of  the  Palmetto  Regiment  raised  in  Chester,  his  native  dis 
trict,*  and,  although  in  affluent  circumstances,  and  arrived  to  an  age 
when  military  service  is  not  required  by  law,  he  cheerfully  submitted 

*  In  this  the  committee  were  in  error.  As  already  stated,  Mr.  Eaves  was 
a  native  of  Virginia. — ED. 


246  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

to  all  the  privations  and  dangers  of  a  perilous  and  harrassing  campaign. 
He  was  entrusted  with^the  responsible  duty  of  disbursing  the  appropri 
ation  of  twenty  thousand  dollars,  made  by  this  state  for  the  use  of  the 
Palmetto  Regiment,  and  from  this  and  other  considerations,  service  in 
the  ranks  was  not  exacted.  Voluntarily  and  from  his  own  impulsive 
and  chivalrous  nature,  he  shouldered  his  musket  and  fought  in  the  ranks 
as  a  private,  in  every  battle  in  which  his  regiment  was  engaged  in 
Mexico.  At  Vera  Cruz,  at  Contreras,  at  the  bloody  fields  of  Churu- 
busco,  Chapultepec,  and  the  Garita,  he  was  found  in  the  front  rank, 
leading  on  the  advance,  cool,  collected  and  brave. 

"  Such  patriotic  devotion  in  one  of  its  own  members  deserves  the 
special  notice  of  this  Senate. 

"  Your  committee  recommend  that  the  documents  referred  be  entered 
on  the  journals  of  the  Senate,  as  a  tribute  of  regard  for  patriotism  and 
public  virtue. 

"  Respectfully  submitted, 

" JOHN  BUCHANAN,  Chairman" 

When  the  venerable  president  of  the  Senate,  Angus  Patterson, 
rose  to  read  the  resolutions,  the  Senate  chamber  was  crowded  to 
the  utmost  extent  of  its  capacity.  The  scene  was  an  exceedingly  inter 
esting  one.  Mr.  Eaves,  anxious  to  take  his  seat  in  the  Senate  cham 
ber,  was,  as  we  have  seen,  one  among  the  first  to  return  from  Mexico 
after  the  war  was  over  ;  and  his  presence  again  in  the  Senate  chamber, 
after  an  arduous  and  glorious  campaign  in  a  foreign  land,  in  which  the 
chivalry  of  the  state  was  triumphantly  vindicated  by  the  Palmettoes, 
coupled  also  with  the  mournful  reflection  that  the  blood  of  a  Butler,  a 
Dickinson,  and  a  host  of  others  equally  patriotic,  had  sealed  their  devo 
tion  to  their  beloved  state,  altogether  produced  an  excitement,  and  gave 
rise  to  emotions  of  no  ordinary  character. 

Mr.  Eaves  responded  in  terms  very  graceful  and  delicate.  "He 
thanked  the  Senate,"  he  said,  "for  the  very  cordial  manner  in  which  he 
had  been  welcomed  again  to  his  seat  in  that  body.  After  the  hard 
campaign,  in  which  the  American  troops  had  been  engaged,  to  be  thus 
met  on  their  return  to  their  native  land,  was  grateful  to  that  sensibility 
so  natural  on  such  an  occasion.  In  entering  the  service  of  his  country, 
he  had  done  what  he  conceived  to  be  his  duty.  A  call  had  been  made 
by  the  Federal  Government  upon  the  State  of  South  Carolina  for 
a  regiment  to  be  engaged  for  the  war.  He  regarded  the  honor  of  the 
state  as  involved,  and  that  the  call  should  be  responded  to  promptly. 
The  state  had  been  traduced,  and  we  had  been  jeered  as  par  excellence 
'  the  chivalry.'  When  the  opportunity  therefore  was  presented  to  her 
people  to  vindicate  their  title  to  the  just  renown  emblazoned  on 
the  pages  of  their  history,  it  found  him  ready.  The  promptitude  with 
which  the  call  was  met,  was  in  the  remembrance  of  all.  How  the  Pal 
metto  Regiment  performed  its  duty,  history  will  tell.  Its  decimated 
ranks  and  orphan  condition  told  a  tale  more  eloquent  than  anything  he 
could  say.  He  left  it  to  others  to  fill  up  that  picture  which  would 
sparkle  amid  the  lustre  of  those  achievements  which  adorn  our  history." 
He  concluded  by  again  thanking  the  Senate  for  the  kindness  they  had 
manifested  towards  him. 


NATHANIEL  RIDLEY  EAVES,  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  247 

Mr.  Eaves  had  then  to  encounter  a  storm  of  congratulations  from  his 
surrounding  friends,  which  was  equal  in  intensity  to  that  which  he 
faced  at  Churubusco,  though  of  a  far  different  and  more  agreeable  kind. 

His  excellency.  Governor  Johnson,  was  among  the  first  of  his  dis 
tinguished  friends  to  welcome  him  on  his  return.  The  following  note 
was  addressed  to  him  by  that  high  functionary  on  the  occasion : 

"  MY  DEAR  MAJOR, — Welcome,  thrice  welcome  back  to  us !  I  want 
to  see  you  much ;  but  I  learn  that  you  are  so  surrounded  by  inquiring 
friends,  that  I  fear  there  is  no  hope  of  having  that  quiet  communion  with 
you  that  I  wish  to-night.  How  are  you1?  How  are  your  gallant  com 
panions  2  Where  are  they  ? 

"  Very  sincerely, 

"  DAVID  JOHNSON. 
"  UNITED  STATES  HOTEL,  Monday  Evening." 

The  warm  reception  which  this  brave  man  met  with  from  his  excel 
lency,  the  governor,  and  from  the  legislature,  was  not  more  gratifying 
to  his  feelings  than  that  which  awaited  him  from  the  people  at  large. 
His  entire  career  in  Mexico  was  known  to  all  and  applauded  by  all. 
From  the  mountains  to  the  sea-board  there  was  but  one  sentiment  felt 
and  expressed  as  to  his  merit.  But  nowhere  was  his  welcome  more 
cordial  and  enthusiastic  than  in  the  district  he  represented,  old  Chester. 
He  had  performed  his  duty  nobly,  and  the  state  was  not  only  delighted 
to  see  him  return,  unscathed  by  the  numberless  perils  through  which  he 
had  passed,  but  seemed  desirous  to  evince  their  gratitude  and  admira 
tion  by  bestowing  upon  him  some  signal  honor,  as  a  reward  for  his  ser 
vices.  He  was  accordingly,  in  various  sections  of  the  state,  almost 
simultaneously,  on  his  arrival  home,  nominated  by  the  press  for  the 
office  of  governor ;  and  there  can  be  but  little  doubt,  if  the  election  had 
come  on  when  the  popular  enthusiasm  was  at  its  height,  that  he  would 
have  been  elected  to  the  office  by  an  overwhelming  vote ;  and  there 
can  be  as  little  doubt,  that  had  he  been  elected  when  the  contest 
did  come  on,  his  practical  good  sense  and  executive  abilities  would 
have  qualified  him  to  discharge  the  duties  of  the  gubernatorial  function 
to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  the  people  of  the  state.  The  relations  which 
the  South  then  sustained  to  the  Federal  Government  were  of  a  delicate 
nature,  and  wore  a  threatening  aspect  \  and  there  were  those  who  feared 
that  the  impetuosity  of  Mr.  Eaves'  temperament  unfitted  him  for  the 
crisis.  Others,  again,  were  influenced  by  an  aversion,  common  to  the 
people  of  the  state,  of  bestowing  the  gubernatorial  office  as  a  reward  for 
military  services. 

That  his  election  was  anticipated  and  desired  by  the  whole  body  of 
the  Palmetto  Regiment,  then  in  Mexico,  is  evident  from  the  tenor 
of  the  following  letters,  with  the  introduction  of  which  we  shall  close 
this  rather  prolix  narrative : 

"SAN  ANGEL,  MEXICO,  January  13,  1848. 

"MY  DEAR  FRIEND: — I  had  thought  you  would  have  written  me  be 
fore  this,  but  I  suppose  you  are  determined  to  treat  me  with  the  same 
indifference  that  my  other  friends  do. 

•*  I  am  told  that  you  met  with  a  cordial  and  warm  reception  at  home 


248  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

and  that  every  body  was  glad  to  see  you.  You  richly  deserve  to  "be 
esteemed  and  honored  by  your  whole  country  for  the  gallant  services 
rendered  by  you  on  the  battle-fields,  and  I  hope  that  your  name  will  be 
handed  down  to  posterity  as  one  of  the  heroes  of  Churubusco,  and 
Chapultepec  and  Garita.  "The  boys  frequently  talk  about  you,  and  re 
gret  that  your  civil  duties  called  you  away  from  among  us.  They 
frequently  ask  me  if  I  think  the  state  will  recompense  you  for  your 
trials  and  sufferings,  by  making  you  governor,  or  sending  you  to  Con 
gress.  I  tell  them  that  I  think  she  will.  *  *  * 
"  I  remain,  very  respectfully, 

"  R.  G.  M.  DUNOVANT." 

The  above  letter,  it  will  be  seen,  was  written  by  Captain  Dunovant, 
from  Mexico,  shortly  after  Mr.  Eaves  arrived  in  South  Carolina.  The 
following,  from  Lieutenant  Walker,  was  written  about  three  months 
later : 

"SAN  ANGEL,  MEXICO,  2lst  March,  1848. 

"  DEAR  MAJOR, — I  am  just  contemplating  and  trying  to  fathom  how 
many  honors  you  have,  how  many  you  have  received,  and  how  many 
more  you  are  entitled  to  receive.  We  hear  some  news  in  regard  to 
you  occasionally,  and  it  is  quite  good,  to  be  sure,  but  I  think  they  seem 
to  be  rather  slow  in  awarding  honors  in  a  mariner  to  be  felt  as  lasting 
and  important  to  one  who  has  devoted  so  much  of  his  time  to  the  best 
interests  of  his  district;  one  who,  when  the  call  of  his  country  was 
heard,  was  ready  to  throw  off  honor,  wealth,  and  ease,  to  engage  in  the 
capacity  of  a  soldier,  and  who,  in  the  short  space  of  twelve  months  or 
less,  has  passed,  with  distinction,  through  four  of  the  bloodiest  battles 
on  record.  If  services  like  these  do  not  entitle  a  man  to  the  highest 
gift  in  the  state,  what  can  he  do  to  entitle  him  to  such  honors "?  To  this 
I  can  only  answer,  that  it  is  perhaps  requisite  that  he  be  a  representa 
tive  of  the  lower  part  of  the  state. 

"  When  your  friends  speak  of  you  why  do  they  not  do  it  with  more 
energy,  with  more  zeal,  and  speak  to  be  understood  ?  Yet  there  are 
some  omens  of  good,  and  one  of  the  strongest  of  these  is,  that  we  do 
not  hear  you  spoken  of  for  the  governorship  in  one  or  two  districts,  but 
it  comes  in  letters  from  every  district  in  tJie  state,  and  all  that  is  wanting 
is  more  heat.  In  all  probability  there  is  enough  of  that  at  home,  though 
not  sufficient  to  satisfy  your  friends  here. 

"  The  boys  are  all  well  and  in  good  spirits,  but  we  miss  you  very 
much.  The  days  and  nights  are  tolerably  long  at  times,  and  if  we  had 
your  company  it  would  be  a  great  assistance  in  making  time  glide  by. 
I  wish,  if  there  is  no  hope  of  our  getting  home  soon,  that  you  would 
keep  the  young  ladies  from  marrying  until  we  do  return ;  and  also  in 
form  us,  by  some  means,  what  you  are  doing  with  them  for  us.  But 
I  must  inform  you  of  a  slander  that  Major  Mat.  has  put  out  on  you. 
He  says  you  are  trying  to  marry  yourself,  and  if  that  is  the  case  I  fear 
you  will  not  do  much  for  your  friends.  How  is  it  ?  And,  by  the 
way,  I  should  like  to  have  you  write,  for  you  best  know  just  what 
would  please  us. 


NATHANIEL  RIDLEY  EAVES,  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  249 

"Captain  Brooks  says,  'By  Ned,  Eaves  shall  be  governor!'  He 
sends  his  best  respects  to  you.  Major  Dunovant  ditto,  and  all  the 
boys  unite  in  sending  their  best  wishes  to  you. 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"J.T.WALKER." 

We  find  among  the  numerous  documents  connected  with  Mr.  Eaves, 
campaign  in  Mexico,  a  series  of  letters  in  relation  to  a  certificate  of 
merit  to  which  he  was  entitled,  but  which,  having  not  been  filed  in  the 
office  of  the  secretary  of  war,  or  if  placed  there,  having  been  lost  or 
mislaid,  has  unfortunately,  up  to  this  time,  not  been  recovered.  The 
facts  are  briefly  these  :  General  Scott,  after  the  battles  in  Mexico,  issued 
an  order  directing  the  captains  of  companies  each  to  report  two  soldiers 
of  his  company  who  were  most  worthy  of  distinction.  In  accordance 
with  this  order  Captain  Dunovant,  of  company  B.,  Palmetto  regiment, 
reported  Mr.  Eaves  to  General  Quitman,  as  having  especially  distin 
guished  himself  during  the  campaign,  and  General  Quitman,  as  is  sup 
posed,  reported  him  in  like  manner  to  General  Scott.  But  Mr.  Eaves 
having  left  Mexico  before  the  army  was  disbanded  did  not  receive  his 
certificate  of  merit.  Considering  himself,  however,  as  entitled  to  it,  he 
made  application  for  it  through  his  friends,  supposing  that  a  copy  of  ib 
would  be  found  on  file  in  the  office  of  the  secretary  of  war. 

Among  those  friends  who  interested  themselves  in  this  matter  was 
Lieutenant  D.  D.  Baker,  of  the  marines,  in  service  in  Mexico,  a  gallant 
officer,  who  was  promoted  to  a  captaincy  after  the  battle  of  Chapultepec. 
We  have  from  him  the  following  letter  : 

41  PORTSMOUTH,  N.  H.,  Feb.  15,  1848. 

"  MY  DEAR  OLD  SOLDIER, — I  was  in  Washington  a  few  days  ago,  and 
made  inquiries  at  the  office  of  the  adjutant-general  for  your  certificate 
of  merit,  but  was  informed  it  had  not  been  received  at  that  office.  I 
have  no  doubt  it  will  be  forthcoming  in  due  time.  It  gave  me  great 
satisfaction  to  hear  from  you,  both  on  the  account  of  your  good  health 
and  also  the  flattering  manner  in  which  your  fellow-citizens  received 
you  on  your  arrival  home.  I  am  sure  that  nothing  in  the  way  of  notice 
can  equal  your  merits,  for  a  more  gallant  and  devoted  soldier  on  the 
field  I  never  saw.  I  send  you  herewith  a  note  from  the  office  of  the 
adjutant-general,  about  your  certificate  of  merit. 

"  Believe  me  to  be  your  friend  and  fellow-soldier, 

"  D.  D.  BAKER." 

The  following  is  the  note  from  the  adjutant-general,  referred  to  in 
the  above  letter  of  Captain  Baker  : 

"  ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S  OFFICE, 

"WASHINGTON,    July  19,   1848. 

"  DEAR  SIR, — In  returning  herewith  the  letter  of  Mr.  Eaves,  I  respect 
fully  inform  you  that  not  a  single  recommendation  in  favor  of  volunteers 
for  certificates  of  merit,  under  the  7th  section  of  the  act  of  March  3, 
1847,  has  been  received  at  this  office.  The  orders  of  Major-General 
Scott,  alluded  to  by  Mr.  Eaves,  have  been  referred  to,  and  are  such  as 


250  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

he  represents,  but  what  action,  if  any,  was  taken  under  them,  I  regret 
my  inability  to  say.  The  law  referred  to,  I  had  supposed,  did  not  em 
brace  the  volunteer  service.  For,  if  otherwise,  it  would  present  the 
incongruity  of  one  of  the  subalterns  of  a  company  of  volunteers  receiv 
ing  his  commission  from  the  president  of  the  United  States,  while  the 
others,  the  captains  and  field-officers,  derive  their  commissions  from 
the  governor  of  the  state. 

"  I  am,  dear  sir,  very  respectfully, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"  K.  JONES." 

There  are  numerous  others  letters  of  correspondence  on  this  subject, 
which  are  omitted.  It  is  certain  that  the  order  of  General  Scott  to 
the  captains  of  companies,  volunteers  as  well  as  regulars,  to  report 
those  who  had,  in  their  respective  companies,  most  signally  distin 
guished  themselves,  was  promptly  obeyed  by  the  captain  of  the  com 
pany  to  which  Mr.  Eaves  was  attached,  and  that  he  was  singled  out 
and  reported  as  being  the  most  worthy  of  the  certificate  of  merit.  To 
the  soldier  nothing  is  dearer  than  his  honor,  and  nothing  more  gratify 
ing  to  his  feelings  than  the  having  his  merit  duly  recognized  and  ac 
knowledged,  and  it  is  much  to  be  regretted  that,  so  richly  deserving 
the  meed  of  praise  awarded  him,  he  has  been  unable  to  obtain  its  formal 
acknowledgment  in  a  "certificate  of  merit." 

We  are  happy  to  find  that  the  opinion  we  expressed,  in  the  earlier  part 
of  this  sketch,  of  the  legal  character  and  attainments  of  Mr.  Eaves  is 
fully  sustained  by  the  opinions  of  a  gentleman  of  great  worth,  who  has 
long  known  him  intimately. 

"  The  success,"  he  says,  "  which  has  attended  him  in  the  practice  of 
his  profession  has  been  far  beyond  that  which  ordinarily  falls  to  the  lot 
of  those  who  have  made  the  law  their  study.  Without  having  a  high 
reputation  as  a  learned  lawyer,  he  nevertheless,  by  the  assiduity  and 
perseverance  with  which  he  managed  every  case  entrusted  to  him,  se 
cured  a  lucrative  practice.  Men  who  entertained  no  very  exalted  opi 
nion  of  his  legal  attainments  were  willing  to  entrust  their  interests  with 
him,  knowing  that,  if  anything  would  be  made  in  the  progress  of  the 
cause,  his  diligence  and  untiring  efforts  would  be  sure  to  accomplish  it. 
Like  a  cork  on  the  water,  if  put  down  in  one  place,  he  would  be  certain 
to  rise  in  an  another.  His  success,  in  a  great  measure,  is  to  be  attributed 
to  the  extraordinary  industry  and  untiring  devotion  he  invariably 
brought  to  the  management  of  every  cause  in  which  he  has  been  en 
gaged,  no  matter  how  unimportant  it  may  be.  Slow  to  announce  an 
opinion  at  first,  he  would,  when  engaged  in  the  cause,  apply  the  whole 
powers  of  his  mind  to  its  thorough  examination,  and  never  rest  until  he 
had  completely  mastered  it.  His  great  knowledge  of  human  nature 
has  enabled  him  to  command  success  where  other  men  would  have 
failecL  The  precise  adaptation  of  the  means  to  the  end  has  secured  him 
many  triumphs.  Oftentimes,  in  cases  of  great  doubt  and  difficulty, 
when  the  law's  delay  would  have  given  him  time,  he  seldom  failed,  at 
the  last  moment,  to  seize  upon  and  present  something  that  would  be  de 
cisive  of  the  issue.  If  he  could  not  carry  his  point  by  a  coup  de  main, 
he  was  very  certain  to  do  so  by  slow  and  regular  advances." 


NATHANIEL  RIDLEY  EAVES,  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  251 

Another  friend,  who  knew  him  equally  well,  having  pursued  his  legal 
studies  under  his  direction,  and  who  is  every  way  competent  to  judge, 
says  of  him  :  "  Mr.  Eaves  is  not  so  much  to  be  judged  "by  his  conver 
sational  talents,  his  forensic  powers,  or  his  skill  as  a  writer,  as  by  the 
happy  adaptation  of  himself  to  the  circumstances  under  which  he  has 
passed  his  entire  career." 

Mr.  Eaves  was  never  married ;  but  one  of  the  most  pleasing  traits  in 
his  character  is  its  tenderness,  liberality,  and  gallantry,  to  the  fair  and 
better  sex,  particularly  to  the  widow  and  orphan,  and  to  those  who  are 
in  any  kind  of  distress. 

No  man  is  more  consistent  in  his  friendships.  Once  a  friend  he  is 
always  one — never  abandoning  an  acquaintance  so  long  as  he  retains 
merit,  and  often  adhering  to  him  even  after  others  have  forsaken  him. 

With  all  his  wealth  and  success  at  the  bar,  he  is  free  from  pride  and 
an  aristocratic  temper,  being  equally  the  friend  of  the  poor  and  the  rich, 
and  disposed  to  treat  all  with  justice  and  humanity,  without  regard  to 
their  station.  If  he  has  his  partialities,  they  lean,  and  justly,  too,  rather 
to  the  side  of  the  feeble  and  unfortunate  than  to  that  of  the  strong  and 
prosperous.  He  is  especially  kind  to  those  who  are  indebted  to  him, 
and  against  whom  he  has  claims  of  a  long  standing.  He  prefers  aban 
doning  the  claim  and  releasing  the  debtor,  to  subjecting  him  to  distress 
and  inconvenience.  If  he  were  to  meet  an  old  acquaintance  in  China  in 
destitute  circumstances,  he  would  greet  him  with  cordiality,  and  relieve 
his  necessities.  Notwithstanding  his  remarkable  generosity,  he  has  ac 
cumulated  a  large  fortune  by  his  industry,  which  he  does  not  hoard  up, 
but  devotes  to  useful  ends  and  public  improvements,  particularly  to  the 
improvement  of  the  place  where  he  lives,  with  whose  interests  and  pros 
perity  he  is  so  closely  identified,  that  to  destroy  him  wrould  be  to  de 
stroy  the  very  elements  of  the  society  around  him,  of  which  he  forms 
the  soul  and  centre.  But  he  is  not  known  only  at  home  favorably. 
There  is  scarcely  an  individual  in  the  state  to  whom  his  name  is  not  fa 
miliar  ;  and  he  could  not  go  into  any  village  or  town  in  South  Carolina 
where  his  presence  would  not  be  welcomed  with  cordiality. 

Upon  the  whole,  Mr.  Eaves,  if  not  a  great  man,  is  a  useful  one. 
What  he  lacks  in  genius  is  better  supplied  by  common  sense — want  of 
a  knowledge  of  books,  by  a  knowledge  of  the  world,  and  by  a  shrewd 
insight  into  the  springs  of  human  action.  A  man  that  has  succeeded  as 
he  has  done  must  be  judged  by  results ;  and  judged  by  that  rule  he 
must,  as  he  does,  possess  moral  and  intellectual  worth.  Rich  in  wealth, 
he  is  far  more  rich  in  honor  and  integrity.  He  has  the  simplicity  of  a 
child  and  the  boldness  of  a  lion.  He  is  a  man  of  undoubted  courage 
and  a  keen  sense  of  honor.  Nothing  would  induce  him  to  do  a  mean 
action.  In  fine,  we  shall  sum  up  all  his  good  qualities  by  affirming  that 
he  is  an  honest  man,  and  that  he  is  fairly  entitled,  in  the  judgment  of  his 
cotemporaries,  to  that  patent  of  nobility  to  which  the  poet  refers  whea 
he  says : 

"  An  honest  man's  the  noblest  work  of  God." 


252  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

HON.  SAMUEL   A.   BROWN, 

OF  JAMESTOWN,  NEW- YORK. 

IT  was  remarked  by  Dr.  Johnson,  the  celebrated  moralist,  sage,  and 
biographer  of  the  last  century,  "  that  there  has  scarcely  passed  a  life  of 
which  a  judicious  and  faithful  narrative  would  not  have  been  useful." 
Believing  in  the  truth  of  this  opinion,  expressed  by  one  of  the  greatest 
and  best  of  men,  the  writer  of  this  narrative  takes  pleasure  in  presenting 
a  few  incidents  in  the  life  of  one,  who,  by  industry,  perseverance,  tem 
perance,  and  integrity,  has  attained  an  honorable  distinction  among  his 
brethren  of  the  profession. 

Samuel  A.  Brown,  the  subject  of  this  memoirj  was  the  youngest  of 
seven  children,  and  was  born  at  Hebron,  Tolland  county,  Conn.,  on 
the  20th  of  February,  1795. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  Revolution,  his  father,  Daniel  Brown, 
was  a  merchant  in  Hebron,  but  on  account  of  the  deranged  and  uncer 
tain  state  of  mercantile  business,  he  changed  his  profession,  and  in  June, 
1775,  volunteered  his  services  in  behalf  of  his  country.  Commissary- 
General  Trumbull  gave  him  a  temporary  clerkship  in  his  department, 
with  the  assurance  that  he  should  be  promoted,  and  on  the  17th  of  June 
committed  to  his  charge  a  wagon-load  of  rum,  which  he  delivered,  as  he 
was  commanded,  to  the  fatigued  and  exhausted  soldiers  at  Bunker-Hill. 
This  acceptable  offering  the  worn-out  but  not  dispirited  militia  received 
gladly,  and,  breaking  in  the  heads  of  the  casks  with  the  butt-end  of  their 
guns,  partook  freely  of  the  invigorating  beverage,  to  prepare  them  for 
the  bloody  conflict  which  immediately  ensued.  This  clerk  in  the  de 
partment  was  soon  after  commissioned  by  the  Continental  Congress  as 
deputy  commissary-general,  with  the  rank  and  pay  of  colonel,  which 
office  he  held  for  more  than  five  years,  a  part  of  the  time  attached  to 
Putnam's  division,  but  most  of  the  time  to  General  Green's. 

When  he  retired  from  the  army,  a  country,  grateful  for  services, 
but  bankrupt  in  money,  could  pay  only  in  continental  paper,  or  "  public 
securities,"  the  latter  of  which  he  fortunately  chose,  as  the  former,  in 
the  event,  became  worthless,  and  the  latter,  after  the  adoption  of  the 
constitution,  and  the  establishment  of  a  regular  government,  were  sold 
at  a  premium.  With  the  aid  of  these  "  securities,"  and  the  income  of  a 
farm  of  about  one  hundred  acres,  on  which  he  settled  at  the  close  of  the 
war,  he  was  enabled  to  give  his  children  a  respectable  education. 

Daniel  B.  Brown,  the  eldest  son,  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1799, 
read  law  with  Gould  &  Sill,  of  Whitesborough,  and  settled  at  Batavia, 
Genesee  county,  New- York,  in  1804,  and  died  in  1822,  at  the  age  of  41 
years.  He  held  the  office  of  master  in  chancery  and  district  attorney 
of  that  county,  and  was  distinguished  for  his  legal  erudition,  for  his  lite 
rary  and  scientific  acquirements,  for  strict  integrity,  elegance  of  man 
ners,  public  spirit,  and  charity.  The  father  kept  an  exact  account  with 
his  son,  and  ascertained  that  his  collegiate  and  law  education  cost  four 
hundred  pounds,  Connecticut  currency,  or  81,333  33.  He  therefore 
fixed  on  this  amount  as  the  sum  to  be  given  to  each  of  his  children,  sons 


SAMUEL  A.  BROWN",  OF  NEW- YORK.  253 

and  daughters  alike,  not  as  a  debt,  but  as  a  portion,  with  the  privilege 
of  expending  it  in  such  manner  as  their  judgment  might  direct. 

The  subject  of  this  memoir  received  a  good  common-school  education 
in  his  native  parish ;  then  he  pursued  Latin  and  other  studies,  under  the 
tuition  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Bassett,  for  about  two  years ;  after  which  he 
learned  the  art  of  surveying,  being  taught  by  George  Gillett,  Esq.,  after 
wards  surveyor-general  of  Connecticut.  While  pursuing  Latin,  he  trav 
eled  on  foot  daily  more  than  two  miles  to  recite,  boarding  at  home, 
and  rendering  many  services  to  his  parents.  When  he  was  not  at  school, 
he  was  industriously  engaged  on  his  father's  farm,  an  employment  which 
was  pleasing  to  him,  and  useful  then  and  in  after  life.  Eeared  in  the 
land  of  "  steady  habits,"  in  a  rural  parish,  (Gilead,)  inhabited  by  free 
holders,  each  owning  a  farm  of  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  acres, 
some  of  which  had  been  occupied  for  three  successive  generations,  with 
one  congregational  church,  one  store,  and  a  temporary  tavern  for  mili 
tary  parades  and  other  public  occasions,  he  never  acquired,  through  the 
influence  of  vicious  associates,  a  habit  of  idleness  or  dissipation,  for  his 
days  were  spent  in  manly  labor,  his  evenings  in  useful  study,  and  his 
Sabbaths  in  learning  the  will  of  God  to  man,  as  revealed  in  his  oracles 
of  truth. 

Having  arrived  at  the  age  of  eighteen  years,  the  subject  of  this  me 
moir  became  tried  in  deciding  upon  the  avocation  to  be  pursued  during 
life.  On  the  one  hand,  his  second  brother*  and  his  kind  and  endeared 
parents  were  anxious  that  he  should  be  a  farmer,  and  retain  the  home 
stead,  and  be  their  stay  and  staff  in  their  declining  years,  while  on  the 
other,  his  three  brothers,  two  of  them  lawyers,  and  the  other  a  physician,f 
all  settled  in  the  State  of  New- York,  and  all  in  very  successful  and 
prosperous  business,  were  urging  him  to  choose  some  profession  ;  and 
between  the  two,  after  much  reflection,  he  chose  the  study  of  the  law. 

The  sad  and  painful  hour  had  now  arrived  when  it  became  necessary 
for  this  youth  to  bid  farewell  to  beloved  parents,  two  affectionate  sisters, 
and  a  home  which  had  been  "  the  seat  of  domestic  joys,"  and  seek  a  se 
cond  home  in  a  land  of  strangers  and  in  a  wilderness  world. 

On  his  way  west,  it  became  necessary  for  him  to  get  a  judge's  order, 
for  the  purpose  of  getting  the  time  he  pursued  classical  studies  in  Con 
necticut  allowed,  to  the  end  that  his  law  clerkship  should  be  but  five  in 
stead  of  seven  years.  He  accordingly  called  on  Chancellor  Kent,  at 
Albany,  then  chief  justice  of  the  state,  who  swore  him  to  the  truth  of 
Dr.  Bassett's  certificate  of  study.  This  was  his  first  oath ;  and  the  youth 
ful  Greek,  when  ushered  into  the  presence  of  Mentor,  could  not  have 
felt  more  veneration  for  his  teacher  than  did  this  novitiate  in  the  law,  in 


*  Mr.  Thomas  Brown  was  a  fanner,  in  Hebron,  Tolland  county,  Connecticut, 
where  he  amassed  quite  a  fortune,  being  the  wealthiest  of  the  family,  which  shows 
that  farming  is  often  a  surer  source  of  wealth  than  a  profession,  and  that  property 
can  be  acquired  on  granite  hills  as  well  as  on  western  prairies,  or  where  providence 
"  showers  down  her  golden  sands."  He  died  in  1851,  at  the  old  paternal  mansion, 
aged  sixty-eight  years. 

t  Dr.  Ephraim  Brown  settled  at  Bat'avia,  New- York,  had  a  very  extensive  prac 
tice,  and  for  a  time  held  the  office  of  president  of  the  Medical  Society  of  that  county. 
He  fell  a  victim  to  his  unremitting  desire  to  be  useful  to  himself  and  to  his  fellow- 
beings,  and  died  of  a  pulmonary  complaint  in  1826,  at  the  age  of  thirty-nine  years. 


254  SKETCHES  OP  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

beholding,  for  the  first  time,  the  face  of  that  great  and  distinguished 
jurist. 

In  August,  1813,  his  name  was  entered  as  a  student  at  law  in  his 
brother's  office,  at  Springfield,  Otsego  county,  New- York.  The  die  was 
now  oast — th«  farm  was  now  left  in  the  back  ground  and  forgotten ;  and 
the  young  student,  with  a  fixed  and  oneness  of  purpose,  looked  forward 
with  pleasing  anticipation  to  the  time  when  his  name  should  be  enrolled 
as  a  member  of  one  of  the  learned  professions,  and  be  permitted  to  en 
ter  the  list  as  a  competitor  for  honorable  distinction  and  fame.  A  bet 
ter  office  could  not  have  been  chosen.  This  brother  had  a  well-selected 
and  pretty  extensive  library,  was  in  good  business,  insomuch  that  the 
student,  by  copying  his  law  papers,  could  become  familiar  with  practice; 
and  besides  the  principal  felt  the  responsibility  of  his  trust,  and  rigidly 
examined  daily  his  youthful  charge,  which  is  a  duty  too  often  neglected 
by  lawyers  in  extensive  practice.  He  continued  in  this  office  more  than 
three  years,  and  during  the  latter  part  of  his  clerkship  did  considerable 
business  in  justices'  courts  as  a  pettifogger — a  practice  which  we  think  is 
beneficial  to  a  student,  if  Blackstone  and  Kent  are  not  thereby  ne 
glected. 

In  the  winter  of  1813  and  '14,  he  taught  school  three  months  in  a 
pleasant  district  in  Springfield,  called  "  Continental."  pleasantly  situated 
at  the  head  of  Otsego  Lake,  and  so  called  from  the  fact  that  General 
Sullivan  and  his  army  encamped  there  in  his  Indian  excursion  in  1779. 
Mr.  Brown,  though  he  took  the  place  of  a  teacher,  whom  the  scholars 
first,  and  afterwards  the  trustees  had  turned  out  of  school,  has  always 
spoken  of  his  three  months'  term  as  a  pedagogue  with  pleasure,  confi 
dently  believing  that  he  taught  an  excellent  school  and  gave  universal 
satisfaction,  and  that  his  patience  and  diligence  would  have  fitted  him 
well  for  an  instructor  of  youth,  had  he  not  chosen  another  profession. 
He  has  often  remarked  that  he  never  enjoyed  a  winter  better  than 
while  boarding  around  among  the  wealthy  farmers  of  the  district  and 
teaching  school  in  Continental. 

In  the  fall  of  1814,  it  was  believed  that  the  British  meditated  an  at 
tack  on  Sacket's  Harbor,  and  a  draft  of  the  Otsego  militia  was  made, 
with  orders  to  march  to  its  relief,  at  which  time  the  subject  of  this  me 
moir  was  drafted.  He  was  strongly  urged  to  avoid  the  draft  by  re 
turning  to  his  native  state,  but  patriotism  would  not  suffer  him  to  heed 
the  treasonable  counsel.  Himself  a  democrat  of  the  Jeffersonian  school, 
reared  in  that  school  and  taught  by  a  beloved  father,  (who  had  often 
represented  his  town  in  the  Connecticut  legislature,  when  the  demo 
cratic  party  succeeded,)  that  its  principles  were  right,  he  was  constrained 
by  a  sense  of  duty  to  obey  his  country's  call.  With  knapsack  and 
blanket  on  his  back,  he  and  the  other  soldiers  marched  on  foot  to  Utica, 
about  thirty  miles,  and  there  joined  a  company  composed  of  drafted 
men,  drew  their  rations  of  sea  biscuit  and  beef,  and  with  this  hard  fare 
they  set  their  faces  towards  the  Harbor.  The  season  was  wet  and 
stormy,  the  road  from  Utica  to  Lowville  intolerably  bad,  and  their 
only  lodging  was  in  barns  or  on  the  floors  of  taverns ;  yet,  notwith 
standing  these  hardships  and  privations,  this  youthful  soldier  performed 
his  tour  of  duty,  and  returned  only  when  his  country  gave  him  leave. 

In  the  fall  of  1816,  another  trial  awaited  him  more  severe  and 


SAMUEL  A.  BROWN,  OF  NEW- YORK.  255 

anxious  than  when  he  left  his  paternal  roof.  He  was  then  about  to 
leave  his  brother's  office  to  seek  a  permanent  home  in  the  western 
world,  where  a  wild  field  was  said  to  be  opened  for  enterprise.  But 
before  we  proceed  any  further,  we  hope  it  will  not  be  digressing  too 
much  to  make  brief  mention  of  a  brother,  from  whom  the  subject  of 
this  sketch  received  so  much  kindness  and  aid. 

The  Hon.  Henry  Brown  was  a  graduate  of  Yale  College,  and  read 
law  successively  with  his  brother,  Daniel  B.  Brown,  of  Batavia,  Howel 
and  Greig  of  Canandaigua,  Dickinson,  of  Troy,  and  Van  Vechten,  of 
Albany,  and  settled  in  Otsego,  in  1810.  "When  a  convention  was 
called  in  1821,  to  amend  the  constitution  of  New- York,  he  was  nomi 
nated  by  the  democratic  party  of  Otsego  county  as  one  of  its  delegates 
to  represent  that  county  in  the  convention ;  he  however  resigned  in 
favor  of  the  Hon.  Martin  Van  Buren,  late  President  of  the  United 
States,  who  was  elected  in  Otsego,  as  his  own  county  (Columbia)  was 
so  strongly  tainted  with  federalism  it  would  not  have  returned  him. 
After  the  new  constitution  was  adopted  he  was  appointed  first  Judge  of 
Herkimer  county,  the  duties  of  which  office  he  ably  and  faithfully  dis 
charged.  He  afterwards  removed  to  Batavia,  and  while  there  wrote 
the  history  of  Anti-Masonry  in  one  volume,  as  connected  with  the  ab 
duction  of  Wm.  Morgan.  In  1836,  he  moved  to  Chicago,  and  opened 
an  office  there,  devoting  business  hours  to  his  profession,  and  his  leisure 
time  in  writing  the  History  of  Illinois,  which  he  completed  in  one  vol 
ume,  in  1844.  Judge  Brown  died  with  the  cholera,  in  1849. 

The  subject  of  this  memoir,  in  1816,  with  but  eighty  dollars  in  his 
pocket,  set  out  on  horseback  to  discover  the  El  Dorado  in  the  west, 
which  was  drawing  so  many  young  men  from  their  eastern  homes. 
With  anxious  and  inquiring  mind  he  traveled  over  a  part  of  the  Wes 
tern  Reserve  and  along  the  lake  shore  as  far  westasPainsville,and  found 
to  his  mortification  and  regret  that  the  lawyers  in  Ohio  were  not  receiv 
ing  as  high  fees  nor  doing  as  much  business  as  those  in  New- York,  and 
therefore,  after  taking  a  "sober  second  thought,"  he  resolved  to  retrace 
his  steps.  He  accordingly  turned  backward,  (an  incident  which,  per 
haps,  ought  not  to  be  mentioned  in  a  lawyer's  history,)  and  directed 
his  course  to  a  place  called  the  Rapids,  so  called  from  the  fact  that  the 
outlet  of  Chautauque  Lake  had  a  very  strong  current  there,  which 
would  seem  to  indicate  to  the  scrutinizing  mind  of  a  yankee,  that  water 
machinery,  with  its  accompaniments — houses,  stores,  shops  and  churches 
— would  ere  long  be  erected  there.  He  stopped  here  and  resolved  in  his 
mind  the  anxious  inquiry,  Shall  this  be  my  future  home  ?  Shall  I  fore 
go  for  a  season  the  pleasures  of  eastern  society,  refinement  and  luxury, 
and  settle  down  in  this  lonely  spot  ?  We  speak  with  confidence  when 
we  say,  that  there  is  no  period  in  the  life  of  a  professional  man  more 
embarrassing  and  anxious  than  when  he  casts  himself  upon  the  wide 
world,  perhaps  with  small  or  no  pecuniary  means,  and  among  strangers, 
and  for  the  first  time  makes  the  momentous  inquiry,  Shall  this  be  my 
home1? 

Jamestown,  which  is  situated  on  said  rapids,  about  twenty  miles  from 
Mayville,  the  county  seat,  at  that  time  had  no  post-office,  and  did  not 
contain  more  than  ten  or  twelve  houses,  not  one  of  which  was  painted 
or  plastered.  The  tall  pines  stood  in  awful  majesty  waving  their 


256  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

cloud-capped  tops  to  the  wind;  exposing  a  portion  of  the  dwellings  by 
their  fall,  the  time-enduring  stumps  seemed  to  present  a  perpetual 
barrier  to  agricultural  improvement,  while  their  branches  and  tops,  in 
many  places  piled  up  mountain  high,  presented  obstacles  more  difficult 
to  pass  than  a  Mexican  chaparal.  Notwithstanding  the  forbidding  ap 
pearance  of  the  place,  Mr.  Brown  resolved  to  stay,  at  least  for  a  time, 
for  he  foresaw  that  the  water  power  would  make  it  a  place  of  business, 
and  he  knew  that  industry  and  perseverance  would  subdue  the  rugged 
face  of  nature ;  and  besides  all  this,  the  tedium  of  loneliness  and  sus 
pense  was  relieved  by  two  retainers  of  five  dollars  each,  in  as  many 
days. 

At  the  November  term  he  was  admitted  as  an  attorney  and  counselor- 
at-law  in  the  court  of  Common  Pleas,  of  the  county  of  Chautauque, 
having  attained  his  21st  year  the  February  previous.  In  1817,  he  pur 
chased  five  village  lots,  which  he  still  owns  and  occupies,  of  the  Hon. 
James  Prendergast,  the  patron  of  the  village,  his  early  and  constant 
friend,  on  which  he  soon  after  erected  an  office.  The  next  year  he  was 
licensed  as  an  attorney  of  the  Supreme  Court  at  the  city  of  New- York, 
and  was  appointed  a  justice  of  the  peace,  which  was  a  source  of  some 
profit  to  him.  In  March,  1819,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Prudence  O. 
Cotes,  the  daughter  of  Captain  John  Cotes,  an  innkeeper  and  farmer 
of  Springfield,  and  a  sister  of  John  Cotes,  his  brother-in-law,  a  physician 
and  surgeon  of  high  standing,  of  Batavia,  New- York,  and  immediately 
repaired  with  his  wife  to  Jamestown.  A  house  could  not  be  rented,  and 
board  was  very  indifferent,  on  which  account  the  rear  room  of  the  office, 
fourteen  by  sixteen  feet,  was  used  for  a  kitchen,  bed-room  and  parlor, 
until  a  house  could  be  erected  and  finished.  In  those  days  wives 
were  not  ladies,  according  to  modern  customs^  but  helpmates  and  com 
panions. 

In  1824,  Mr.  Brown  was  nominated  as  a  candidate  for  the  assembly, 
on  the  Clintonian  ticket,  which  party  had  been  in  the  minority  by  a  pretty 
large  vote.  Judge  Mixer,  the  Bucktail  candidate,  received  1250  ancl 
Mr.  Brown  1248  votes,  being  the  closest  election  ever  had  in  the  coun 
ty.  In  1 826,  the  same  candidates  ran  again,  when  Mr.  Brown  obtained 
a  majority  of  70  over  his  former  competitor,  and  in  1827  took  his  seat 
in  the  legislature.  Though  Mr.  Clinton  was  elected  governor,  yet,  in 
the  house,  his  political  friends  were  greatly  in  the  minority.  Mr.  Brown 
was  the  youngest  member  in  the  house  but  one,  and  though  a  seat  in 
a  legislative  body  ordinarily  should  not  be  sought  by  a  young  lawyer, 
yet,  as  the  laws  were  thoroughly  revised  at  that  session,  it  was  of  last 
ing  benefit  to  one  wishing  to  become  thoroughly  conversant  with  statute 
law. 

During  this  session,  petitions  without  number  were  sent  to  the  legis 
lature,  praying  for  the  passage  of  a  law  to  tax  the  lands  of  the  Holland 
company  for  roads  and  bridges  as  high  as  those  of  the  settlers.  Wil 
liam  Willinck,  and  others,  commonly  known  by  the  name  of  the  Hol 
land  Company,  had  purchased  3,300,000  acres  of  land,  situated  in 
Western  New- York,  which  embraced  the  whole  of  Chautauque  county, 
containing  about  800,000  acres.  The  company,  their  agents,  and  sub- 
agents,  had  amassed  princely  fortunes  from  the  rise  of  land,  which  had 
increased  in  value,  principally  by  the  toil  of  the  settlers.  On  this  pur- 


SAMUEL  A.  BROWN,  OF  NEW-YORK.  257 

chase,  the  tax  to  improve  the  roads  and  bridges  was  extremely  onerous 
on  the  residents.  Each  town  had  a  right  by  law  to  raise  250  dollars 
on  property  for  roads  and  bridges,  which  tax  wits  raised  on  property, 
and  of  this  the  company  paid  their  share,  but  the  settlers  had  a  heavy 
road-tax  to  pay  beside.  This  state  of  things  was  manifestly  unjust. 
The  wealthy  aristocracy  of  the  state  had  always  opposed  the  passage 
of  such  a  law  as  the  settlers  asked  for,  and  thus  far  had  succeeded.  N  The 
company  did  not  pay  a  military  tax,  wrhich,  of  course  could  not  be  im 
posed,  while  the  settlers  paid  yearly  a  heavy  tax  by  way  of  militia 
trainings.  Under  such  circumstances,  Mr.  Brown  was  constrained  by  a 
sense  of  duty  he  owed  his  constituents,  to  take  a  bold  and  fearless  stand. 
He  addressed  the  house  for  about  an  hour  in  an  able  speech,  which  was 
extensively  circulated,  and  which  was  not  without  its  influence,  for  the 
bill  at  this  session  was  so  strongly  urged  by  its  friends,  that  it  became 
a  law,  and  it  has  remained  in  full  force  to  this  day. 

Mr.  Brown  was  chairman  of  the  committee  of  the  whole,  during  the 
able  debates,  when  the  bill  for  the  relief  of  the  settlers  in  Putnam  and 
Dutchess  counties  was  under  consideration.  The  lands  in  question  had 
been  confiscated  during  the  Revolutionary  war  for  the  toryism  of  the 
supposed  owner,  and  sold  by  the  state,  which  title  proved  to  be  defect 
ive.  John  Jacob  Astor  purchased  the  rights  of  the  real  owners  in  Eng 
land,  and  brought  ejectment  suits,  and  recovered  in  the  United  States 
court.  To  quiet  the  reasonable  claims  of  the  settlers,  their  bill  was 
passed,  which  gave  Mr.  Astor  400,000  dollars. 

It  is,  perhaps,  worthy  of  a  passing  remark,  that  in  the  House  of  As 
sembly  of  the  Empire  State,  composed  of  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
eight  members,  three,  namely — General  Root,  the  speaker ;  Mr.  White,, 
of  Madison  county,  and  Mr.  Brown,  were  all  born  and  raised  in  He 
bron,  a  second-rate  town  in  Connecticut. 

In  1828,  Mr.  Brown  was  appointed  by  the  judges  of  the  court  of 
Common  Pleas  district  attorney  for  the  county  for  three  years,  which 
office  he  held  for  ten  successive  years,  under  three  different  appoint 
ments.  The  duties  of  the  office  were  ably,  fciithfully  and  impartially 
discharged  by  him,  which  accounts  for  the  fact,  that  he  was  appointed 
by  a  court  opposed  to  him  in  politics.  Mr.  Brown  always  investigated 
the  case  of  the  prosecution  with  as  much  care  and  attention  as  he  would 
that  of  a  client  in  a  civil  action,  and  was  ever  cautious  to  prevent  bills 
from  being  found  when  he  was  convinced  that  they  would  not  traverse. 
By  this  means  the  county  was  saved  expense,  and  innocent  men  were 
not  harrassed  with  groundless  accusations.  Mr.  Brown  often  sat  up 
till  two  in  the  morning  to  draw  indictments,  and  spent  the  whole  of  the 
following  day  in  trying  them.  He  was  often  called  upon  to  try  indict- 
dictments  of  a  peculiar  character.  The  county  was  in  a  flourishing 
condition,  and  many  mills  had  been  erected  to  supply  its  wants  and 
promote  its  happiness.  These  often  overflowed  acres  of  land,  which 
caused  the  timber  and  shrubbery  to  die,  the  decaying  of  which  threw  out 
a  poisonous  miasma,  occasioning  much  distressing  and  mortal  sickness. 
These  ponds  became  nuisances  in  law,  and  the  owners  were  indicted,  to 
the  end  that  the  dams  might  be  abated.  Tne  trials  generally  occupied 
from  three  to  five  days,  and  often  from  forty  to  sixty  witnesses  were  ex 
amined,  half  a  score  of  whom  were  medical  men,  differing  in  their  views, 

17 


258  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

(for  doctors  sometimes  disagree,)  all  of  which  required  the  greatest  de 
gree  of  patience,  assiduity  and  skill  on  the  part  of  the  prosecuting  attorney. 
But  the  most  exciting  indictment  tried  by  Mr.  B.  was  that  of  Joseph 
Damon  for  murder,  which  was  the  first  trial  of  the  kind  in  the  county. 
The  prisoner  had  been  to  a  neighboring  village,  where  he  got  a  jug  of 
whisky,  and  returned  home,  its  contents  not  entirely  exhausted,  and 
with  the  malignity  of  a  fiend  inflicted  seven  blows  with  an  iron  poker, 
any  three  of  which  would  have  been  mortal,  on  the  head  of  a  weak  and 
feeble  woman,  humbled  by  an  habitual  fear  of  her  husband,  and  accus 
tomed  to  tremble  at  his  approach.  He  was  ably  defended  by  Mr. 
Mullett,  now  one  of  the  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  on  the  ground  of 
insanity,  but  the  trial  resulted  in  his  conviction,  and  he  was  executed  in 
May,  1835. 

Mr.  Brown  held  the  office  of  master  in  chancery  for  20  years,  having 
received  five  commissions,  each  of  which  came  to  him  from  governors 
opposed  to  him  in  politics,  excepting  Clinton  and  Seward.  To  be  eligi 
ble  to  the  office  of  district-attorney  or  master-in-chancery,  it  was  neces 
sary  that  the  incumbent  should  be  of  the  degree  of  counsel  in  the  Su 
preme  Court,  and  it  is  no  discredit  to  the  integrity  and  ability  of  Mr. 
Brown,  when  the  reader  is  informed  that  there  were  from  thirty  to  forty 
lawyers  in  the  county,  most  of  whom  were  counselors. 

In  1828,  the  Cherry  Valley  company  purchased  of  the  Holland 
company  all  the  unsold  lands  in  certain  towns  in  the  county,  and 
Mr.  Brown  had  the  agency  of  40,000  acres,  with  unlimited  power  to 
sell.  All  of  these  lands  are  not  yet  sold,  and  there  is  a  large  debt  still 
remaining  unpaid.  In  the  list  of  principals  were  the  Honorable  Levi 
Beardsley,  for  eight  years  a  state  senator ;  the  Hon.  Daniel  Cady,  one 
of  the  justices  of  the  Supreme  Court ;  Hon.  James  O.  Morse,  first  judge 
of  Otsego  county  ;  and  Alvin  Steward,  Esq.,  and  other  individuals  dis 
tinguished  for  wealth,  talents  and  integrity.  Mr.  Brown  has  ever  cau 
tioned  his  students,  and  other  young  lawyers,  if  they  wished  to  attain 
a  high  st&niing  in  their  profession,  never  to  engage  in  any  vocation  that 
would  infringe  upon  their  legitimate  duties  as  lawyers.  But  the  quiet  em 
ployment  of  a  land-agent  he  never  considered  as  belonging  to  this  class. 

Mr.  Brown,  for  twenty  years  past,  has  held  the  responsible  trust  of 
director  and  attorney  for  the  Chautauque  County  Bank,  and  no  institu 
tion  in  the  state  has  sustained  a  fairer  reputation,  or  been  conducted  on 
fairer  principles  than  this. 

In  1843  he  wrote  the  history  of  the  county,  (and  no  person  was  bet 
ter  qualified,  as  he  had  lived  to  see  its  population  increase  from 
four  to  fifty  thousand,)  giving  a  faithful  account  of  the  dangers,  diffi 
culties  and  disappointments  the  pioneers  encountered  in  settling  a  new 
country,  and  presenting  a  practical  and  statistical  view  of  the  physical, 
political  and  moral  improvements  which  had  been  effected  by  the  per 
severance  and  industry  of  her  inhabitants — a  work  which  is  sought  for 
and  relied  on  as  a  correct  and  faithful  narrative. 

In  1843,  Mr.  Brown  was  nominated  for  the  assembly  at  a  whig  con 
vention,  but  he  and  all  the  whig  candidates  were  defeated  by  the  union 
of  the  democratic  and  "people's  party,"  the  majority  against  the 
regular  whig  nominees  varying  from  seven  votes  to  nine  hundred — 
the  majority  against  Mr.  Brown  being  less  than  that  of  any  other  can 
didate  on  the  ticket. 


SAMUEL  A.  BROWN,  OF  NEW-YORK.  259 

In  1844  Mr.  Brown  was  again  nominated  by  the  whigs,  and  was 
elected  by  a  large  majority.  The  session  of  1845  was  not  one  of  any 
great  interest.  A  strong  effort  was  made  to  divide  the  county,  which 
Mr.  B.  constantly  opposed ;  and  the  state  loan  of  $3,000,000  to  the 
New- York  and  Erie  Rail-road  was  released  on  certain  conditions ;  Mr. 
Brown,  before  committees  and  on  all  proper  occasions,  using  his 
influence  to  obtain  the  release,  as  the  road  was  of  vital  importance 
to  his  constituents,  passing  through  and  terminating  in  his  county. 
The  Leake  case  (which  had  often  been  before  the  legislature)  was  again 
brought  up,  and  Mr.  Brown  being  on  the  committee  on  aliens,  with 
great  labor  and  research  waded  through  the  voluminous  papers  in  the 
case,  and  made  an  elaborate  report. 

John  G.  Leake's  father,  before  the  Revolution,  had  been  commissioned 
by  the  King  of  Great  Britain  a  commissary -general  of  North  America, 
who  left  about  $400,000  to  his  son,  who  lived  and  died  a  bachelor. 
The  city  of  New- York  claimed  his  property,  by  virtue  of  a  paper  pur 
porting  to  be  his  will,  which  he  drew  many  years  before  his  death,  but 
never  signed  nor  sealed,  and  of  which  he  had  never  made  any  mention. 
He  gave  his  property  to  the  city  to  found  an  orphan  asylum,  and  under 
this  pretended  will,  the  city  had  received  more  than  two-thirds  of  his 
estate,  and  had  purchased  lands,  erected  an  asylum,  and  now  asked  for 
more.  Twenty-one  Scotch  claimants  appeared,  by  the  Hon.  John  L. 
Wendell  (state  reporter)  and  asked  for  the  property,  on  account  of  pre 
tended  heirship.  Mr.  Brown  reported  against  this  claim.  The  follow 
ing  is  an  extract  from  the  report: 

"In  reporting  against  the  Scotch  claimants,  no  injustice  will  be  done 
to  the  memory  or  the  wishes  of  the  dead.  John  Watts,  the  intimate 
friend  of  John  G.  Leake,  and  one  of  his  executors,  Abraham  Casey, 
his  servant,  and  Dr.  Hosack,  who  attended  him  in  his  last  sickness,  all 
swear  that  he  said  he  had  no  relatives  living  on  earth. 

"  If  the  clear  and  unequivocal  wishes  of  the  deceased  could  be  pre 
sented  to  our  imperfect  vision,  we  would  feel  it  our  duty,  even  if  legal 
forms  had  not  been  strictly  pursued,  to  carry  out  that  intent.  We 
would  say  that  the  shipwrecked  passenger  who  wrote  his  will  upon  the 
sand  and  perished,  and  whose  dead  corse,  alone  and  solitary,  lay  as  a 
living  witness  that  his  last  will  was  recorded  there,  should  be  as  valid 
as  though  written  on  parchment,  or  engraved  in  brass.  But  in  the 
opinion  of  your  committee,  the  paper  which  purports  to  be  a  will,  and  his 
subsequent  declaration,  is  conclusive  evidence  that  he  never  intended  that 
his  distant  and  unknown  relatives  in  Scotland  should  ever  inherit  his 
princely  domains.  We  therefore  say,  that  all  the  Scotch  claims  fall 
*  still-born'  from  the  hands  of  your  committee  ;  and  though  they  have 
come  up  before  successive  legislatures,  like  "  Macbeth's  witches," 
'  another  and  still  another,'  yet  we  now  hope  they  are  all  dead 
and  buried,  and  from  their  sepulchre  there  will  be  no  resurrection." 
The  report  concluded  by  saying  that,  in  the  opinion  of  the  committee, 
neither  the  city  of  New- York,  nor  the  Scotch  claimants,  had  any  right 
to  the  property — that  it  had  escheated  and  belonged  to  the  state.  The 
report  was  adopted  by  a  vote  almost  unanimous. 

Mr.  Brown  has  long  been  a  decided  friend  of  temperance,  has  held 
the  office  of  president  of  the  county  society,  and  manifests  his  high 


260  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

regard  for  the  cause,  by  always  attending  the  meetings  in  his  town, 
no  matter  how  dry  or  uninteresting  the  speaker  may  be.  He  voted 
for  the  temperance  law  of  1845,  and  in  1846  delivered  an  address 
to  the  Jamestown  Society,  which  was  published.  In  his  address  (among 
other  things)  he  speaks  of  the  blessings  of  religious  reformation  under 
Luther,  that  of  government  by  the  American  Revolution,  and  lastly 
that  of  morals  under  the  temperance  reform,  and  concluded  by  saying: 
"  The  reformation  of  '76  cost  our  country  millions  and  millions  of  mo 
ney,  the  blood  of  the  choicest  and  purest  spirits  was  shed  upon  the  field 
of  battle,  and  the  sighs  of  the  widow  and  the  orphan  floated  on  the 
breeze ;  but  this  moral  reformation  has  never  cost  our  country  a  dollar, 
no  human  lives  have  been  sacrificed,  not  a  tear  has  been  shed  by 
the  widow  and  orphan,  and  no  bosom  has  throbbed  with  anguish." 

In  the  winter  of  1847  Mr.  Brown  delivered  a  course  of  lectures 
to  the  students  of  the  Jamestown  Academy,  on  the  "  History  of  Elli- 
cott,"  the  town  of  his  residence,  which  was  published.  In  the  summer 
he  attended  the  Chicago  (Harbor)  Convention,  being  sent  as  a  delegate 
from  his  county. 

Mr.  B.  has  done  a  pretty  extensive  pension  business  since  1818, 
His  father,  who  died  in  1832,  at  the  age  of  85,  could  not  be  pensioned 
Under  this  act,  as  poverty  was  made  the  test  of  merit,  but  his  mother, 
who  died  in  1837,  at  the  age  of  83,  drew  the  pension  of  a  colonel,  under 
the  act  of  1836.  Mr.  B.  did  not,  like  many  sharks  and  vampires,  rob 
the  soldier  and  the  widow  of  half  their  pittance,  but  charged  as  he 
would  for  conducting  a  suit  of  the  same  magnitude  and  labor,  through 
a  court  of  record.  This  year,  (1848,)  Deacon  Asa  Moore,  who  was  the 
last  of  his  religious  pensioners,  died,  and  in  writing  his  obituary,  Mr.  B. 
says :  "  It  is  worthy  of  a  passing  remark,  that  the  patriots  of  the 
Revolution,  unlike  the  mercenary  soldiers  of  other  wars,  were  many 
of  them  devoted  and  humble  Christians.  The  writer  of  this  obituary 
can  well  remember,  and  it  will  ever  remain  in  his  mind,  in  vivid  recol 
lection,  of  the  time  when  Osborn.  Babcock,  Wood,  Barney,  Fenton, 
Palmeter,  Maples,  and  Moore,  used  to  meet  on  the  same  spot  to  draw 
their  country's  pittance,  when  they  would  talk  with  pleasure  of  their 
country's  pension,  but  higher  and  more  exalted  thoughts  filled  their 
aged  bosoms  at  parting,  when  they  dwelt  upon  their  pension  granted 
by  the  '  King  of  kings.'  " 

Mr.  B.  has  never  been  a  speculator,  but  in  the  speculating  times  of 
1836  indorsed  liberally  for  friends,  by  whom  he  lost  $6,000,  which  was 
nearly  half  the  property  he  had  then  accumulated.  This  we  think  is 
an  incident  in  the  life  of  a  lawyer  worth  noticing,  as  those  who  succeed 
him  may  profit  by  his  experience.  He  is  temperate,  industrious  in  his 
office  and  out-door,  generally  working  an  hour  or  so  each  day,  in 
the  summer,  with  his  own  hands,  in  his  garden,  orchard,  or  among  orna 
mental  trees,  to  make  his  home  pleasant  and  agreeable,  to  which  habits 
he  imputes  his  excellent  health,  which  has  been  such,  that  (except  when 
in  the  legislature)  he  has  not  been  absent  from  a  regular  term  of  court  for 
thirty-five  years.  System  has  always  been  observed  in  his  office,  and 
his  business  has  been  conducted  in  the  most  perfect  order,  all  places  for 
papers  of  a  particular  kind  being  properly  labeled,  all  papers  duly  in 
dorsed,  and  all  papers,  perhaps  not  to  be  used  again,  carefully  tied  up  in 


BENJAMIN  F.  PERRY,  OF  SOUTH   CAROLINA.  261 

bundles,  arranged  chronologically  and  alphabetically,  to  the  end  that  a 
paper  used  thirty  years  ago  can  be  found  with  as  much  facility  as  that 
used  the  next  week.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  is  an  active  member  of 
society,  having  been  a  long  time  a  teacher  in  the  Sabbath-school,  and  a 
member  and  elder  in  the  Presbyterian  Church.  He  has  also  been 
a  friend  of  education,  ever  taking  a  lively  interest  not  only  in  the  dis 
trict  school  (in  which  he  has  been  a  clerk  for  sixteen  years)  but  in  the 
higher  departments  of  learning.  He  donated  $200  towards  the  estab 
lishment  of  the  Jamestown  Academy,  which,  through  his  influence  and 
others',  was  incorporated  in  1836,  since  which  time  he  has  been  con 
stantly  one  of  its  trustees,  and  over  which  he  is  now  officiating  as 
president. 

Mr.  B.'s  prevailing  characteristics  are  his  untiring  industry,  methodi 
cal  business  habits,xliberality  to  the  needy  temperance  and  economy, 
sociability  of  manners,  strict  integrity,  and  the  correctness  of  his  legal 
opinions  and  religious  sentiments. 


BENJAMIN  F.  PERRY, 

OF    GREENVILLE,    SOUTH    CAROLINA. 

THE  Honorable  Benjamin  Franklin  Perry,  a  distinguished  member 
of  the  South  Carolina  bar,  and  still  more  distinguished  for  the  ability 
and  firmness  with  which  he  resisted  the  late  disunion  movement  in  South 
Carolina,  was  born  November  the  20th,  1805,  in  the  district  of  Pendle- 
ton,  now  Pickens,  one  of  the  mountain  districts  of  South  Carolina, 
and  long  the  residence  of  Mr.  Calhoun,  and  also  the  birthplace  of 
Senator  Rusk  of  Texas,  General  Waddy  Thompson,  Judge  Whitner, 
General  Howard  of  Indiana,  and  Senator  Adams  of  Mississippi. 

Benjamin  Perry,  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this  memoir,  was  a 
native  of  Massachusetts.  His  ancestors  were  English.  There  were 
three  brothers,  who  emigrated  to  America  in  the  early  settlement  of 
Massachusetts.  Two  of  them  remained  in  the  old  Bay  state,  and  the 
third  moved  to  Rhode  Island.  From  that  brother  has  descended  the 
family  of  Commodore  Oliver  H.  Perry.  At  the  early  age  of  sixteen 
Benjamin  Perry  volunteered  his  services  in  the  army  of  the  Revolution, 
and  was  in  the  attack  on  Rhode  Island,  in  1778,  made  by  the  com 
bined  forces  of  General  Sullivan  and  Count  D'Estaing,  with  the  French 
fleet.  Immediately  after  the  close  of  the  American  Revolution,  he 
entered  a  store  in  Boston  as  a  clerk,  where  he  remained  till  his  re 
moval  to  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  in  1784.  Thence  he  came  to 
Greenville,  where  he  married  Ann  Foster,  daughter  of  John  Foster, 
of  Virginia,  who  bore  a  lieutenant's  commission  in  the  army  of 
the  Revolution.  Having  purchased  valuable  lands  on  the  Tugaloo, 
in  Pendleton  district,  he  quitted  the  mercantile  business,  and  became  an 
industrious  cultivator  of  the  earth.  He  lived  to  a  very  advanced  age, 


262  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

and  through  his  long  life  it  is  believed  that  no  one  ever  attributed  to 
him  an  intentional  wrong. 

The  mother  of  Benjamin  F.  Perry,  like  the  mother  of  almost  all  dis 
tinguished  men,  was  a  woman  of  great  vigor  of  intellect  and  character. 
She  possessed  as  warm  a  heart  and  as  affectionate  a  disposition  as  ever 
fell  to  the  lot  of  woman.  Her  memory  is  revered  and  cherished  by 
her  son  with  more  than  ordinary  filial  affection. 

The  childhood  and  youth  of  Benjamin  F.  Perry  were  spent  amidst  his 
native  hills  and  mountains,  alternately  going  to  school  and  working  on 
the  farm,  till  he  was  sixteen  years  old.  During  that  period  he  mani 
fested  a  great  passion  for  books,  and  read  everything  he  could  lay  his 
hands  on,  even  to  the  American  Encyclopedia,  in  ten  or  fifteen  volumes. 
This  early  and  strong  manifestation  for  learning  induced  his  uncle, 
Robert  H.  Foster,  to  advance  him,  as  a  loan,  the  requisite  funds  for 
his  education  and  professional  studies.  He  was  accordingly  sent,  at 
the  age  of  sixteen,  to  a  classical  school  at  Asheville,  North  Carolina, 
over  which  the  Rev.  Mr.  Porter,  a  Presbyterian  clergyman,  presided. 
There  he  found  David  L.  Swain,  afterwards  governor  of  North  Caro 
lina,  and  now  president  of  Chapel  Hill  University,  a  pupil  of  Mr. 
Porter's,  and  was  for  some  months  his  associate  in  the  school,  and 
boarded  in  the  family  of  Dr.  Swain,  the  governor's  father. 

The  Latin  grammar  was  put  into  the  hands  of  our  student  on  Tuesday 
morning,  and  such  was  his  intense  application,  combined  with  remark 
able  facility  of  learning,  that  he  memorized  the  whole  of  it  before  the 
coming  Saturday  evening  !  He  was  then  put  in  a  class  with  a  little  son 
of  Mr  Porter's,  who  had  been  reading  Latin  several  months,  but  they 
parted  company  after  the  first  lesson,  and  he  was  never  classed  again 
with  any  other  of  the  pupils.  In  eight  months  he  overtook  and  passed  by 
all  the  classes  in  school,  having  read  in  that  short  period,  Historia  Sacra, 
Viri  Roma3,  Csesar,  Virgil,  Cicero's  Orations,  and  Horace;  memor 
ized  the  Greek  grammar  ;  read  one  or  two  books  of  the  Greek  Testa 
ment,  Grecse  Minora,  and  a  portion  of  Grecse  Majora !  He  studied 
sixteen  hours  in  twenty-four,  every  day  during  that  time,  without  im 
pairing  in  the  slightest  degree  his  health. 

In  the  fall  of  1 822  he  quitted  school  and  returned  to  his  father's  resi 
dence,  where  he  spent  the  winter  and  spring  in  reviewing  his  classical 
studies,  reading  history  and  the  standard  works  of  English  literature. 
John  Lee,  Esq.,  an  old  English  merchant  who  had  failed  in  business, 
and  was  residing  in  the  neighborhood  with  a  fine  library,  kindly  ten 
dered  the  use  of  his  books  to  our  young  student. 

The  next  year  he  resumed  his  studies  at  Greenville  court-house,  un 
der  the  direction  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hodges,  a  Baptist  clergyman,  and 
prepared  himself  for  admission  to  the  South  Carolina  college.  But  un 
willing  to  embarrass  his  father,  or  to  trespass  further  upon  the  the  kind 
ness  of  his  uncle,  he  determined  to  return  to  his  father's  and  there  pursue 
his^  studies  as  best  he  could,  only  assisted  by  his  own  indomitable  am 
bition  and  firm  resolve  to  make  himself  a  name.  He  had  already 
commenced  laying  the  foundation  of  his  present  library,  which  is 
one  of  the  largest  and  best  selected  private  libraries  in  South  Caro 
lina.  His  father  had  given  him  a  horse,  which  he  had  sold,  and 
had  invested  the  proceeds  in  books  purchased  of  a  book  merchant  at 


BENJAMIN  F.  PERRY,  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  263 

old  Pendleton.  The  autobiography  of  Dr.  Franklin  was  the  first  book 
he  selected,  and  it  had  a  powerful  influence  in  stimulating  his  young 
ambition,  as  it  has  that  of  so  many  highly  gifted  young  aspirants, 
struggling  to  ascend 

"  The  steep  where  fame's  proud  temple  shines  afar." 

In  1824  Mr.  Perry  entered  the  law  office  of  Judge  Earle,  and  as  he 
was  then  only  eighteen  years  old  he  was  enabled  to  furnish  his  mind 
with  those  rich  stores  of  general  information  and  literature  which  have 
since  enabled  him  to  mingle,  with  the  labors  of  a  large  professional 
practice,  very  many  able  articles  to  the  periodical  literature  of  the  coun 
try.  He  varied  his  reading  daily  between  law,  history,  poetry,  novels 
and  the  drama.  He  finished  his  course  of  legal  study  in  the  office  of 
that  eminent  lawyer,  Col.  Gregg,  of  Columbia,  and  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  in  1827.  In  Columbia  he  had  large  opportunities  of  improvement 
in  listening  to  the  arguments  in  the  courts  of  appeals,  and  the  discus 
sions  in  the  legislature.  It  was  at  this  time,  that  he  was  inspired  with 
an  ardent  interest  in  politics,  which  he  has  never  since  lost.  There 
was  at  that  time  an  array  of  talent  and  eloquence  in  that  body  rarely 
equaled  in  any  deliberative  assembly.  Judge  Cheves  was  heard  to  say 
of  that  legislature,  that  there  was  not  an  equal  number  of  able  and 
eloquent  men  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States.  Judge  O'Neall 
was  the  speaker  of  the  house,  and  no  where  else  have  we  ever  seen  his 
equal  as  a  presiding  officer,  and  such  men  on  the  floor  as  Chancellor 
Harper,  Senators  Preston,  Butler,  Rhett  and  Barnwell,  Hugh  S.  Legare, 
Attorney  General  of  the  United  States,  Waddy  Thompson,  Minister  to 
Mexico,  Chancellor  Dunkin  and  Judges  Wardlaw  and  Whitner.  In 
the  senate  were  Judge  Smith,  Governor  Wilson,  Governor  Williams, 
Governor  Miller  and  Thomas  S.  Grimke. 

In  the  law  class  in  which  Mr.  Perry  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  there 
were  fifteen  applicants.  How  happy  and  joyous  were  they  !  They  had 
their  commissions  in  their  pockets,  and  thought  they  had  nothing  to  do 
but  to  open  an  office  and  at  once  commence  receiving  fees,  little 
dreaming  of  the  trials  and  discouragements  which  lie  in  the  way  of  the 
aspirant  for  professional  eminence.  At  this  moment  Mr.  Perry  is  the 
only  one  who  still  pursues  the  profession.  He  had  more  than  the  usu 
ally  severe  probation  of  young  lawyers,  for  besides  that  there  was  very 
little  business,  there  was  an  unusual  number  of  eminent  members  of 
the  bar  on  the  western  circuit,  of  which  Greenville,  where  he  settled, 
formed  a  host. 

His  first  effort  was  in  defence  of  a  man  indicted  for  the  murder  of  his 
wife,  at  Pendleton  court  house.  The  case  had  excited  some  interest  by  the 
enormity  of  the  crime,  and  the  ladies  of  the  village  came  into  the  court 
house  to  hear  the  argument  of  the  counsel.  But  argument  on  the  part 
of  our  young  debutant,  there  was  none.  He  rose  so  much  embarrassed, 
we  have  heard  him  say,  that  there  was  not,  when  he  looked  the  judge 
in  the  face,  an  idea  in  his  head  except  a  consciousness  that  the  whole 
court,  ladies  and  all,  were  looking  at  him  and  expecting  to  hear  him 
say  something.  After  a  few  brief  words,  uttered  in  great  confusion,  he 


264  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

sat  down  in  great  humiliation  and  distress.  His  proud  spirit,  irrepres 
sible  ambition,  and  a  consciousness  of  talent,  nevertheless  sustained  him, 
and  enabled  him  to  make  another  effort.  He  had  great  consolation 
and  took  new  courage  from  the  example  of  the  great  Sheridan.  His 
next  effort  was  at  Greenville,  the  week  after,  -and  it  was  eminently  suc 
cessful.  He  was  complimented  by  the  judge  and  praised  by  the  bar, 
and  more  than  all,  he  acquitted  a  guilty  client.  It  is  generally  a  great 
mistake,  although  a  common  one,  for  young  men  to  make  their  debut 
at  the  bar  in  a  murder  case. 

Mr.  Perry  has  pursued  the  laborious  study  of  his  profession  even 
more  assiduously  since  than  before  his  admission,  and  has  realized,  by 
a  commanding  practice,  on  the  circuit  which  he  rides,  the  rich  rewards 
of  emolument  and  reputation,  to  which  talents  of  a  high  order,  great 
labor  and  study,  high  personal  character,  and  speaking  talent  of  a  high 
order,  so  well  entitle  him.  It  is  the  great  glory  of  the  profession  that 
a  spurious  and  fraudulent  reputation  cannot  be  maintained  at  it.  His 
eminent  success  is  all  his  own.  He  owes  none  of  it  to  the  adventitious 
circumstances  of  powerful  friends  or  the  arts  of  the  pettifogger. 

In  the  exciting  and  memorable  nullification  contest  of  1832,  Mr. 
Perry  took  charge  of  the  editorial  department  of  a  newspaper,  then 
published  in  the  town  of  Greenville,  where  he  resided.  Nearly  all  of 
his  friends,  Judge  Earle,  Warren  R.  Davis,  General  Thompson,  and 
others,  who  would  have  been  most  likely  to  have  influenced  and  con 
verted  his  opinions,  and  would  have  converted  those  of  almost  any 
other  so  young  a  man,  wrere  all  nullifiers.  Most  of  the  young  men  of 
the  state  were  on  the  same  side — as  they  are  always  apt  to  be — on  the 
side  that  seems  to  be  that  of  honor  and  patriotism,  because,  perhaps,  it 
is  the  side  of  danger.  But  the  opinions  of  Mr.  Perry  were  fixed  and 
undoubting  in  favor  of  the  Union,  the  result  of  much  reading  and  re 
flection,  not  crude  and  hastily  formed.  The  whole  theory  of  nullifica 
tion,  as  set  forth  by  Mr.  Calhoun,  in  his  various  publications,  was,  in 
the  judgment  of  Mr.  Perry,  at  war  with  the  fundamental  principles  of 
our  federal  government,  and  impracticable  in  its  operation.  But  it 
was  a  painful  struggle  for  him  to  separate  from  cherished  and  honored 
friends,  and  from  a  large  portion  of  the  embodied  chivalry  and  honor 
of  the  state.  The  crisis  was  one,  however,  which  demanded  the  sacri 
fice,  and  he  made  it ;  and  firmly  and  resolutely  did  he  pursue  the  path 
of  duty,  as  he  regarded  it,  which  is  always  the  path  of  honor.  "The 
Mountaineer"  soon  became  a  powerful  and  leading  organ  of  the  Union 
party,  and  all  sorts  of  influences  were  used  to  bring  over  its  bold  and 
talented  young  editor.  Appeals  to  old  and  cherished  friendships,  to 
patriotism,  courage,  interest,  and  honor,  to  go  with  his  state  and 
friends,  were  all  made,  and  made  in  vain. 

In  the  course  of  that  angry  and  exciting  struggle  Mr.  Perry  became 
inTolved  in  a  duel  with  the  editor  of  a  nullification  paper,  published  in 
the  same  town.  His  adversary  was  mortally  wounded  on  the  first 
fire.  This,  we  have  reason  to  know,  has  been  the  most  painful  circum 
stance  of  Mr  Perry's  life,  although  he  has  nothing  to  reproach  himself 
with  in  the  circumstances  which  led  to  it.  His  adversary  was  com 
paratively  a  stranger  to  him,  and  a  young  man  of  talent  and  promise, 


BENJAMIN  F.  PERRY,  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  265 

to  whom  he  entertained  nothing  approaching  a  feeling  of  unkindness. 
But  under  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  the  temper  of  the  times,  and 
the  prevalent  feeling  in  South  Carolina,  there  was  no  alternative. 

A  convention  of  the  Union  party  assembled  in  Columbia,  August, 
1832,  for  the  purpose  of  adopting  measures  to  counteract  the  move 
ment  of  the  nullifiers.  Mr.  Perry  was  a  delegate  to  that  convention 
from  Greenville,  and  his  colleagues  in  that  body  were  the  venerable 
Revolutionary  hero  and  patriot,  Colonel  Thomas  Taylor,  Judge  Huger, 
Judge  O'Neall,  Chancellor  Johnson,  Poinsett,  Petigru,  Governor 
Manning,  Judge  Richardson,  Governor  Middleton,  Judge  King,  and 
many  others  of  the  most  distinguished  names  of  the  state.  The  op- 

?osition  of  the  Union  party  at  home,  and  the  denunciations  of  President 
ackson's  proclamation,  seemed  only  to  madden  almost  to  fury  a 
gallant  and  already  highly  excited  people.  In  the  ensuing  fall  a 
regular  convention  of  the  people  of  the  state  was  convened,  by  order 
of  the  legislature,  in  the  capitol  at  Columbia.  Mr.  Perry  was  elected 
a  member  of  this  convention  from  Greenville,  at  the  head  of  the 
ticket.  His  colleagues  were  Governor  Middleton,  Colonel  Brockman, 
and  Silas  B.  Whitten,  Esq. 

This  state  convention  met  and  nullified  the  tariff  laws,  adjourned 
till  after  the  session  of  Congress,  then  re-assembled  and  repealed  their 
ordinance  of  nullification.  All  this  belongs  to  the  general  history  of 
the  country,  and  the  limits  of  this  article  will  not  admit  of  that  history 
being  repeated.  Although  as  ardent  and  uncalculating,  whilst  the  con^ 
flict  raged,  as  any  other  individual  on  either  side,  now  that  he  regarded 
the  war  as  ended,  both  the  great  war  with  the  federal  government  and 
the  petit  guerre  amongst  ourselves,  Mr.  Perry  made  a  speech  in  the 
convention,  urging  an  utter  oblivion  of  past  differences,  and  the  resto 
ration  of  an  era  of  good  feeling.  He  had  opposed  the  action  of  the 
state,  because  he  believed  it  would  be  futile,  not  that  he  favored  the 
tariff  system,  or  did  not  feel  its  injustice  to  the  southern  states. 

But  in  this  effort  at  the  restoration  of  harmony  and  good  feeling  in 
South  Carolina,  Mr.  Perry  was  disappointed.  The  nullification  party 
passed  an  oath  of  allegiance,  which  was  aimed  at  the  Union  party, 
and  calculated  to  exclude  them  from  all  offices,  civil  and  military,  in 
the  state !  This  oath  of  allegiance  kept  up  party  divisions  for  seve 
ral  years,  was  nullified  by  the  court  of  appeals,  modified  and  re-enacted 
by  the  legislature,  and  ultimately  a  compromise  took  place  between 
the  two  parties.  During  this  agitation  there  were  frequent  conventions, 
public  meetings,  and  assemblages  of  each  party  in  South  Carolina. 
Mr.  Perry  was  active  and  prominent  on  the  Union  side,  and  in  1834 
was  put  in  nomination  by  that  party,  in  the  districts  of  Anderson, 
Pickens,  and  Greenville,  for  Congress.  Six  thousand  votes  were  polled 
at  the  election,  and  he  was  beaten  by  a  majority  of  only  sixty,  by  that 
highly  gifted  and  most  popular  man,  the  Hon.  Warren  R.  Davis.  Mr. 
Davis  dying  before  he  had  entered  upon  his  new  term,  Mr.  Perry  was 
again  brought  forward  as  a  candidate,  in  opposition  to  General  Thomp 
son,  and  was  again  unsuccessful.  General  Thompson  would,  doubt- 
less,  have  been  elected,  under  any  circumstances,  but  his  majority  was 
much  increased  by  the  fact  that  Mr.  Perry,  being  thrown  from  his 


266  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

carriage,  and  severely  injured,  was  confined  to  his  chamber  till  after 
the  election. 

He  now  withdrew  from  politics,  as  he  had  long  previously  done 
from  the  editorial  chair,  and  devoted  himself  exclusively  to  his  pro 
fession  and  general  literature.  Few  lawyers  in  the  state  have  enjoyed 
a  larger  practice,  and  none  have  exhibited  more  learning  and  ability, 
and  been  crowned  with  a  more  general  success.  The  record  of  the  life 
of  an  eminent  lawyer  would  be  little  else  than  a  book  of  reports,  and 
unfit  for  such  an  article  as  this.  Very  soon  after  Mr.  Perry's  admis 
sion  to  the  bar,  he  took  a  high  position,  and  has  been  engaged  in  most 
of  the  important  cases  on  his  circuit,  civil  and  criminal,  and  has  well 
deserved  and  established  his  title  to  be  ranked  with  the  first  lawyers  of 
the  state — able,  learned,  eloquent,  firm,  and  just. 

We  give  the  following  interesting  cases  in  which  Mr.  Perry  was  em 
ployed,  as  a  specimen  of  the  character  of  his  practice,  which,  we  hope, 
will  not  be  uninteresting  to  the  professional  reader ;  and,  as  we  are 
writing  the  life  of  a  lawyer,  it  does  seem  proper  to  say  something  of 
the  cases  in  which  he  was  concerned.  It  would  certainly  be  a  strange 
anomaly  to  write  the  biography  of  a  general  who  had  been  all  his  life 
in  the  field,  and  say  nothing  of  the  battles  he  fought !  But  it  would 
not  do,  however,  to  encumber  his  life  with  a  minute  detail  of  all  his 
military  orders,  plans  of  action,  and  so  forth. 

The  trial  of  old  Allen  Twitty,  for  passing  counterfeit  money,  was 
deeply  interesting  on  many  accounts.  He  had  been  for  more  than  a 
half  century  at  the  head  of  a  gang  of  counterfeiters,  extending  from  Ca 
nada  to  New-Orleans.  He  had  been  convicted  in  North  Carolina,  and 
banished  the  state.  In  Greenville  he  took  up  his  abode,  and  was  again 
indicted.  The  offence  in  South  Carolina,  at  that  time,  was  a  capital  one. 
Hence  the  extraordinary  efforts  made  by  this  arch  villain  to  escape 
conviction.  Judge  Wardlaw  and  Mr.  Perry  were  his  counsel.  The 
state  was  represented  by  General  Thompson.  After  a  most  laborious 
trial  of  several  days,  the  prisoner  was  acquitted  on  the  ground,  taken  by 
his  counsel,  that  his  confederate,  who  turned  state's  evidence,  was  not  to 
be  credited.  So  confident,  however,  was  the  presiding  judge  of  his 
guilt,  that  he  ordered  him  to  be  transferred  to  the  Federal  Court,  and 
there  prosecuted  him  for  forgery  on  another  bill  on  the  bank  of  the 
United  States.  In  the  Federal  Court,  Twitty  was  defended  by  other 
counsel  and  convicted.  He  had  been  well  known,  in  his  younger  days,  to 
General  Andrew  Jackson,  and  was  then  a  man  of  character  and  fortune. 
In  consequence  of  this  acquaintance,  and  moved  by  the  extreme  age  and 
infirmity  of  the  old  man,  President  Jackson  pardoned  a  portion  of  the 
imprisonment  and  set  him  at  liberty. 

Tom  Fiendly  was  tried  for  murder  at  Pickens  court,  and  defended 
by  the  Hon.  A.  Burt  and  Mr.  Perry.  After  the- homicide,  the  defendent 
fled  the  country,  and  being  in  constant  apprehension  of  arrest  by  some 
one,  he  thought  it  best  to  return,  surrender  himself  to  the  law,  and  stand 
his  trial !  Mr.  Perry  was  sent  for  by  Fiendly,  and  consulted  as  to  the 
propriety  of  his  surrendering  himself,  and  advised  strenuously  against 
his  taking  such  a  step.  "If  you  do,"  said  Mr.  Perry,  "you  will 
be  convicted."  Fiendly  replied,  "  Be  it  so,  but  I  am  determined  to 


BENJAMIN  F.  PERRY,  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  267 

stand  my  trial !"  When  put  upon  his  trial,  he  was  anxious  to  take  a 
juror  whom  Mr.  Periy  objected  to.  The  prisoner  said,  "I  know  him. 
well,  and  he  is  an  intelligent,  firm,  conscientious  man."  "  For  that  very 
reason,  1  object  to  him,"  said  Mr.  Perry.  The  trial  resulted  in  an  entire 
acquittal !  After  it  was  over,  the  juror  objected  to,  said  to  the  counsel, 
"  It  was  well  I  was  not  of  the  panel,  for  1  never  would  have  consented 
to  such  a  verdict." 

The  trial  of  a  distinguished  gentleman  in  a  neighboring  state,  who  has 
since  become  known  to  the  whole  Union  for  his  great  ability  and  elo 
quence  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  was  in  every  respect  a 
most  painful  one  to  Mr.  Perry.  This  gentleman  had  read  law  in  his 
office,  and  was  a  great  favorite  with  him.  For  his  honor,  spirit,  friend 
ship,  high  and  pure  character,  Mr.  Perry  entertained  the  most  sincere  re 
gard.  In  a  moment  of  high  excitement,  and  under  deep  provocation, 
he  shot  down  in  the  street  a  gentleman  of  family,  fortune  and  character, 
who  died  in  a  few  hours  !  The  trial  resulted  in  a  verdict  of  man 
slaughter.  Great  efforts  were  made  on  the  part  of  the  state,  and  addi 
tional  counsel  employed  by  the  family  of  the  deceased.  The  defence 
was  conducted  by  Judge  Wardlaw,  the  Hon.  A  Burt  and  Mr.  Perry, 
and  never  did  gentlemen  exert  themselves  more  in  any  case. 

Miss  Wells,  a  northern  school-mistress,  who  came  to  Greenville 
highly  recommended,  and  was  highly  connected  at  the  north,  was  tried 
for  infanticide,  and  defended  by  Mr.  Perry  alone.  The  case  was  an  ex 
traordinary  one.  No  one  had  suspected  the  defendant  of  any  impro 
priety  until  the  child  was  discovered  concealed  in  a  basket,  the  umbilical 
cord  being  around  its  neck.  A  most  respectable  family  were  present 
and  around  the  bed  during  her  confinement !  The  speech  made  by  Mr. 
Perry  in  defence  of  Miss  Wells  gained  him  some  praise  and  a  verdict 
of  not  guilty. 

One  or  two  years  after  this  unfortunate  circumstance,  Mr.  Perry  was 
called  upon  to  defend  a  brother  of  Miss  Wells,  for  shooting  down  in 
the  streets  her  seducer  with  a  double-barrel  gun  !  It  was  cool  and  de 
liberate,  and  done  without  any  warning  to  the  deceased.  The  trial  re 
sulted  in  a  verdict  of  guilty,  and  the  defendant  was  pardoned  by  Gover 
nor  Aiken. 

Some  years  since,  Mr.  Perry  had  a  case  on  the  issue  docket  at 
Spartanburgh,  and  had  summoned  an  old  man  to  prove  a  deed  on  which 
the  case  depended.  Whilst  attending  court  he  killed  two  of  his  room 
mates,  and  came  very  near  killing  a  third,  with  a  little  pocket-knife ! 
His  companions  had  been  bedeviling  the  old  man  a  great  deal.  When 
put  on  his  trial,  Mr.  Perry  was  retained  with  Colonel  Seitner  to  defend 
him.  His  defence  was  conducted  with  all  the  power  and  ability  which 
his  counsel  possessed,  but  the  jury  returned  a  verdict  of  guilty.  They 
had  no  notion  of  seeing  a  man  acquitted  who  had  killed  two  of  his  com 
panions  in  one  frolic  !  But  the  governor  took  a  more  compassionate 
view  of  the  matter  and  pardoned  him.  The  old  man,  after  his  pardon, 
was  sworn  as  a  witness  in  court,  and  on  his  testimony  Mr.  Perry  gained 
his  lawsuit. 

Recently,  Mr.  Perry  was  employed  on  the  part  of  the  state,  for  the 
first  time,  in  a  case  of  murder.  Judge  Butler,  now  one  of  the  senators 
in  Congress,  from  South  Carolina,  was  called  from  Washington  to  de- 


268  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

fend  the  accused,  and  Mr.  Perry  was  sent  for,  out  of  his  circuit,  to  pro 
secute.  The  prisoner  and  the  deceased  had  been  friends,  and  were  both 
young  men  of  fortune  and  great  respectability.  The  trial  was  one  of 
extraordinary  interest,  and  the  ladies  of  the  village  of  Newberry  came  in 
to  hear  the  arguments,  and  sat  from  morning  till  night  without  going 
to  dinner  !  The  jury,  after  being  out  all  night,  returned  a  verdict  of 
not  guilty.  The  speech  of  Mr.  Perry  is  spoken  of  by  all  as  one  of 
unusual  ability  and  eloquence.  This  is  high  praise,  when  it  is  remem 
bered  that  Senator  Butler  was  engaged  in  the  same  case,  and  made  a 
speech  of  unusual  power  and  eloquence  even  for  him. 

On  the  civil  side  of  the  court,  Mr.  Perry  has,  likewise,  had  a  fine 
practice  in  the  districts  of  Greenville,  Anderson,  Pickens,  Spartanburgh 
and  Laurens.  He  has  assisted  in  the  Court  of  Appeals,  in  law  and  equi 
ty,  and  in  the  Court  of  Errors,  composed  of  both  the  chancellors  and 
law  judges,  in  the  settlement  of  some  highly  important  principles.  The 
case,  William  J.  Alston  and  others,  vs.  W.  Thompson,  1  Chev.  271, 
involved  the  question,  whether  a  deed  in  South  Carolina  was  valid  to 
convey  lands  without  witnesses.  This  case  went  to  the  court  of  errors, 
and  was  decided  against  the  validity  of  the  deed  !  Mr.  Petigru  and 
Mr.  Perry  were  in  favor  of  the  deed,  and  both  still  think  the  decision 
of  the  court  wrong.  Judge  O'Neal],  one  of  the  members  of  the  court, 
declared  a  dissenting  opinion,  and  adopted  the  written  argument  of  Mr. 
Perry  as  a  part  of  his  opinion. 

The  case  of  Vardry  McBee  ads.  Henning's  creditors,  went  to  the 
court  of  errors,  on  the  question,  whether  a  deed  of  conveyance  for  land 
in  South  Carolina  was  valid  against  the  judgment  creditors,  without 
being  recorded.  This  was  a  case  of  great  interest  and  involved  a 
large  amount.  A  majority  of  the  court  decided  in  favor  of  the  deed 
without  recording.  Mr.  Perry  was  for  the  deed,  and  wrote  out  his  ar 
gument  at  great  length,  with  all  his  authorities. 

The  case  of  McBee  and  others  vs.  Hoke,  was  decided  in  the  Law 
Court  of  Appeals  after  elaborate  argument.  This  case  involved  the 
question  whether  the  acts  of  a  coroner,  appointed  by  the  legislature, 
but  who  had  not  qualified,  or  given  bonds,  as  required  by  law,  were 
valid  and  binding  or  not.  Mr.  Perry  was  for  the  affirmative,  and  the 
court  sustained  him. 

The  most  novel  case,  however,  in  which  Mr.  Perry  ever  had  any 
thing  to  do,  was  in  reference  to  the  executors  of  Mrs.  Mayroot's  will 
being  appointed  by  implication.  He  lost  both  sides  of  this  case,  and 
finally  established  the  opinion  he  had  first  given  in  the  case !  He  said 
there  was  an  appointment  by  implication.  The  Court  of  Appeals 
decided  against  him.  He  then  filed  a  bill  in  equity  to  carry  out 
the  opinion  of  the  Court  of  Appeals,  and  the  Court  of  Errors  reversed 
the  opinion  of  the  Court  of  Appeals  and  dismissed  his  bill ! 

In  the  Court  of  Equity  we  will  mention  one  case,  in  which  Mr.  Perry 
filed  a  bill  for  an  old  man,  to  set  aside  his  marriage  with  a  woman  of 
bad  character,  on  the  ground  that  he  was  not  in  his  proper  mind  when 
the  marriage  took  place.  Ally  Mattison,  the  complainant,  had  been 
drinking  till  he  was  under  mania  a  potu,  and  conceived  the  idea,  that 
the  Almighty  had  commanded  him  to  marry  the  defendant,  or  he 
should  die  in  three  days  !  The  chancellor  dismissed  the  bill  for  want 


BENJAMIN  F.  PERRY,  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  269 

of  jurisdiction,  and  it  went  to  the  Court  of  Appeal  in  Chancery, 
and  thence  to  the  Court  of  Errors.  Mr.  Perry  and  General  Thompson 
argued  the  case  at  great  length  in  the  Court  of  Errors,  but  the  decree  of 
the  chancellor  was  affirmed.  The  court  held  that  they  had  no  right  to 
dissolve  a  marriage  contract  for  fraud  or  want  of  capacity,  unless  it  came 
up  on  some  collateral  issue  !  How  this  can  be,  Mr.  Perry  confesses  he 
cannot  perceive.  In  South  Carolina  the  marriage  contract  is  entirely 
a  civil  contract,  and  as  such  ought  to  be  set  aside,  like  all  other  con 
tracts,  on  account  of  fraud  or  incompetency  to  make  it. 

In 'the  fall  of  1836  Mr.  Perry  was  elected  a  member  of  the  state 
legislature  without  opposition.  A  good  many  Union  members  were 
returned  from  Charleston,  and  other  districts  throughout  the  state.  At  the 
instance  of  Mr.  Perry,  they  united  with  him  in  electing  Judge  Wardlaw 
speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives.  In  the  formation  of  the  com 
mittees,  Mr.  P.  was  placed  on  the  judiciary  and  the  committee  of  federal 
relations ;  James  L.  Petigru,  Esq.,  one  of  the  ablest  and  most  accom 
plished  lawyers  in  the  United  States,  was  chairman  of  the  judiciary  com 
mittee,  and  David  L.  McCord,  an  able  and  old  member  of  the  house, 
was  at  the  head  of  the  committee  on  federal  relations.  The  subject  of 
slavery  came  up  before  Mr.  McCord's  committee,  on  several  occasions, 
by  messages  and  other  documents,  sent  by  the  northern  states,  but  it  was 
then  thought  best  in  South  Carolina  not  to  agitate  the  question.  The 
annexation  of  Texas  to  the  United  States  was  brought  before  the  legis 
lature  by  Governor  McDuffie,  in  a  message  strongly  denouncing  that 
measure.  Mr.  Perry  made  a  speech  eminently  successful  on  this 
question,  which  elicited  from  Mr.  Petigru  a  very  high  compliment 
— "  laudare  a  laudato."  Whilst  Mr.  Perry  most  cordially  sympathized 
with  the  Texans  in  their  struggle  for  independence,  he  did  not  think  it  in 
good  faith  for  the  United  States  to  extend  their  government  over  them. 
Nor  was  he  satisfied  as  to  the  policy  of  extending  the  boundaries  of  the 
republic.  This,  too,  was  the  opinion  expressed  about  that  time  by 
Governor  Hayne  in  conversation  with  Mr.  Perry,  arid  of  which  conver 
sation  he  has  a  full  note  in  his  journal.  The  Louisville  and  Cincinnati 
Rail-road  came  before  the  legislature  this  session,  and  Mr.  Perry  was 
its  warm  advocate  and  defender.  In  order  to  save  the  road  and 
charter,  through  the  limits  of  South  Carolina,  it  became  necessary 
for  the  legislature  to  make  heavy  loans  and  subscriptions  of  stock. 
These  measures  were  also  voted  for  by  Mr.  Perry,  and  the  success  of 
the  road,  together  with  the  present  price  of  the  stock,  proves  the  wis 
dom  of  the  measure. 

In  1838  Mr.  Perry  was  re-elected  to  the  legislature,  and  in  con 
sequence  of  his  attention  to  the  correctness  of  all  claims  and  appropri 
ations  made  by  the  legislature,  he  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  com 
mittee  on  claims,  and  in  that  position  saved  the  state  many  thousands 
of  dollars  by  his  thorough  and  searching  investigation  of  all  matters 
presented  to  the  house.  In  all  the  active  business  of  the  legislature, 
and  iiT  all  of  the  discussions  of  the  house,  Mr.  Perry  took  a  decided  and 
prominent  part.  He  brought  forward,  whilst  a  member  of  the  house, 
various  measures  of  reform  and  improvement  in  our  laws  and  state 
government. 


270  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

The  establishment  of  a  penitentiary  system  in  South  Carolina  was 
one  of  these  measures.  He  was  appointed  chairman  of  a  special  com 
mittee  on  this  subject,  to  collect  information  and  report  the  same  to  the 
legislature.  This  task  he  performed  with  great  care  and  labor.  He 
opened  a  correspondence  with  the  agents  and  keepers  of  several  of  the 
northern  penitentiaries.  He  obtained  from  the  clerks  of  the  courts 
throughout  the  state  a  vast  deal  of  statistical  information,  in  regard  to 
the  various  convictions  and  prosecutions  in  their  courts.  He  was  the 
means  of  obtaining  from  Dr.  Lieber,  of  the  South  Carolina  College,  a 
valuable  pamphlet  on  the  penitentiary  system,  which  was  widely  dis 
tributed  over  the  state.  The  report  of  Mr.  Perry  included  a  great  deal 
of  information,  but  it  met  with  no  favor  from  the  legislature.  Accom 
panying  the  report  he  likewise  submitted  a  code  of  laws  compiled 
by  himself,  adapted  to  the  penitentiary  punishment.  In  his  report  and 
speech  before  the  legislature,  Mr.  Perry  endeavored  to  show  that 
the  object  of  punishment  was  not  revenge,  but  the  reformation  of  the 
criminal,  and  the  protection  of  society  against  future  crimes. 

The  tenure  of  the  office  of  judge  Mr.  Perry  thought  should  be  limited 
to  the  age  of  seventy.  He  introduced  a  bill  to  alter  the  constitution  in 
that  respect,  which  at  one  session  passed  both  houses  by  a  constitutional 
majority,  but  was  defeated  at  the  session  of  a  new  legislature.  Mr. 
Perry  was  in  favor  of  blending  the  courts  of  law  and  equity,  so  as  to 
have  the  same  judge  preside  in  both  courts,  but  to  keep  the  jurisdictions 
separate  and  distinct.  Pie  was  opposed  to  all  connection  between  bank 
and  state,  and  in  concert  with  Col.  Memminger  he  advocated  the  wind 
ing  up  of  the  state  bank.  He  was  in  favor  of  giving  the  election 
of  electors  of  President  and  Vice-President  to  the  people  in  South 
Carolina,  as  was  the  case  in  all  the  other  states  of  the  Union.  He  was 
also  in  favor  of  giving  the  election  of  governor  to  the  people,  and 
equalizing  the  basis  of  representation  between  the  upper  and  lower 
country. 

In  1844,  Mr.  Perry  was  elected  to  a  seat  in  the  State  Senate  from 
the  district  of  Greenville.  He  was  there  placed  at  the  head  of  the  com 
mittee  on  finance  and  banks,  and  during  the  four  years  he  continued 
in  the  Senate,  no  member  of  that  body  took  a  more  active  and  promi 
nent  part  in  all  of  its  proceedings  and  debates.  He  was  in  the  Senate 
when  Mr.  Hoar  was  sent  by  Massachusetts  to  South  Carolina,  He  was 
the  only  member  of  the  Senate  who  voted  against  the  expulsion  of  that 
gentleman  from  the  state.  This  he  did,  because,  in  his  opinion,  it  was 
contrary  to  both  the  state  and  federal  constitutions.  Although  in  a  mi 
nority  of  one,  he  said  this  carried  no  terrors  to  his  mind  whilst  discharg 
ing  a  duty  to  himself  and  his  country.  There  was  only  one  member  of 
the  house,  Colonel  Memminger,  who  had  the  boldness  to  vote  against 
this  expulsion,  without  trial  by  jury,  as  the  constitution  guarantees. 
It  was,  too,  on  the  part  of  the  legislature,  an  usurpation  of  judicial 
power. 

South  Carolina  has  been,  for  the  last  twenty-five  years,  a  disunion 
state,  and  Mr.  "Perry  has  been  consistently  a  Union  man  ever  since  he 
entered  public  life.  He  is,  therefore,  in  a  lean  minority,  which  has  ef 
fectually  excluded  him  from  all  state  honors  and  offices.  But  he  has 


BENJAMIN  F.  TERRY,  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  271 

never  aspired  to  any  before  the  legislature.  He  has  been  voted  for, 
once  or  twice,  for  chancellor,  and  president  of  the  state  bank.  When 
General  Cass  was  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency,  Mr.  Perry,  who  was 
not  then  in  the  legislature,  was  elected,  by  the  legislature,  an  elector  to 
represent  the  state  at  large  in  that  election.  This  honor  was  conferred 
on  him  in  consequence  of  his  defeat  for  Congress  the  same  fall,  on  ac 
count  of  his  preference  for  General  Cass  over  General  Taylor.  The 
whigs  all  sustained,  with  a  few  exceptions,  his  opponent,  Colonel  Orr, 
in  consequence  of  his  going  for  General  Taylor ;  and  being  a  democrat, 
Colonel  Orr  divided  that  party  with  Mr.  Perry. 

Whilst  he  has  thus  been  proscribed  from  the  honors  of  the  state,  he 
has  never,  directly  or  indirectly,  sought  office  or  favor  from  the  federal 
government — a  rare  instance,  in  these  times,  of  self-sacrifice  and  abne 
gation.  Some  gentlemen  talk  on  this  subject  as  if  there  was  no  such 
thing  as  venality  and  office-seeking  except  with  those  who  seek  federal 
office.  They  forget  that  there  are  many  more,  and  much  more  desirable 
offices,  within  the  reach  of  South  Carolinians,  from  South  Carolina,  than 
from  the  federal  government.  It  is  not  impossible  that  the  political 
course  of  some  gentlemen  may  be  directed  by  a  secret  wish  (perhaps 
unconscious  influence  of  the  fascination)  of  a  seat  on  the  bench,  in  the  Se 
nate,  or  the  gubernatorial  chair.  But  surely  no  one  will  impute  selfish 
motives  or  personal  ambition  to  one  like  Mr.  Perry,  self-restrained  from 
the  honors  and  offices  of  the  state,  who  has  never,  in  any  manner, 
sought  either  from  the  federal  government. 

Mr.  Perry  has,  in  the  course  of  his  life,  made  a  good  many  public 
speeches,  and  has  been  frequently  called  on  to  deliver  addresses  before 
literary  societies  and  schools.  Like  all  young  men  preparing  for  the 
bar,  he  was  selected,  whilst  a  student,  to  deliver  an  oration  on  the  fourth 
of  July,  which  was  well  received.  After  his  admission  to  the  bar,  he 
was  forced  to  make  another  address,  on  the  anniversary  of  American  In 
dependence,  to  the  citizens  of  Greenville.  Whilst  a  member  of  the 
legislature,  he  delivered  an  address  before  the  several  literary  socie 
ties.  During  the  political  excitement  in  1833,  he  was  called  on  to 
deliver  an  address,  on  the  anniversary  of  the  battle  of  the  Cow- 
pens,  on  the  battle-field.  Whilst  canvassing  for  Congress,  he  de 
livered  an  address  before  the  female  seminary  at  the  Limestone 
Springs. 

Mr.  Perry  has  occasionally  written  for  the  Southern  Review  and 
other  periodical  and  literary  journals.  He  reviewed,  at  some  length, 
the  Lives  of  the  Lord  Chancellors,  by  Lord  Campbell,  in  the  Southern 
Quarterly.  He  also  wrote  for  this  journal  an  article  on  the  Revolu 
tionary  history  of  South  Carolina,  and  one  in  favor  of  giving  the  election 
of  electors  of  President  and  Vice-president  to  the  people.  In  the  Mag 
nolia,  he  wrote  a  variety  of  articles  embodying  the  Revolutionary  inci 
dents  of  the  upper  part  of  South  Carolina,  which  were  republished  in  a 
great  many  of  the  southern  papers. 

For  the  last  twenty  years  Mr.  Perry  has  kept  a  journal  of  his  life, 
in  which  he  has  recorded  not  only  the  incidents  connected  with  himself, 
but  the  conversations  he  has  had  with  others,  after  the  fashion  of  Bos- 
well's  Life  of  Johnson.  He  has  also  drawn  sketches  of  many  of  the 
prominent  men  of  South  Carolina,  which  will  one  day  be  of  some  in- 


SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

tercst  to  the  public.  For  thirty  years  past,  too,  he  has  kept  a  minute 
and  correct  account  of  all  the  money  received  by  him,  and  for  what  re 
ceived,  as  well  as  an  account  of  all  the  moneys  he  has  spent,  and  how 
they  were  spent.  He  has  also  kept  a  file  of  every  letter  that  he  has  re 
ceived,  and  has  had  several  volumes  bound. 

In  the  investigation  of  cases  for  court,  Mr.  Perry  has  made  it  a  rule 
to  preserve  all  his  notes  of  authorities  and  arguments.  This  he  has  found 
of  assistance  when  similar  cases  came  before  him  again.  In  some  im 
portant  cases  he  has  written  out  the  whole  arguments.  Whilst  profess 
ing  to  be  a  thorough  democrat  in  politics,  Mr.  Perry  alleges  that  he  is 
a  conservative  in  everything.  He  thinks  our  system  of  government  the 
wisest  that  can  be  formed,  and  he  therefore  tries  to  preserve  it.  He 
wishes  in  the  same  way  to  preserve  everything  that  is  good,  or  may 
be  useful  hereafter.  Even  his  newspapers,  pamphlets,  and  reviews,  are 
all  preserved  and  bound.  He  has  several  hundred  volumes  of  this 
character  now  in  his  library,  bound  by  his  directions. 

In  all  the  public  improvements  of  the  country  Mr.  Perry  has  taken 
an  active  part,  and  contributed  most  liberally  in  proportion  to  his 
means.  The  Greenville  and  Columbia  Rail-road,  the  greatest  enter 
prise  ever  undertaken  in  the  upper  part  of  South  Carolina,  owes  its 
origin,  in  a  great  measure,  to  him.  The  road  was  suggested  by  another; 
but  Mr.  Perry  brought  the  public  mind  to  bear  on  it  and  undertake  it. 
His  friend.  Judge  O'Neall,  has  the  honor  of  carrying  out  the  enterprise. 

In  1850  the  secession  and  disunion  feeling  rose  so  high  in  South  Caro 
lina,  that  it  was  said  the  state  was  a  unit  in  favor  of  breaking  up  the 
government  and  forming  a  new  confederacy.  Mr.  Perry,  however,  re 
mained  "  faithful  amidst  the  faithless,"  and  boldly  proclaimed  his  oppo 
sition  to  secession  and  disunion  as  destructive  of  liberty  and  the  very 
institutions  of  the  South,  for  the  preservation  of  which  the  Union  was 
to  be  dissolved.  The  secession  party  wished  to  make  a  demonstration 
in  Greenville,  and  invited  Colonel  Memminger  to  a  public  meeting. 
Every  free  voter  in  the  district  was  present,  and  they  made  such  a  hurra 
in  opposition  to  General  Thompson  and  Mr.  Perry,  that  the  news  went 
abroad  Greenville  had  gone  for  secession,  and  Perry  was  put  down, 
never  to  rise  again.  His  friends  lamented  his  fate,  and  his  enemies 
were  in  ecstasy  at  his  downfall  in  a  district  which  had  ever  stood  by 
him  through  good  report  and  through  evil  report.  Mr.  Perry,  how 
ever,  was  not  at  all  alarmed.  He  everywhere  declared  that  Greenville 
was  still  true  to  her  ancient  faith,  and  adhered  to  the  Union,  although 
ready  to  defend  her  rights  when  they  were  invaded.  He,  moreover, 
said  that  he  had  no  fears  of  the  state,  and  that  this  whole  matter  would 
end  in  a  big  fuss — nothing  more — as  nullification  had  done. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  fall  of  1850,  Mr.  Perry  suggested  the  pro 
priety  of  establishing  a  Union  paper,  at  Greenville,  as  a  rallying  point 
for  the  dismembered  and  broken  party  throughout  the  state.  He  thought 
it  would  be  a  nucleus  for  them  to  form  on,  and  ultimately  save  the  state 
from  revolution  and  disunion.  At  that  time  there  was  not  a  newspaper 
in  South  Carolina  or  a  public  man  who  dared  express  any. opposition  to 
the  action  of  the  state.  Such  opposition  was  branded  as  treason,  and 
the  opposers  as  traitors.  This,  however,  did  not,  in  the  least,  deter  Mr. 
Perry  from  his  project  of  establishing  a  Union  paper,  and  letting  the 


BENJAMIN  F.  PERRY,  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  273 

honest  and  thinking  people  hear  both  sides  of  the  question.  Some  of 
his  personal  friends  came  to  him  and  said,  that  if  he  persevered  in  estab 
lishing  his  newspaper,  his  property  would  be  destroyed,  and  his  life  en 
dangered.  His  reply  deserves  being  repeated.  He  said :  "  I  will  go  on 
with  the  paper  if  it  sinks  every  cent  of  property  I  have  in  the  world,  and 
sacrifices  my  life  in  its  defence." 

The  crowning  glory  of  Mr.  P.'s  life  is  the  more  than  Roman  courage 
with  which  he  took  this  position  in  the  late  exciting  and  dangerous  crisis 
in  South  Carolina.  No  one  who  resides  out  of  the  state  can  adequately 
appreciate  the  terrific  excitement  of  the  people  at  that  most  dangerous 
crisis.  It  was  literally  true  that  "  the  boldest  held  their  breath  for  a 
time."  Men  who  had  never  quailed  before,  were  afraid  to  express  one 
sentiment  of  affection  for  the  Union  given  us  by  our  fathers,  or  wish  for 
its  continuance  on  any  terms !  It  was  a  curse  per  se,  and  abolendus  est 
was  the  watch- word,  and  knave,  traitor  and  coward  was  he  who  did  not 
echo  that  war-cry !  It  was  under  such  circumstances  of  danger,  of 
odium,  of  self-sacrifice,  that  he  willingly  and  fearlessly  assumed  the 
editorship  of  the  "  Southern  Patriot."  The  difficult  and  dangerous  path 
which  was  before,  he  trod  with  courage,  patriotism,  wisdom  and  a  high 
courtesy,  which  have  won  the  respect  and  admiration  of  even  his  op 
ponents. 

The  legislature  met  in  November,  and  Mr.  Perry  was  a  member. 
Two  of  his  colleagues,  Col.  Buchanan  and  Mr.  Dean,  and  himself,  were 
the  only  avowed  Union  men  in  that  assembly  !  When  the  question  of 
federal  relations  was  discussed  in  the  house,  Mr.  Perry  opposed  the 
action  of  the  state,  in  a  speech  of  great  length,  and  boldly  assured  his 
persecutors  that  the  Union  was  a  blessing  and  not  a  curse  ;  and 
that  slavery  was  protected  by  it,  and  we  had  no  cause  to  break  up 
the  government,  on  account  of  the  compromise  which  had  just  passed 
Congress,  and  which  was  acceptable  to  all  the  southern  states  except 
South  Carolina.  After  concluding  his  speech,  Mr.  Perry  said  to  a  friend  : 
"  I  intend  that  my  argument  to-day  shall  be  published  to  the  world,  and 
will  leave  it  as  a  legacy  to  my  country  and  my  children.  They  will, 
at  some  future  day,  appreciate  the  truths  it  contains,  although  this 
house  now  spurns  and  contemns  them."  The  speech  was  published,  and 
has  been  republished  throughout  the  southern  states.  Ten  thousand 
copies  of  it  were  struck  off  in  Charleston,  at  the  expense  of  two  or 
three  gentlemen,  for  distribution  in  South  Carolina  and  Georgia.  It 
was  hailed  at  Washington  and  New-Orleans  as  a  ray  of  light  from 
South  Carolina,  and  was  certainly  the  first  cheek  which  secession  and 
disunion  received  in  the  state. 

The  election  for  members  of  the  state  convention  to  dissolve 
the  Union  took  place  in  February,  1851.  The  speech  of  Mr.  Perry  had 
been  published  in  the  Carolinian,  and  was  sent  throughout  the  state  just 
preceding  the  election.  In  Greenville  it  was  widely  circulated,  and  had 
its  influence.  The  Union  party  of  that  district  were,  however,  disunited. 
They  remembered  the  Memminger  meeting,  and  looked  upon  themselves 
as  standing  alone,  against  the  whole  state,  and  the  newspapers  said,  the 
whole  South.  They  were  unwilling,  therefore,  to  show  fight  in  the 
election  of  members  to  the  convention,  and  thought  they  would  be  de 
feated.  Mr.  Perry  replied,  that  after  defeat,  it  would  be  time  enough 

18 


274  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

to  think  of  surrendering  ;  but  that  surely  they  should  not  think  of  this, 
as  brave  cavaliers,  on  the  eve  of  battle.  The  election  in  Granville  re 
sulted  in  favor  of  the  Union  ticket  three  to  one !  In  other  portions  of 
the  state  the  people  kept  away  from  the  polls,  and  only  a  few  fire-eaters 
voted.  In  Charleston,  where  they  can  poll  three  thousand  votes,  as 
many  hundred  elected  !  In  Pendleton  district,  where  the  vote  is  five 
or  six  thousand,  four  or  five  hundred  elected ! 

The  Southern  Patriot  was  first  issued  immediately  after  the  election, 
and  Messrs.  Perry  and  Elford  became  its  editors.  It  was  everywhere 
denounced  by  the  newspapers  in  South  Carolina,  but  its  subscription 
list  immediately  became  the  largest  of  any  country  paper  in  the  state. 
It  had  the  precise  effect  predicted  by  Mr.  Perry,  and  immediately 
a  change  came  over  the  state.  Secession  was  abandoned,  and  co-opera 
tion  substituted  in  its  place.  This,  too,  has  died  away,  and  the  state 
is  now  quiet,  and  at  peace  once  more  with  herself  and  the  federal 
government.  The  state  has  been  saved,  and  the  Union  preserved. 

In  the  summer  of  1846,  Mr.  Perry,  in  company  with  his  friends, 
Colonel  Fair  and  Mr.  Moore,  made  the  tour  of  the  northern  states,  and 
went  down  the  St.  Lawrence  to  Montreal  and  Quebec.  The  Hon. 
Joel  R.  Poinsett,  who  then  resided  near  Greenville,  and  with  whom  Mr. 
Perry  was  on  terms  of  great  friendship  and  intimacy,  took  great  pains 
to  make  his  travels  interesting,  by  giving  him  letters  to  a  great  many 
of  the  distinguished  men  at  Washington,  and  throughout  the  northern 
states.  Congress  was  in  session,  and  Mr.  Perry  had  this  opportunity 
of  seeing  the  assembled  wisdom  and  greatness  of  the  American  Re 
public.  He  was  very  much  disappointed  in  the  appearance  of  the 
members  of  the  House  of  Representatives.  He  thought  they  were  in 
ferior  looking  men,  and  their  deportment  and  debates  did  not  impress 
him  favorably.  On  entering  the  Senate  chamber,  and  looking  at  the 
members,  he  was  more  struck  with  the  appearance  of  Colonel  Benton 
than  that  of  any  other  senator.  Mr.  Archer,  of  Virginia,  kindly  pro 
posed  to  him  to  name  any  of  the  senators  who  attracted  his  attention. 
He  was  greatly  disappointed  in  the  personal  appearance  of  Mr.  Critten- 
den  of  Kentucky.  The  high  bearing,  talents,  eloquence,  and  high  sense 
of  honor  which  had  characterized  Mr.  Crittenden's  public  career,  had 
induced  Mr.  Perry  to  believe  that  he  was  a  tall,  fine-looking,  and 
polished  gentleman.  This  idea  of  Mr.  Crittenden's  appearance  was 
not  realized  in  the  diminutive  person,  homely  features,  and  plain 
manners  of  the  gentleman  before  him.  When  he  afterwards  met  him 
at  Senator  Archer's,  and  saw  him  pull  off  his  coat,  and  take  a  seat  at  the 
whist  table  with  Mr.  Bodisco,  the  Russian  minister,  and  some  other 
gentlemen,  his  beau  ideal  was  gone. 

Through  the  kindness  of  General  Thompson,  Mr.  Perry  was  invited 
one  Sunday  evening  to  see  Mr.  Webster  at  his  own  house,  in  Wash 
ington.  He  found  the  defender  of  the  constitution  sitting  in  his  portico, 
in  his  shirt  sleeves,  and  looking  like  some  old  farmer  who  was  waiting 
for  Monday,  to  gear  up  his  horse  and  go  to  plowing  again.  Mr. 
Webster  ordered  some  refreshments,  and  immediately  commenced  the 
most  interesting  and  brilliant  conversation  to  which  Mr.  Perry  had 
ever  listened. 

On  his  route  from  Albany  to  Boston  Mr.  Perry  stopped  at  Kinder 


BENJAMIN  F.  PERRY,  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  275 

hook,  to  see  Mr.  Van  Buren.  He  was  very  much  pleased  with  him. 
The  New- York  convention  was  in  session,  and  Mr.  Perry  was  greatly 
surprised  to  hear  Mr.  Van  Buren  express  himself  in  favor  of  electing 
all  the  judges  by  the  people.  He  had  formerly  been  of  a  different 
opinion,  and  was  then  shocked  to  hear  Mr.  Jefferson  express  the  views 
which  he  now  entertained. 

In  Albany,  Mr.  Perry  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  Governor  Wright 
and  Mr.  Governeur  Kemble,  with  both  of  whom  he  was  very  much 
pleased.  He  thought  Mr.  Poinsett's  opinion  of  Governor  Wright  was 
true,  that  he  possessed  the  fairest  mind  in  argument  and  the  clearest 
one  in  explaining  his  views  that  he  had  ever  encountered  in  life. 

Mr.  Polk  was  at  this  time  President  of  the  United  States,  and  Mr. 
Perry  was  a  strong  supporter  of  his  administration.  He  now  thinks 
it  is  perhaps  the  most  brilliant  and  the  best  the  country  has  ever  had. 
But  the  personal  appearance  and  manners  of  Mr.  Polk  did  not  strike 
him  as  being  anything  extraordinary.  The  manners  and  appearance  of 
Mrs.  Polk  made  a  different  impression  on  his  mind.  He  thought  her 
the  most  interesting  and  charming  woman  that  he  had  seen  in  his 
travels. 

Mr.  Perry  was  most  favorably  impressed  with  the  appearance  of  Bos 
ton  and  its  inhabitants.  He  thought  the  citizens  generally  the  finest- 
looking  that  he  had  anywhere  seen.  He  visited  Mr.  Everett,  who  was 
the  president  of  Harvard  College,  and  found  him  a  most  pleasant  and 
agreeable  gentleman.  He  took  a  stroll  over  the  college  buildings,  and 
spent  some  time  in  the  library.  The  collection  of  books  did  not  seem 
so  large  as  he  had  expected  to  see. 

In  Philadelphia,  Mr.  Perry  searched  out  the  houses  in  which  William 
Penn  and  Dr.  Franklin  had  once  resided.  They  were  very  humble 
buildings,  and  that  of  Dr.  Franklin's  had  been  appropriated  to  a  grocery. 
This  he  looked  upon  as  almost  sacrilegious. 

Mr.  Perry  has  always  taken  an  interest  in  agriculture,  the  occupation 
of  his  youth.  He  has  made  several  agricultural  addresses,  which  have 
been  published  and  republished  in  several  of  the  papers  of  the  state. 
He  made  one  before  the  Farmers'  Society  of  Pendleton,  at  their  anni 
versary  celebration.  Mr.  Calhoun  was  present,  and  expressed  himself 
much  gratified  by  the  address.  But  Mr.  Perry's  chief  occupation  has 
been  with  his  books. 

The  State  Convention  of  South  Carolina,  elected  for  the  purpose  of 
dissolving  the  Union,  assembled  in  April  last.  Mr.  Perry  was  a  mem 
ber  of  this  convention,  as  has  been  already  stated.  In  the  formation  of 
the  committee  of  twenty-one,  which  consisted  of  the  ablest  members  of 
the  convention,  including  several  judges,  chancellors,  senators,  ex-gover 
nors,  and  members  of  Congress,  Mr.  Perry  was  placed  on  this  commit 
tee,  and  was  the  only  member  of  it  who  spoke  and  voted  against  the 
constitutional  right  of  a  state  to  secede  from  the  Federal  Union.  He 
said  that  secession  was  a  revolutionary  right,  paramount  to  all  constitu 
tions,  political  compacts,  or  agreements — the  right  of  a  brave  people  "to 
alter  or  abolish"  their  government,  when  it  becomes  destructive  of  the 
ends  for  which  it  was  instituted,  and  ceases  to  protect  them  in  the  en 
joyment  of  their  "  lives,  liberty,  and  pursuit  of  happiness  ;"  but  that  it 
was  deceiving  the  people  to  tell  them  it  was  a  constitutional  right.  For 


276  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

himself  he  preferred  calling  things  by  their  right  names.  The  people  of 
South  Carolina  ought  to  know  that  it  is  a  right  which  they  will  have  to 
fight  for.  When  that  evil  day  does  come  which  is  to  terminate  this  Fe 
deral  Union,  he  preferred  appealing  directly  to  the  sword  rather  than 
searching  charters  and  constitutions  for  a  right  which  he  knew  the  other 
parties  to  the  compact  would  deny.  He  admired  the  English  baron  who, 
when  called  on  by  his  sovereign  to  produce  the  titles  to  his  estate,  threw 
down  upon  the  table  his  sword,  and  said,  "This  is  the  title  by  which  my  an 
cestors  have  held  these  lands,  and  it  is  the  one  by  which  I  now  claim 
them." 

Mr.  Perry  denied  that  we  had  any  just  cause  for  breaking  up  the 
Union  and  resorting  to  revolution.  He  admitted  that  great  wrongs  and 
injustice  had  been  done  the  South,  but  that  it  would  not  do  to  break  up 
a  government  every  time  it  went  wrong.  He  had  regarded  the  union 
of  the  states,  in  the  language  of  the  father  of  his  country,  as  the  "  pal 
ladium  of  our  independence,"  "  tranquillity,"  "  peace,"  "  safety,"  "  pros 
perity,"  and  "  liberty."  It  was,  therefore,  right  and  proper,  honorable 
and  patriotic,  that  we  should  "  suffer  while  evils  were  sufferable,  rather 
than  right  ourselves  by  abolishing  the  forms  to  which  we  have  been  ac 
customed."  He  contended  that  African  slavery  was  moral  and  correct, 
and  a  great  blessing  to  the  slave  himself;  that  it  was  absolutely  neces 
sary  to  the  peace  and  prosperity  of  the  southern  states,  and  should  be 
forever  defended  and  maintained  by  them  at  any  and  all  hazards,  and  to 
the  last  extremity  of  their  existence  as  a  people. 

Mr.  Perry  said,  in  the  report  which  he  submitted  to  the  convention  on 
the  part  of  himself,  as  a  member  of  the  committee  of  twenty-one,  that 
the  union  of  the  several  states  of  this  confederacy  was  formed  for  the 
purpose  of  protecting  equally  the  interests  of  all  the  states,  their  do 
mestic  institutions,  property,  and  industrial  pursuits ;  and  the  existence 
of  African  slavery  in  the  southern  states  at  the  formation  of  the  Federal 
Union,  was  not  only  recognized  in  the  constitution,  but  guaranteed,  and 
made  the  basis,  in  fact,  of  their  representation  in  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States.  He  also  stated  that  it  would  be  good  cause  for  South 
Carolina  to  resist,  in  company  with  the  other  southern  states,  or  alone, 
if  need  be,  by  all  the  means  which  Nature  and  God  have  given  her  any 
and  every  attempt  on  the  part  of  Congress  to  interfere  with  slavery  in 
the  states,  or  the  slave-trade  between  the  states,  or  to  abolish  slavery  in 
the  district  of  Columbia,  without  the  consent  of  the  owners,  or  to  exclude 
slavery  from  the  southern  territories  of  the  United  States,  or  the  forts 
and  navy-yards  in  the  slave-holding  states,  or  refuse  the  admission  of  a 
state  into  the  Union  on  account  of  slavery,  or  refuse  to  carry  out  the  ex 
isting  constitutional  provisions  on  the  subject  of  the  rendition  of  fugitive 
slaves,  or  alter  or  change  the  federal  constitution  in  any  respect  touch 
ing  slavery. 

The  report  submitted  by  Mr.  Perry  met  the  approval  of  a  large  num 
ber  of  the  moderate-thinking  men  throughout  the  state.  Even  Barnwell 
Rhett,  the  arch  secessionist  of  Carolina,  said  to  Mr.  Perry  that  his  re 
port  had  put  to  the  blush  both  secessionists  and  co-operationists,  and 
that  Mr.  Barnwell,  the  leader  of  the  co-operation  party,  had,  too,  admit 
ted  the  same  thing,  and  it  was,  in  some  respects,  preferable  to  the  re 
port  adopted  by  the  convention. 


ARCHIBALD  WALLER  OVERTON,  OF  TENNESSEE.          277 

Mr.  Perry  is  a  member  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  South  Carolina 
College,  which  board  is  elected  by  the  legislature  every  four  years ;  and 
ne  takes  a  deep  interest  in  the  prosperity  and  reputation  of  the  college. 
On  many  occasions,  in  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  he  has 
defended  the  college  when  assailed  by  senators  and  members.  Several 
of  the  professors  are  his  warm  personal  and  political  friends.  Two  years 
ago,  on  a  visit  to  Columbia,  one  of  them  called  on  him  at  his  lodgings 
to  lament  the  approaching  end  of  the  Union.  Mr.  Perry  laughed  at  the 
apprehensions  of  the  learned  professor,  and  said  that,  so  far  from  seced 
ing,  South  Carolina  would  be,  in  ten  years,  the  most  thorough-going 
Union  state  in  the  Republic.  After  the  adjournment  of  the  convention, 
this  professor  reminded  Mr.  Perry  of  what  he  had  said,  and  that  a  por 
tion  of  it  was  now  true.  "  Yes,"  said  Mr.  Perry,  "  and  the  other  por 
tion  will  be  true.  I  shall  have  to  defend  the  states-rights  doctrines  of 
Virginia,  in  a  few  years,  against  the  consolidation  principles  of  South 
Carolina !" 

In  1837,  Mr.  Perry  was  married  in  the  city  of  Charleston  to  Miss 
Elizabeth  Frances  McCall,  daughter  of  Robert  McCall,  Esq.,  a  niece  of 
General  Robert  Y.  Hayne,  a  lovely  and  accomplished  woman.  He  has 
five  children,  three  sons  and  two  daughters.  Mr.  Perry  has  always 
lived  like  a  gentleman,  in  a  style  happily  combining  elegance  and  fru 
gality,  only  extravagant  in  the  purchase  of  books.  He  has  saved  a  com 
petency,  and  has  a  handsome  income  from  his  profession.  His  person 
is  tall  and  commanding,  with  a  face  more  than  ordinarily  intellectual. 
His  manners  are  at  the  same  time  grave,  cordial  and  refined.  His 
nature  is  frank,  confiding,  generous,  impulsive  and  quick — more 
quick  to  forgive  and  forget  than  to  take  offence.  In  all  the  domestic 
relations  of  life  he  is  without  fault  and  without  blemish.  As  a  lawyer, 
able  and  learned.  In  public  affairs,  as  firm  as  Cato,  and  as  just  as 
Aiistides. 


ARCHIBALD  WALLER  OVERTON, 

OF  TENNESSEE. 

THE  subject  of  this  memoir  is  a  native  of  Virginia,  and  descended 
from  an  ancient  and  highly  respectable  family.  His  paternal  grand 
father,  Capt.  James  Overton,  emigrated  from  England  sometime  prior 
to  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  settled  in  the  then  colony  of  Virginia, 
where  he  intermarried  with  Ann  Waller,  whose  father  was  also  a 
native  of  England,  and  a  relation  of  the  distinguished  English  poet, 
Waller.  She  bore  him  five  sons,  three  of  whom  participated  in  the 
Revolutionary  struggle  for  independence. 

The  eldest  of  these  was  Waller,  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this 
notice,  who  served  an  apprenticeship  with  a  carpenter,  named  Dabney 
Minor. 

After  the  expiration  of  the  term  of  his  apprenticeship  he  worked  at 
his  trade  several  years,  and  received  as  the  consideration  for  his 


278  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

labor  continental  money,  which  ultimately  became  valueless  in  his 
possession. 

This  circumstance  disgusted  him  with  his  trade,  which  he  immediately 
abandoned,  and  determined  to  seek  his  fortune  in  the  wilds  of  Kentucky. 

He  accordingly  left  his  native  home  and  repaired  to  that  country, 
which  was  still  occupied  by  many  of  the  aborigines,  and  was  an  almost 
trackless  wilderness  in  1776.  Here  he  became  acquainted  with  the 
memorable  Daniel  Boone,  with  whom  he  associated  about  twelve 
months,  sharing  with  him  his  toils  and  his  dangers.  During  this 
perilous  adventure,  he  was  present  and  witnessed  at  Boonesboro'  the 
celebration  of  the  first  marriage  ever  consummated  among  the  white 
population  of  that  country.  He  also  built  a  log-cabin,  and  cultivated 
a  crop  of  corn,  in  the  now  neighborhood  of  Lexington,  which,  under 
the  existing  laws,  entitled  him  to  a  claim  of  a  settlement  and  pre 
emption. 

After  completing  his  cabin,  and  the  cultivation  of  his  crop,  he 
returned  to  Virginia,  where  he  soon  after  intermarried  with  Martha  Rag- 
land,  the  daughter  of  Major  Samuel  Ragland,a  respectable  and  wealthy 
farmer  of  Louisa  county,  Virginia.  The  fruit  of  this  union  was  six 
sons  and  four  daughters.  Archibald  Waller  Overtoil,  their  second  son, 
and  subject  of  this  memoir,  was  born  on  the  12th  day  of  August,  1783, 
in  Louisa  county,  Virginia.  Soon  after  this  his  father  removed  from 
Virginia  to  his  new  home  in  the  vicinity  of  Lexington,  Kentucky, 
where  he  permanently  settled  a"hd  resided  until  his  death.  Archibald 
Waller  was  sent  by  his  father  to  a  common  English  school  in  the 
neighborhood,  at  which  he  learned  to  read,  write,  and  cypher  to  the 
"  rule  of  three."  In  a  short  time  afterwards  he  was  sent  to  a  grammar 
school,  where  he  studied  the  Latin  and  Greek  languages  under  the 
tuition  of  an  eminent  linguist  by  the  name  of  Dunlevi.  At  the  age  of 
sixteen  or  seventeen  years  he  was  entered  as  a  student  in  the  Transyl 
vania  University,  where  he  remained  until  he  graduated,  and  left  it 
with  distinguished  credit,  as  a  young  gentleman  of  talent  and  high 
promise. 

In  a  short  time  after  leaving  the  University  he  entered  upon  the 
study  of  the  law,  under  the  direction  and  supervision  of  the  Hon. 
Henry  Clay,  to  whom  he  is  greatly  indebted  for  his  kind  attention, 
care,  and  patronage,  in  early  life ;  and  for  whose  public  and  private 
•character  he  entertains  the  most  profound  respect.  At  that  time  Mr. 
Clay  was  in  the  zenith  of  his  power,  as  a  lawyer  and  a  statesman,  and 
as  an  advocate  he  stood  unrivaled  in  the  western  hemisphere. 

For  the  benefit  of  his  students,  he  organized  a  moot  court  in  which 
fictitious  suits  of  every  description  were  instituted — the  pleadings 
regularly  and  technically  made  up,  and  every  step  taken  in  the  causes, 
from  the  original  writ  to  final  judgment  and  execution.  This  court  was 
eminently  useful  in  imparting  to  the  student  a  knowledge  of  plead 
ing,  and  the  practice  generally. 

He  also  organized  a  legislature,  composed  of  his  law-students,  in  which 
committees  were  appointed,  bills  introduced  and  amended,  referred,  and 
reported  upon,  by  the  appropriate  committees,  and  all  the  regular  steps 
taken  to  effect  the  passage  of  a  bill  in  conformity  to  the  requirements 
of  the  "  Lex  Parliamentaria."  Jefferson's  Manual  was  always  referred 


ARCHIBALD  WALLER  OVERTON,  OF  TENNESSEE.          279 

to  as  the  ruling  authority  oil  the  subject  of  parliamentary  law.  Mr. 
Clay  often  presided  as  speaker  of  the  body,  in  which  capacity  he  spared 
no  pains  in  his  endeavors  to  facilitate  his  students  in  the  acquirement  ot 
a  thorough  knowledge  of  parliamentary  law.  Mr.  Overtoil  was  a  strict 
attendant  upon  the  moot  court,  and  a  prominent  and  leading  member 
of  the  legislature ;  in  both  of  which  he  was  esteemed  a  student  of 
unusual  talent  and  promise. 

These  two  fruitful  sources  of  information  greatly  facilitated  the  prog 
ress  and  improvement  of  Mr.  Overton  in  the  acquirement  of  all  the 
elements  of  legal  and  parliamentary  learning,  necessary  to  constitute 
a  scientific  lawyer, 

By  the  eminent  example  presented  in  the  distinguished  person 
of  Mr.  Clay,  together  with  an  intimate  communion  and  frequent  inter 
course  with  him,  and  being  pleased  with  his  style,  his  manner  and  ad 
dress,  he  selected  him  as  his  model.  In  the  year  1805,  his  uncle, 
Judge  John  Overton,  invited  him  to  visit  Tennessee  ;  he  accepted  the 
invitation,  and  in  the  fall  of  that  year  arrived  at  the  residence  of  his 
uncle  in  the  vicinity  of  Nashville,  without  means,  without  friends  or 
acquaintances,  when,  by  the  advice  and  solicitation  of  his  uncle,  he  re 
mained  in  his  office  for  the  space  of  twelve  or  eighteen  months,  revising 
and  extending  his  legal  reading ;  during  which  time  he  made  himself 
acquainted  with  the  statutes  of  the  state,  and  acquired  a  thorough 
knowledge  of  the  duties  of  a  clerk  in  the  office  of  the  late  Randal 
McGavock,  Esq.,  at  that  time  the  clerk  of  Mero  district  court — a  man 
of  eminent  worth,  and  perhaps  the  most  accomplished  clerk  in  the  state. 

About  the  same  time,  a  new  district  was  laid  off  and  organized 
in  Middle  Tennessee,  by  the  name  of  Winchester  District,  composed  of 
the  counties  of  Franklin,  Warren,  White,  Overton,  Jackson  and  Smith; 
the  court  to  be  holden  at  Carthage,  in  the  county  of  Smith. 

Mr.  Overton  being  a  good  clerk  in  theory,  became  a  candidate  for  the 
clerkship,  opposed  by  several  young  gentlemen  of  talent  and  high 
character — over  whom,  he  was  unanimously  elected.  At  that  time  the 
county  courts  possessed  an  almost  unlimited  jurisdiction,  both  in  civil 
and  criminal  cases. 

After  his  election  to  the  clerkship,  he  immediately  applied  for  and 
obtained  a  license  to  practice  the  law,  and  commenced'  his  professional 
career ; — his  circuit  embracing  the  six  counties  composing  the  district  of 
Winchester.  These  counties  had  been  newly  laid  off,  and  the  places  of 
holding  their  respective  courts,  fixed  and  established  by  legislative 
enactment.  New  clerks  were  appointed,  who  knew  little  or  nothing  of 
their  duties,  and  Mr.  Overton,  being  fresh  from  the  office  of  McGavock, 
was  enabled  to  give  them  all  the  necessary  instructions.  He  accord 
ingly  boarded  with  the  clerks,  and  after  the  adjournment  of  the  court, 
he  often  sat  up  all  night  making  their  entries  for  them,  and  instructing 
them  in  the  proper  manner  of  making  up  their  records  ;  and  in 
the  morning,  at  the  opening  of  the  court,  he  was  at  his  post  at  the  bar, 
ready  to  attend  to  the  business  of  his  clients.  In  this  way  he  paid  his 
board  on  the  first  circuit  he  attended  as  a  lawyer.  His  practice  soon 
became  large  and  lucrative,  and  in  the  course  of  a  few  years  there  were 
but  few  causes  in  his  circuit,  either  civil  or  criminal,  in  which  he  was  not 
retained.  In  the  month  of  March,  1810,  he  intermarried  with  Mary 


280  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

Greenway  Dixon,  the  eldest  daughter  of  Major  Tilman  Dixon,  a  dis 
tinguished  officer  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution.  He  was  at  the  siege  of 
Charleston  and  the  storming  of  Stony  Point,  under  the  command  of  Gen. 
Wayne,  at  which  latter  place  he  was  severely  wounded ;  when  Wayne 
fell,  being  stricken  down  by  a  g]ancing  musket-ball,  Major  D.  assisted 
in  bearing  him  into  the  fort.  Major  Dixon  had  three  brothers  and  two 
nephews  in  the  service  from  the  beginning  to  the  close  of  the  war. 
After  his  marriage  Col.  Overton  removed  to  Carthage,  in  Smith  county, 
where  he  settled  himself  in  possession  of  an  extensive  and  profitable 
practice,  until  a  change  in  the  judiciary  system  took  place.  The  Dis 
trict  Courts  were  abolished,  and  Circuit  and  Supreme  Courts  established 
in  their  stead.  One  of  the  Supreme  Courts  sat  at  Carthage,  and  Col. 
Overton  was  elected  as  its  clerk,  which  office  he  held  until  the 
year  1823 — at  the  same  time  exercising  his  profession  in  the  Cir 
cuit  and  County  Courts  of  the  six  counties  above  named,  assisted  by 
his  brother,  John  W.  Overton,  as  his  deputy  in  the  clerk's  office, 
who  in  the  mean  time  studied  the  law  with  him. 

In  the  year  1823  he  resigned  his  commission  as  clerk  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  and  was  elected  to  a  seat  in  the  senate  of  the  state  for  the  county 
of  Smith,  and  served  as  a  member  of  that  body  during  the  regular  ses 
sion  of  1823  and  the  called  session  of  1824.  After  the  close  of  the  ses 
sion  of  1824,  Col.  Overton  returned  to  his  constituents,  (who  gave  the 
strongest  indications  that  they  had  been  ably  and  faithfully  represented,) 
and  resumed  the  practice  of  his  profession  with  zeal  and  diligence,  and 
continued  to  do  so  until  the  year  1829.  In  the  mean  time  (about  the 
year  1828)  he  was  appointed  by  General  Samuel  Houston,  then  gover 
nor  of  Tennessee,  judge  of  the  fourth  judicial  circuit  of  the  state. 

Being  however  at  this  time  in  possession  of  an  extensive  practice, 
and  the  important  interests  of  numerous  clients  demanding  his  personal 
attention,  he  declined  its  acceptance.  After  this  period,  in  the  year 
1829,  he  was  again  elected  to  a  seat  in  the  house  of  representatives  of 
Tennessee  from  the  county  of  Smith.  After  the  close  of  the  session  of 
1829  he  again  returned  home  and  resumed  the  practice  of  his  profes 
sion,  (which  still  continued  to  increase,)  until  1836,  when  his  private 
business  becoming  onerous  and  extensive,  and  requiring  his  exclusive 
attention,  he  declined  the  practice  of  the  law,  removed  to  his  farm  on 
the  bank  of  the  Cumberland  River  in  the  neighborhood  of  Carthage, 
where  he  now  resides  with  his  family  in  the  enjoyment  of  good  health, 
both  of  body  and  mind,  with  ample  means  to  afford  him  all  the  com 
forts  of  life — the  common  reward  of  industry  and  a  faithful  and  honora 
ble  practice  of  the  legal  profession. 

Col.  Overton  has  shared  the  providential  destiny  of  many  of  his  illus 
trious  predecessors — he  has  no  issue — which  situation  he  sustains  with 
cheerfulness  and  contentment.  In  his  legislative  service  in  the  senate 
and  house  of  representatives  of  the  state,  he  was  placed  on  the  most 
important  committees,  took  an  active  and  prominent  part  in  preparing 
and  advocating  some  of  the  most  important  and  leading  measures  passed 
and  adopted  during  the  three  sessions  in  which  he  was  a  member  of 
those  bodies,  particularly  in  fixing  and  settling  the  policy  of  the  state 
in  relation  to  the  disposition  of  her  public  domain,  thereby  affording  to 
the  poor  and  indigent  classes  an  opportunity  of  obtaining  a  freehold  by 


ARCHIBALD  WALLER  OVERTON,  OF  TENNESSEE.          281 

occupancy  and  pre-emption  at  a  small  expense.  He  warmly  and  ably 
advocated  the  penitentiary  system  which  was  adopted  during  the  ses 
sion  of  1829,  and  is  now  the  settled  law  of  Tennessee.  He  was  con 
sidered  an  able  and  eloquent  debater  and  an  attentive  and  diligent 
member — always  advocating  with  commendable  zeal  the  interests  of 
his  own  immediate  constituency.  He  practised  the  law  twenty-five  or 
thirty  years  in  the  now  fourth  judicial  circuit,  formerly  the  district  of 
Winchester ;  has  been  stationary  in  his  residence  during  that  period, 
and  now  resides  in  the  same  county  in  which  he  commenced  his  legal 
career.  Few  men  have  shared  more  liberally  in  the  public  confidence 
and  patronage  as  a  lawyer.  Even  to  the  close  of  his  professional  life, 
he  was  employed  in  many  highly  important  criminal  cases  in  which  the 
superiority  of  his  powers  as  an  orator  and  advocate  were  most  strongly 
evinced.  In  the  case  of  the  State  vs.  Eagland,  indictment  for  murder, 
tried  in  the  Circuit  Court  of  Warren  county  at  McMinville,  at  —  term 
18 — ,  Judge  Stewart  on  the  bench,  on  a  change  of  venue  from  the 
county  of  Smith,  he  appeared  alone  as  counsel  for  Eagland.  The  case 
was  one  of  deep  interest  and  highly  excited  feeling,  the  prosecutor  and 
defendant  both  respectable,  witnesses  subpoenaed  and  in  attendance 
from  distant  parts  of  the  country,  and  the  most  eminent  lawyers  em 
ployed  to  assist  the  attorney-general  in  the  prosecution.  Under  these 
trying  and  dangerous  circumstances  to  the  accused,  Col.  Overton  ap 
peared  as  counsel  for  the  defendant.  I  will  not  attempt  an  analysis  of 
the  case — it  would  be  inconsistent  with  the  scope  and  design  of  the 
narrative  of  which  this  memoir  is  intended  to  be  only  a  brief.  The 
defendant  was  honorably  acquitted,  and  it  was  conceded  by  all  who 
heard  the  defence, — the  bench,  the  bar,  the  jury  and  the  bystanders, — 
that  the  defence  of  Col.  Overton  surpassed  in  ability  and  eloquence  any 
effort  they  had  ever  heard  on  a  similar  occasion.  This  was  one  amongst 
the  last  causes  of  importance  in  which  he  appeared  at  the  bar.  As  an 
evidence  of  his  unusual  and  almost  unparalleled  success  as  an  advocate, 
no  case  can  be  found  upon  the  records  of  the  courts  in  the  circuit,  in 
which  he  practised  for  nearly  thirty  years,  in  which  his  client  was  con 
victed  of  a  capital  felony.  He  adopted  a  general  rule  in  his  criminal 
practice  from  which  he  never  departed,  which  was,  never  to  be  employed 
on  the  part  of  the  state  in  the  prosecution,  fearful  that  perchance  he 
might  be  instrumental  in  the  conviction  of  an  innocent  man — always 
bearing  in  mind  the  humane  and  merciful  principle  inculcated  by  Lord 
Mansfield,  that  it  was  "  much  better  that  ninety-nine  guilty  persons 
should  go  unpunished,  than  that  one  innocent  man  should  suffer."  His 
speeches  at  the  bar,  when  occasion  seemed  to  justify  and  require  it, 
were  replete  with  wit  and  satire,  severe  invective,  and  the  most  bitter 
and  scathing  sarcasm.  A  case  occurred  in  the  county  of  Jackson  many 
years  ago — it  was  a  suit  instituted  by  a  Yankee  doctor  before  a  justice 
of  the  peace  against  an  old  Irishman,  to  recover  the  amount  of  a  medi 
cal  bill  for  services  rendered  by  the  doctor  to  the  son  of  the  old  Irish 
man  while  he  was  at  school. 

The  Irishman  boarded  his  son  in  Gainsboro',  the  county  seat  of  Jack 
son  county,  in  order  that  he  might  be  convenient  to  the  school.  The 
doctor,  who  had  recently  arrived  there  from  Massachusetts,  and  located 
in  the  town  for  the  purpose  of  practising  his  profession,  boarded  at  the 


282  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

same  house  with  the  Irish  boy.  The  doctor  soon  became  intimate  with 
the  lad,  and  proposed  to  him  that  if  he  would  feed  and  attend  to  his 
horse,  that  he  (the  doctor)  would,  in  the  event  the  boy  should  be  sick, 
attend  him  as  Jiis  physician.  The  proposition  was  acceded  to  by  the 
lad,  and  the  contract  consummated  between  the  parties.  The  contract 
was  strictly  and  faithfully  complied  with  on  the  part  of  the  boy ;  the 
Yankee's  horse  was  fed,  watered,  curried  and  rubbed  daily,  and  he  soon 
became  as  flit  as  a  seal  and  as  sleek  as  a  mole.  In  two  or  three  months 
after  the  contract  was  made,  the  lad  was  attacked  with  bilious  fever,  or 
some  other  manageable  disease.  The  doctor  accordingly  attended  him 
for  a  few  days  and  he  recovered  his  health.  Not  long  after  this,  the 
doctor  presented  his  patient's  father  with  an  exorbitant  medical  ac 
count  for  services  rendered  his  son,  which  the  old  man  refused  to  pay. 
A  suit  was  brought  by  the  doctor  against  the  old  man  before  a  justice 
of  the  peace,  where  he  recovered  the  amount  of  his  account.  An  ap 
peal  was  taken  to  the  County  Court,  where  the  result  was  the  same.  It 
was  then  taken  to  the  Circuit  Court  by  appeal.  When  the  cause  was 
called  for  trial,  all  the  parties  being  ready,  the  old  Irishman  went  to 
Col.  O.,  and  desired  to  know  how  much  he  would  charge  him  to  appear 
in  his  behalf  in  the  cause.  To  this  Col.  O.  replied,  that  it  was  then  too 
late  to  be  employed ;  he  knew  nothing  of  the  character  of  the  case,  the 
testimony,  &e.,  and  that  it  was  then  too  late  to  obtain  the  necessary 
information.  The  old  man,  who  appeared  very  much  excited,  replied, 
that  he  had  already  one  lawyer  employed  who  would  do  the  bulk  of 
the  speaking,  but  that  "  he  wished  to  employ  him  to  give  the  doctor's 

pedigree  to  the  jury."     Overton  told  him  that  for dollars  he 

would  attend  to  and  argue  that  branch  of  the  cause.  The  old  man 
without  hesitation  agreed  to  pay  the  required  fee.  The  cause  was 
opened  by  the  plaintiff's  counsel,  who  presented  and  read  the  doctor's 
medical  account,  the  items  of  which  were  written  in  good  or  bad  Latin. 
Overton  directed  his  client  to  have  all  the  doctors  in  the  village  sum 
moned  instanter,  wrhich  was  accordingly  done.  Their  examination  as  to 
the  meaning  or  true  construction  of  the  account  was  ludicrous  beyond 
description.  One  gave  it  one  construction,  another  a  different  construc 
tion,  while  a  third  gave  it  a  meaning  different  from  them  both.  The 
plaintifFs  counsel  knew  nothing  of  the  Latin  language,  and  therefore 
was  unable  to  explain  the  meaning  of  the  bill ;  nor  was  either  of  his 
compeers  better  informed.  The  testimony  having  closed,  the  plaintiff's 
counsel  opened  the  cause  and  virtually  surrendered  it,  there  being  no 
testimony  to  sustain  it.  Col.  O.  said  it  was  a  plain  case  of  mutual 
contract  between  the  parties,  that  his  client  had,  in  every  particular, 
faithfully  performed  his  part  of  the  contract,  as  the  testimony  incontro- 
vertibly  snowed  ;  and  upon  that  ground  the  defendant  ought  to  be  dis 
charged.  But  he  would  ask  the  indulgence  of  the  court  and  jury  to 
submit  a  few  remarks  in  relation  to  the  "  medical  bill,"  and  the  charac 
ter  and  conduct  of  its  author.  Here  he  portrayed  the  Yankee  charac 
ter  in  its  true  and  native  colors.  He  said,  that  he  had  read  of  "wooden 
nutmegs,"  and  a  case  in  which  one  Yankee  had  stolen  the  grave  of  his 
neighbor,  and  many  others  of  a  "  similar  stripe,"  but  this  "  bill,"  and 
the  circumstances  under  which  it  originated,  exceeded  them  all  in 
point  of  fraud,  ingratitude  and  atrocity.  The  "bill"  itself,  "per  se? 


ARCHIBALD  WALLER  OVERTON,  OF  TENNESSEE.  283 

bore  on  its  face  every  vestige,  and  was  clothed  with  every  badge  of 
fraud  and  corruption  known  to  the  law;  made  out  and  exhibited  in  a 
foreign  language  against  an  aged  and  illiterate  Irishman,  whether  it  was 
Written  in  Latin,  Greek  or  Hebrew  no  witness  could  tell,  not  even  his 
own  compeers,  and  gentlemen  of  his  own  profession.  He  said  that  such 
a  doctor  required  a  doctor,  and  that  the  jury  would  do  justice  and  their 
duty  by  medicating  him  with  a  verdict  against  him.  The  arguments  of 
counsel  having  closed,  the  jury  retired,  and  in  a  few  minutes  returned 
with  a  verdict  in  favor  of  the  defendant,  to  the  great  gratification  of  all 
present,  the  doctor  excepted,  who  looked  as  if  he  had  a  short  time  pre 
vious  swallowed  an  aperient  which  was  then  about  to  operate.  He  left 
the  court  in  a  rage,  leaving  the  balance  of  the  case,  as  to  the  costs,  which 
were  heavy,  to  be  adjusted  and  settled  between  himself  and  the  sheriff. 
Very  many  incidents  in  the  early  part  of  Col.  Overton's  life  evinced  a 
strong  proclivity  and  peculiar  adaptation  of  his  mind  to  the  profession 
which  he  selected. 

While  at  Transylvania  University,  one  of  the  professors  became  ob 
noxious  to  the  charge  of  malfeasance  in  office.  A  meeting  of  the  stu 
dents  was  held — a  committee  was  appointed  by  them  to  draft  the 
charges  and  specifications  against  the  professor,  and  to  take  the  neces 
sary  steps  and  adopt  such  measures  as  might  be  deemed  proper,  to 
bring  the  professor  before  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  university. 
Overton,  who  was  then  not  more  than  17  or  18  years  of  age,  was  se 
lected,  in  connection  with  several  other  students  of  distinction,  to  pre 
pare  and  conduct  the  proceedings  before  the  board  of  trustees — the 
board  being  composed  of  gentlemen  of  the  first  intelligence  and  charac 
ter  in  the  country,  his  father  being  among  the  number.  The  case  pro 
duced  great  popular  excitement  and  deep  interest  among  the  friends  of 
the  professor  and  the  parents  and  friends  of  the  students.  The  profes 
sor  was  a  Presbyterian  clergyman,  and  had,  to  a  very  great  extent,  en 
listed  the  feelings  and  solicitude  of  the  church  in  his  favor. 

The  trial  of  the  case  continued  ten  or  fifteen  days,  and  brought  to 
gether  people  of  every  class  and  denomination,  from  all  parts  of  the 
country,  anxious  to  hear  the  result.  Young  Overton,  as  a  member  of 
the  committee,  acted  a  very  prominent  part  in  the  preparation  of  the 
charges  and  specifications,  the  management  of  the  testimony,  and  the 
examination  of  the  witnesses  before  the  board.  His  argument  on  the 
occasion  was.  for  a  youth,  esteemed  eloquent  and  forcible. 

After  the  examination  of  the  testimony,  and  the  arguments  for  and 
against  the  professor  closed,  the  board  took  time  to  advise,  and  in  a 
short  time  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  professor  ought  to  be  dis 
missed,  and  he  was  dismissed  accordingly.  Young  Overton  acquired 
great  credit  and  applause  for  his  distinguished  talent,  tact,  and  eloquence, 
in  the  management  of  the  case,  both  from  the  board  of  trustees  and  au 
dience.  Another  and  still  more  remarkable  case  occurred  in  his  early 
history,  evincing,  most  clearly,  his  eminent  capacity  and  fitness  for  his 
profession.  In  the  year  1805,  while  on  his  way,  for  the  first  time,  to 
Tennessee,  he  called  at  Glasgow,  then  a  small  village,  immediately  on 
the  road  from  Lexington  to  Nashville,  in  the  county  of  Barren,  Ky., 
where  his  eldest  brother,  Thomas  J.  Overton,  then  resided,  and  prac 
tised  the  law.  He  arrived  there  late  in  the  evening,  and  put  up  for  the 


284  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

night  at  the  inn  of  a  Mr.  Dickerson,  a  Virginian,  a  justice  of  the  peace, 
and  a  social  and  hospitable  man. 

His  brother  and  all  the  lawyers  who  resided  in  the  village  were  ab 
sent  at  court  in  another  county.  On  the  morning  after  his  arrival,  an 
old  man,  whose  name  the  writer  does  not  now  recollect,  came  to  the  inn 
and  inquired  of  the  proprietor  where  he  could  find  a  lawyer.  Mr.  D. 
informed  him  that  they  were  all  absent.  The  old  man  seemed  much 
distressed,  and  observed  that  he  knew  not  what  he  should  do ;  that  his 
son  John,  about  seventeen  or  eighteen  years  of  age,  had,  on  the  day  pre 
vious,  been  arrested,  and  was  then  in  custody  of  the  sheriff,  on  a  charge 
of  biting  off  the  nose  of  James  Fowler,  and  he  feared  it  would  go  hard 
with  him  unless  he  could  find  a  lawyer.  Dickerson  told  him  that  it  was 
an  unfortunte  situation  to  be  placed  in,  but  that  a  young  gentleman  had 
arrived  there  the  night  before,  who  he  understood  was  a  lawyer,  and 
that  he  ha.d  better  apply  to  him.  The  old  man  was  accompanied  by 
Mr.  D.  to  the  room  of  young  Mr.  O.,  and  introduced  to  him — made  a 
statement  of  his  son's  case  to  Mr.  O.,  and  informed  him  that  he  wished 
to  employ  him  to  defend  his  son  before  the  called  or  Examining  Court, 
which  was  to  sit  on  that  day  at  the  court-house  in  Glasgow.  Mr.  O.  in 
formed  the  old  man  that  he  had  no  license  to  practise  the  law — that  he 
was  traveling  to  Tennessee — that  he  had  been  reading  law,  but  had 
never  appeared  in  any  court  or  in  any  cause,  and  that  he  did  not  consi 
der  himself  qualified  to  do  justice  to  his  son  in  his  defence,  and  advised 
him  to  obtain  a  continuance  of  the  ease.  The  old  man  still  insisted,  in 
the  most  earnest  manner,  aided  by  Mr.  Dickerson,  until  Mr.  Overton 
agreed  to  appear,  not  as  a  lawyer,  but  as  a  friend,  in  defence  of.his  son. 
He  procured  the  key  of  his  brother's  office,  found  4th  Blackstone's  Com 
mentaries,  and  some  other  books  on  criminal  law,  and  appeared  at  the 
bar  of  the  court,  at  its  opening,  with  the  old  man  and  his  son  at  his 
back.  When  the  testimony  was  closed,  both  on  the  part  of  the  state 
and  the  defendant,  it  appeared  that  a  quarrel  had  taken  place  between 
the  prosecutor  and  defendant ;  provoking  language  passed  on  both  sides, 
and  a  fight  ensued,  in  which  the  defendant  was  knocked  down,  the  prosecu 
tor  jumped  upon  him,  and  commenced  gouging  him  with  both  his  thumbs 
in  defendant's  eyes.  In  this  situation,  underneath,  and  suffering  under 
the  pain  and  torture  of  the  gouging  operation,  he  threw  up  his  head,  and 
snapped  off  about  an  inch  of  the  prosecutor's  nose.  Who  struck  the 
first  blow,  or  commenced  the  fight,  did  not  appear  in  the  proof  on  either 
side.  Mr.  O.,  in  his  argument,  made  it  appear,  to  the  satisfaction  of 
the  court,  from  the  law  and  the  facts,  that  it  was  most  clearly  a  case  of 
<:  son  assault  demesne,"  and  that  if  death  had  ensued  it  would  have  been 
a  case  of  justifiable  homicide — "se  defendendo" — and  therefore  the  de 
fendant  ought  to  be  discharged ;  and  such  was  the  opinion  of  the  court, 
and  the  defendant  was  discharged  accordingly.  This  was  the  first  time 
that  Mr.  Overton  ever  appeared  in  or  addressed  a  court  without  prepa 
ration,  and  without  a  license.  Unlike  most  men  of  his  acknowledged 
ability  and  merit,  he  does  not  aspire  to  political  elevation,  believing  as 
he  does  that  the  employment  of  those  means  generally  used,  and  well 
calculated  to  insure  the  success  of  the  politician,  are  inconsistent  with  the 
feelings  of  an  honorable  and  just  man.  He  adheres  firmly  to  the  demo 
cratic  creed,  as  adopted  and  pursued  by  Jefferson,  Madison,  Monroe, 


ARCHIBALD  WALLER  OVERTON,  OF  TENNESSEE.  285 

and  Jackson.  He  advocated  and  sustained  the  administrations  of  these 
illustrious  statesmen  to  the  extent  of  his  capacity.  He  voted  for  Jackson 
when  a  candidate  for  the  United  States  Senate,  and  supported  his  ad 
ministration  throughout.  He  was  Jackson's  intimate  acquaintance  and 
warm  personal  friend  until  his  death.  He  is  thoroughly  conversant  with 
constitutional  and  international  law,  as  well  as  the  form  and  structure 
of  the  American  government.  Pie  believes  that  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States  is  a  delegation  of  well-defined  powers  by  the  several  states 
to  the  general  government,  the  limits  to  which  should  under  no  circum 
stances  be  transcended. 

In  person,  Colonel  O.  is  below  the  medium  stature,  very  well  propor 
tioned,  and  of  nervous  and  sanguine  temperament.  He  is  urbane  in  his 
manners,  kind  and  hospitable  in  his  feelings,  and  dignified  in  his  deport 
ment — rather  inclined  to  be  taciturn  in  mixed  assemblies,  but  among 
his  friends  and  particular  acquaintances  he  is  animated  in  his  conversa 
tion,  witty,  interesting,  and  highly  instructive.  No  man  enjoys  his 
friends  with  higher  zest  or  greater  cordiality,  nor  abides  their  fortunes, 
whether  in  prosperity  or  adversity,  with  greater  cheerfulness  and  tena 
city.  To  his  clients,  whilst  practising  his  profession,  he  was  at  all  times 
accessible,  patient,  and  accommodating,  in  hearing  the  statements  of 
their  cases ;  and  if,  in  the  trial  of  their  causes,  the  result  should  prove 
unfavorable  to  their  interests,  they  always  left  him.  well  satisfied  "that 
his  best  efforts  had  been  employed  in  their  behalf. 

Colonel  Overton  has  ever  been  charitable  to  the  poor  man,  the  widow 
and  the  orphan,  cheerfully  devoting  his  services  to  them,  whenever  called 
upon  in  a  professional  capacity,  without  fee  or  reward,  as  well  as  afford 
ing  them,  in  other  respects,  the  free  and  liberal  contributions  of  a  bene 
volent  and  generous  neighbor  and  friend.  His  father  reared  and  edu 
cated  ten  children,  six  sons  and  four  daughters,  All  his  sons  studied 
the  law,  but  none  of  them  practised  this  profession  except  Archibald  W. 
and  his  eldest  brother,  Thomas  J.  Overton.  All  of  them  who  were  able 
to  bear  arms,  except  the  subject  of  this  notice,  were  active  participants 
in  the  war  of  1812.  Thomas  J.  Overton,  who  commanded  a  company 
of  infantry  in  the  regiment  commanded  by  Colonel  "Wells,  of  Kentucky, 
fell  in  the  battle  of  the  river  Eaisin,  and  Dr.  James  Overton,  his  third  bro 
ther,  who  acted  as  aid-de-camp  to  the  commanding  general,  was  taken  pri 
soner  at  the  same  time.  His  fourth  brother,  Samuel  R.  Overton,  was 
commissioned  by  General  Jackson  to  adjust  the  Spanish  claims  in  the 
territory  of  Florida,  who,  after  transacting  the  business  for  which  he  was 
commissioned,  married,  settled  in  Pensacola,  and  died  there.  John 
Waller  Overton,  his  fifth  brother,  volunteered,  and  served  a  campaign 
in  the  Creek  war  as  first  lieutenant  in  Captain  Walton's  company  of 
Colonel  Allen's  regiment,  Tennessee  volunteers. 

The  sixth  and  last  son  is  Dabney  Carr  Overton,  a  highly  reputable 
farmer  in  the  vicinity  of  Lexington,  Kentucky,  a  gentleman  of  cultivated 
mind  and  great  moral  worth.  Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  subject  of 
this  memoir  is  the  oldest  living  member  of  his  father's  family.  His 
mind  is  probably  as  clear,  as  active,  and  as  vigorous  at  present  as  at 
any  time  during  a  long  and  eventful  life.  In  fact  the  tenacity  with 
which  he  retains  both  his  mental  and  physical  powers  is  truly  remark 
able.  He  makes  no  formal  pretensions  to  religion,  but  regards  the 


286  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

"  Holy  Scriptures"  as  the  only  reliable  plan  of  salvation.  He  is  emi 
nently  tolerant  in  his  sentiments  on  the  subject,  and  is  hence  a  friend  to 
all  sects  and  denominations  who  conform  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Bible. 
He  has  been  long  and  well  known  to  the  writer  of  this  memoir,  who 
has  here  to  regret  his  inability  to  portray  more  fully  the  great  excellence 
and  distinguished  merit  of  his  friend,  whom  justly  to  appreciate  in  all 
relations,  the  foregoing  synopsis  of  his  life,  taken  from  recollection,  we 
are  obliged  to  regard  as  greatly  defective  in  material.  To  esteem  him 
rightly  in  the  whole  circle  of  his  character,  it  were  needful  to  have  en 
joyed  his  personal  acquaintance,  for,  by  all  allowance,  his  character  can 
not  be  given  by  any  assemblage  of  mental  or  moral  attributes  drawn 
from  the  portraiture  of  ordinary  men.  From  early  life  to  his  present 
age  his  individuality  of  character  has  ever  been  prominently  remark 
able,  to  be  impersonated  by  few,  if  any,  and  to  be  known  fully  by  those 
only  by  whom  he  is  personally  and  intimately  known.  By  such  he  will 
ever  be  recollected  as  a  man  of  high  intellectual  endowments,  moral 
worth,  and  professional  eminence. 


HUGH  A.  GARLAND,  ESQ., 

OF  MISSOURI. 

THE  subject  of  this  memoir  was  born  in  what  is  now  Nelson  county, 
Virginia,  on  the  first  day  of  June,  1805.  His  father  was  Mr.  Spots- 
wood  Garland,  the  son  of  General  John  Garland,  who  was  accidentally 
killed  at  Charlottesville,  while  he  was  in  command  of  the  troops  that 
kept  guard  over  Burguoyne's  captured  army.  His  mother  was  Lucinda 
Rose,  daughter  of  Colonel  Hugh  Rose,  of  Geddis,  Amherst  county. 

At  the  time  of  Mr.  Garland's  birth,  Nelson  was  a  part  of  Amherst 
county.  It  was  formed  into  a  county  in  1809,  and  Mr.  Spotswood 
Garland  was  elected  the  clerk  of  the  county.  This  office  he  held  until 
the  day  of  his  death,  the  30th  August,  1850. 

At  the  time  Mr.  Spotswood  Garland  moved  his  family  to  the  place 
which  had  been  selected  as  the  seat  of  justice  for  the  county,  the  neigh 
borhood  in  which  he  lived  might  have  been  regarded  as  something  like 
a  frontier  settlement.  The  manners  of  the  people  were  plain  and 
simple  ;  and  what  is  known  in  Virginia  as  an  old  field-school  was  the 
only  seminary  of  learning  to  which  parents  could  send  their  children  to 
be  educated.  Mrs.  Garland,  who  was  a  woman  of  great  piety  and 
possessed  of  strong  natural  abilities,  preferred  that  her  children  should 
remain  at  home  rather  than  they  should  be  exposed  to  the  evil  in 
fluences  which  would  be  exerted  upon  them  in  such  a  school.  She 
took  upon  herself  the  task  of  imparting  to  them  the  first  rudiments  of 
education,  and  it  was  not  until  a  private  teacher  could  be  procured 
in  the  family  that  the  subject  of  this  memoir  entered  upon  a  regular 
course  of  English  and  classical  studies.  When  he  was  13  years  of 
age  he  was  placed  under  the  tuition  of  Mr.  Richard  W.  Fox,  a  fine 
mathematician  and  classical  scholar,  who  came  to  teach  school  in  his 


HUGH  A.  GARLAND,  OF  MISSOURI.  287 

father's  neighborhood.  Mr.  Garland's  application  to  study,  even  at 
this  early  age,  was  very  great.  The  usual  hours  of  recreation  he  gener 
ally  employed  in  reading  history  ;  and  in  a  debating  society,  formed 
by  his  companions  in  study,  he  first  acquired,  in  some  slight  degree, 
the  habit  of  public  speaking. 

At  the  age  of  16  he  entered  the  freshman  class  in  Hampden  Sydney 
College,  at  that  time  the  most  flourishing  literary  institution  in  Virginia. 
Its  president  and  professors  were  men  of  profound  learning,  and  had 
the  talent  of  exciting  an  enthusiastic  zeal  in  their  pupils  in  the  pursuit 
of  knowledge. 

Hugh  A.  Garland  was  a  diligent  student  during  the  four  years  he 
remained  at  college,  and  graduated  with  distinguished  honors.  The 
first  year  after  graduating  Mr.  Garland  spent  in  the  office  of  his  father 
as  deputy-clerk.  His  leisure  hours  were  devoted  to  the  Greek  classics 
and  mental  philosophy.  In  September,  1826,  when  just  21  years  of 
age,  he  was  elected  by  the  trustees  of  Hampden  Sydney  College, 
professor  of  Greek  language  and  literature.  In  October  he  married 
Miss  Anne  P.  Biirwell,  daughter  of  the  late  Colonel  Armistead  Bur- 
well,  of  Mecklenburg.  For  four  years  Mr.  Garland  devoted  himself 
with  unremitting  ardor  to  the  laborious  duties  of  his  office.  He  also 
found  leisure  to  prosecute  the  study  of  the  French,  Spanish,  and  Italian 
languages,  under  the  instruction  of  Colonel  Gaspari,  the  professor  of 
modern  languages.  During  this  period  Mr.  Garland  frequently  wrote 
essays  for  the  political  newspapers,  and  delivered  addresses  on  public 
occasions  ;  one  in  particular  the  writer  remembers,  on  the  "Importance 
of  classical  studies,  as  a  branch  of  a  liberal  education."  Mr.  Garland's 
favorite  studies  at  this  time  were  the  writings  of  Samuel  Taylor  Cole 
ridge.  His  old  preceptor,  Dr.  James  Marsh,  had  just  published  an 
American  edition  of  The  Friends,  the  Aid  to  Reflection,  and  the  States 
man's  Manual ;  these  books,  together  with  the  Biographia  Literaria,  by 
the  same  author,  he  devoured  with  eagerness.  Such  studies  could  not 
fail  to  develop  all  the  faculties  of  his  mind,  and  to  cultivate  a  habit 
of  profound  thought  and  deep  research.  The  writer  was  intimately 
acquainted  with  Mr.  Garland  during  this  period,  and  remembers  the 
enthusiasm  with  which  he  discoursed  on  the  great  themes  of  "morals, 
politics,  and  religion,"  the  principles  and  sources  of  which  were  so  pro 
foundly  investigated  by  his  favorite  philosopher  and  guide,  Dr.  Marsh. 

In  1830,  Mr.  Garland  resigned  his  professorship,  and  repaired  to  the 
University  of  Virginia  to  prosecute  his  studies  more  thoroughly.  In 
this  institution  he  devoted  one  year  to  the  study  of  physiology  and 
anatomy,  under  the  instruction  of  Dr.  Dunglison ;  he  also  attended 
the  lectures  of  Doctors  Paterson  and  Emmet,  on  natural  philosophy 
and  chemistry.  He  took  German  lessons  from  Dr.  Blatterman,  and 
attended  his  courses  on  Italian,  French,  and  Spanish  literature.  The 
whole  day  was  given  to  these  scientific  and  literary  pursuits;  the  night 
was  devoted  to  the  study  of  law.  Mr.  Garland  did  not  devote  him 
self  to  the  details  of  practice,  his  great  object  was  to  acquire  a  thorough 
knowledge  of  the  sources  and  principles  of  the  English  common  law. 

In  December,  1831,  Mr.  Garland  settled  in  Boydton,  the  county 
seat  of  Mecklenburg,  and  opened  an  office  for  the  practice  of  law.  He 
was  an  entire  stranger  in  the  county,  and  for  more  than  a  year  being 


288  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

without  practice,  Mr.  Garland  devoted  himself  to  the  study  of  his  pro 
fession.  Tucker's  Commentaries  and  books  of  practice  were  his  daily- 
companions.  The  idleness  and  dissipation  of  a  village  life  had  no 
temptations  for  him.  Abstemious  in  his  habits,  his  whole  time  was 
devoted  to  the  acquisition  of  knowledge.  When  not  employed  in  pro 
fessional  studies  he  read  history,  or  perused  the  poetic  works  of  Shaks^- 
peare,  Wordsworth,  and  Burns,  and  always  returned  with  renewed 
pleasure  to  his  old  favorite  author,  Coleridge. 

To  eke  out  their  limited  resources,  Mrs.  Garland  undertook  to  teach 
a  female  school,  with  Mr.  Garland's  general  superintendence  and  occa 
sional  aid.  The  school  soon  became  popular  and  profitable.  Many  a 
virtuous  and  accomplished  lady  in  that  part  of  the  country  will  readily 
acknowledge  their  lasting  obligations  to  the  moral  and  mental  train 
ing  to  which  they  were  subjected  in  Mrs.  Garland's  excellent  school. 
Brought  up  in  luxury  and  affluence,  both  husband  and  wife,  they  were 
not  ashamed,  when  the  hour  of  adversity  came,  to  toil  for  their  daily 
bread,  in  an  occupation  which  is  really  the  noblest  of  human  pursuits, 
although  it  has  been  degraded,  by  a  false  public  sentiment,  below  the 
level  of  other  professions. 

On  the  3d  Monday  of  November,  1832,  Mr.  Garland  addressed  the 
people  of  Mecklenburg  for  the  first  time  on  political  subjects.  The 
same  day  witnessed  the  assembling  of  the  celebrated  nullification  con 
vention  in  South  Carolina.  The  minds  of  the  people  were  greatly  ex 
cited  on  the  subject,  and  it  constituted  the  theme  of  Mr.  Garland's  dis 
course.  His  speech  made  a  great  impression  on  the  public  mind,  and 
he  was  immediately  announced  by  his  friends  as  a  candidate  for  a  seat 
in  the  state  legislature.  Although  he  was  a  stranger  in  the  county,  at 
the  ensuing  spring  elections  he  obtained  a  small  majority  over  several 
very  formidable  competitors.  Until  the  meeting  of  the  legislature  in 
1833,  Mr.  Garland  devoted  himself  to  the  duties  of  his  profession, 
which  had  now  become  to  him  a  source  of  interest  and  of  profit. 

The  winter  of  1833-4  was  a  time  of  great  excitement  on  political 
subjects  throughout  the  Union.  The  war  between  the  government  and 
the  bank  was  at  its  height.  General  Jackson  had  removed  the  public 
deposits  from  the  bank,  and  had  thereby  created  a  great  panic  in  the 
commercial  world.  The  leading  object  of  the  whig  party,  then  just  or 
ganizing  itself,  was  to  procure  a  restoration  of  the  deposits,  and  a  pro 
longation  of  the  life  of  the  bank,  whose  charter  had  just  been  vetoed  by 
the  President.  The  excitement  in  Congress  and  the  Virginia  legislature 
was  very  intense.  Clay,  Webster  and  Calhoun  were  never  more  powerful 
in  their  opposition  to  the  measures  of  the  administration  than  they  were 
at  that  time.  General  Jackson  seemed  to  be  left  almost  friendless  and 
alone. 

The  legislature  of  Virginia,  at  the  time  of  the  election  in  April,  1833, 
was  in  favor  of  the  administration,  almost  without  any  show  of  opposi 
tion.  But  when  it  assembled  in  December,  or  at  least  a  few  weeks 
afterwards,  under  the  influence  of  the  panic  speeches  delivered  in  Wash 
ington,  and  from  other  causes,  scarcely  any  of  its  members  had  sufficient 
moral  courage  to  stand  up  and  declare  themselves  to  be  friends  of  the 
administration.  Mr.  Garland  was  one  of  the  few  who  were  bold 
enough  to  do  so.  About  the  latter  part  of  January,  he  made  his  maiden 


HUGH  A.  GARLAND,  OF  MISSOURI.  289 

speech  in  the  legislature,  denouncing  the  coalition  which  had  been 
formed  at  Washington  to  destroy  General  Jackson,  and  to  defeat  his 
efforts  to  put  an  end  to  that  corrupting  institution,  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States.  He  had  been  a  silent  member  of  the  house  up  to  that 
period.  His  vehement  and  earnest  manner,  his  clear  and  logical  style 
of  reasoning,  took  every  body  by  surprise,  and  at  once  established  his 
character  as  an  able  and  eloquent  debater.  The  writer  of  this  memoir 
happened  to  be  in  the  lobby  of  the  house,  and  well  remembers  the  effect 
produced  by  this  first  effort  of  Mr.  Garland  on  the  floor  of  the  legis 
lature,  and  the  assurance  which  it  gave  to  his  friends  of  his  future  emi 
nence  as  a  politician  and  a  statesman. 

Having  taken  a  decided  position  in  the  political  world,  Mr.  Garland 
maintained  and  defended  it  with  untiring  energy  and  zeal.  He  called 
to  his  aid  all  the  rich  stores  of  knowledge  which  he  had  been  diligently 
laying  up  for  so  many  years.  He  wrote  an  elaborate  address  to  the 
people  of  Virginia,  giving  an  historical  account  of  the,  political  parties 
and  of  the  great  controversies  which  were  then  agitating  the  country. 
The  doctrines  set  forth  in  that  address  only  met  the  approbation  of  the 
members  then  composing  the  minority  of  the  legislature.  To  them  it 
was  acceptable  in  the  highest  degree,  but  none  of  them  had  the  bold 
ness  to  sign  it  but  Mr.  Garland  and  Col.  Joseph  S.  Watkins,  of  Gooch- 
land.  This  address  was  extensively  circulated  in  the  state,  and  called 
forth  elaborate  answers  from  several  gentlemen  of  distinction  in  the 
whig  party.  It  is  said  to  have  exerted  great  influence  in  giving  direc 
tion  to  public  sentiment,  which,  up  to  that  time,  had  been  much  dis 
tracted  and  divided  by  the  startling  and  agitating  events  which  had 
so  recently  taken  place  in  such  rapid  and  quick  succession. 

At  the  close  of  the  session,  Mr.  Garland  met  with  strong  opposition 
at  home,  but  was  re-elected  by  a  very  handsome  majority.  When  the 
legislature  assembled  again  in  December,  1834,  the  friends  of  the  ad 
ministration  were  still  in  a  minority,  but  their  numbers  had  greatly  in 
creased.  During  this  session,  Mr.  Garland  delivered  an  elaborate 
speech,  in  which  he  expressed  his  views  fully  on  the  constitution,  on  the 
relation  of  the  states  to  the  federal  government,  and  on  the  importance 
of  judging  our  political  institutions  by  rules  purely  American,  and  not 
by  principles  of  interpretation  derived  from  governments  wholly  dissi 
milar  to  our  own.  No  copy  of  this  speech  is  in  our  possession,  or  we 
would  gladly  make  some  extracts  from  it,  to  illustrate  Mr.  Garland's 
political  views  and  to  give  an  idea  of  his  mode  of  reasoning  and  his 
style  of  composition. 

At  the  close  of  the  session,  he  put  forth  another  minority  address  to 
the  people  of  Virginia.  It  was  signed  by  all  the  members  of  the  mi 
nority,  a  fact  which  clearly  proved  what  a  great  change  had  taken  place 
in  public  sentiment  in  the  course  of  a  single  year. 

In  the  spring  of  1835  a  strenuous  and  determined  effort  was  made  to 
defeat  Mr.  Garland's  election.  The  strongest  men  were  brought  out 
as  candidates  by  the  opposite  party,  and  all  the  wealth  and  influence 
of  the  county  were  arrayed  against  him.  But  he  resorted  to  no  unwor 
thy  or  extraordinary  means  to  secure  his  election.  He  made  it  a  rule 
to  speak  to  the  people  at  large  on  public  affairs — appealed  to  their  in 
telligence  and  sense  of  justice.  Having  given  an  account  of  his  steward- 

19 


290  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

ship  he  left  the  result  in  the  hands  of  his  constituents.  He  was  again 
re-elected  by  an  increased  majority.  From  this  time  forth  he  was 
elected  without  opposition,  so  long  as  he  remained  a  citizen  of  the 
county  of  Mecklenburg. 

The  next  legislature,  1835  and  '3G,  found  the  administration  in  the 
majority,  but  another  subject  of  agitation  threw  its  true  friends  into  a 
minority.  This  was  a  season  of  great  excitenrent  on  the  abolition 
question.  In  the  summer  before,  meetings  had  been  held  in  all  parts 
of  the  state,  denouncing  "  abolition  societies"  and  requiring  strict  legis 
lation  to  put  them  down.  The  whig  party,  especially  the  Calhoun  por 
tion,  which  did  not  separate  from  the  whigs  till  1837,  advocated  ultra 
measures  and  were  warm  for  a  southern  convention  and  a  southern  or 
ganization.  Mr.  Garland  opposed  their  views  with  great  ability.  The 
debate  was  protracted  and  animated.  Mr.  Garland  took  the  lead  in  the 
'discussion  and  spoke  frequently  in  reply  to  those  who  opposed  the  con 
ciliatory  course  he  advocated.  His  speeches  on  that  occasion  are  to  be 
found  in  the  Richmond  Enquirer  of  that  day.  He  said  "  that  the  battle 
had  to  be  fought  in  the  northern  states,  and  that  the  democracy  of  those 
states  would  maintain  the  cause  of  the  south  if  the  south  should  be  true  to 
them.  He  had  faith  in  the  northern  democracy  and  would  take  no  steps 
to  alienate  them  from  the  south."  He  was  chairman  of  the  committee  to 
whom  was  referred  the  petitions  and  resolutions  of  the  people  on  the 
abolition  question.  The  majority  reported  resolutions  opposed  to  his 
views.  He  wrote  a  minority  report  in  which  this  whole  subject  of 
slavery  and  abolitionism  is  reviewed. 

In  December,  1836,  some  months  before  the  deposit  banks  suspended 
specie  payments,  Mr.  Garland  offered  in  the  Virginia  legislature  a  series 
of  resolutions  advocating  an  independent  treasury  system.  These  reso 
lutions  were  followed  by  a  series  of  essays  in  the  Richmond  Enquirer, 
urging  the  necessity  of  separating  the  government  altogether  from  banks 
and  of  restoring  the  public  treasury  to  its  constitutional  character. 

In  the  session  of  1837  and  '38,  Mr.  Garland  wrote  the  report  on  the 
right  of  instruction,  and  was  mainly  instrumental  in  carrying  it  through 
the  legislature.  It  met  with  much  opposition,  and  strenuous  efforts 
were  made  to  amend  and  modify  it ;  but  it  was  adopted  in  the  form  and 
language  in  which  it  was  originally  reported. 

Mr.  Garland  was  for  five  years  a  member  of  the  Virginia  legislature 
and  took  an  active  and  leading  part  in  all  its  proceedings,  made  many 
speeches,  drew  up  many  able  reports,  and  wrote  many  essays,  which 
were  published  and  highly  complimented  in  the  newspapers  of  the  day. 
With  the  view  of  withdrawing  from  politics  and  devoting  his  whole 
time  to  the  practice  of  the  law,  he  removed  from  the  county  of  Meck 
lenburg  and  settled  on  a  farm  in  the  neighborhood  of  Petersburg. 
He  opened  an  office  in  that  town  in  the  spring  of  1838.  In  December 
following  he  was  unexpectedly  invited  by  some  of  the  leading  mem 
bers  of  Congress  to  become  a  candidate  for  the  clerkship  of  the  House  of 
Representatives.  He  consented  and  was  elected. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  twenty-sixth  Congress,  which  took  place  in 
December,  1839,  as  the  clerk  of  the  preceding  House  of  Representatives, 
he  was  called  to  act  on  the  famous  New-Jersey  question.  After  the 
house  was  finally  organized,  Mr.  Garland  was  re-elected  as  its  clerk. 


HUGH  A.  GARLAND,  OF  MISSOURI.  291 

On  the  passage  of  the  independent  treasury  bill,  the  4th  of  July,  1840, 
Mr.  Garland  was  invited  to  address  a  mass  meeting  in  Castle  Garden, 
in  the  city  of  New- York,  in  commemoration  of  that  great  event.  His 
speech  is  now  before  me.  The  commencement  of  it  is  very  poetic,  and 
the  style  throughout  is  very  lofty  and  ambitious.  In  this  speech  Mr. 
Garland  attempts  to  give  a  short  and  condensed  view  of  the  progress 
of  human  opinions  on  the  subject  of  government  and  of  the  gradual  de 
velopment  of  the  principles  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  ending  in  the 
all-absorbing  topic  with  him — the  downfall  of  the  United  States  Bank, 
and  the  restoration  of  the  government  to  its  original  and  primitive  foun 
dation.  This  speech  exhibits  Mr.  Garland's  usual  ability,  and  the 
straightforward  and  guileless  simplicity  of  his  unsophisticated  nature. 
He  cannot  help  being  in  earnest  when  engaged  in  the  pursuit  of  what 
he  considers  essential  to  the  welfare  and  happiness  of  the  human  family, 
or  when  contending  for  the  honor  and  glory  of  his  country. 

The  twenty-seventh  Congress,  which  was  called  together  in  an  extra 
session  by  General  Harrison,  May,  1841,  having  a  whig  majority, 
elected  Matthew  St.  Clair  Clarke,  clerk  of  the  house.  Mr.  Garland 
retired  to  his  farm  near  Petersburg,  and  devoted  himself  for  some 
years  exclusively  to  literary  pursuits.  Having  a  moderate  com 
petence,  and  no  aspirations  after  wealth,  he  gave  himself  up  with  re 
newed  zeal  to  his  favorite  studies.  Coleridge,  Carlyle,  and  Kant,  the 
"  Critic  of  Pure  Reason,"  were  his  daily  companions.  The  composi 
tions  that  came  from  his  pen  at  this  time  have  never  been  given  to  the 
public.  Some  two  or  three  speeches,  delivered  on  various  occasions, 
were  published,  and  among  others  was  a  eulogy  on  the  life  and  ser 
vices  of  General  Jackson,  delivered  in  Petersburg  in  July,  1845.  It 
exhibits  the  characteristic  traits  of  Mr.  Garland's  mind,  his  enthusiastic 
admiration  of  General  Jackson's  character,  and  his  devoted  attachment 
to  what  he  considers  the  peculiar  and  fundamental  principles  of  the 
constitution  of  the  United  States. 

About  this  time  an  important  change  took  place  in  Mr.  Garland's 
pecuniary  affairs,  which  has  given  quite  a  new  direction  to  his  efforts 
and  his  labors.  He  had  embarked  a  small  sum  of  money  in  a  mercan 
tile  partnership,  in  Petersburg,  Virginia,  and  entrusted  the  entire 
management  of  it  to  the  young  gentleman  who  was  his  partner  in 
business,  and  in  whom  he  had  the  most  implicit  confidence.  He  sel 
dom  visited  the  store,  but  devoted  himself  at  home  to  pursuits  of 
science  and  literature.  In  a  short  time  the  partnership  was  involved 
in  bankruptcy  and  ruin.  This  was  a,  severe  and  unexpected  misfor 
tune  to  Mr.  Garland  and  his  young  family.  No  event  is  better  calcu 
lated  to  test  the  strength  of  a  man's  character  than  one  like  this.  Mr. 
Garland  did  not  hesitate  on  this  trying  occasion.  He  surrendered  all 
his  private  fortune  for  the  benefit  of  the  creditors  of  the  partnership. 
He  reserved  nothing  for  himself  or  his  helpless  family.  At  the  age  of 
forty  he  began  life  again  without  a  farthing.  He  removed  to  St.  Louis, 
and  again  commenced  the  practice  of  the  law.  His  spirits  have  not 
nagged.  He  devotes  himself  to  labor  and  intense  study  with  the  same 
ardor  that  characterized  him  when  the  writer  first  knew  him,  as  a 
fellow-student,  at  Hampden  Sydney  College. 

The  field  of  law,  as  it  exhibits  itself  in  Missouri,  is  peculiarly  fitted 


292  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

to  his  mind.  Where  there  are  so  many  conflicting  elements,  common 
law,  civil,  French,  and  Spanish  law,  statute  law — congressional,  terri 
torial,  and  state — it  requires  a  mind  trained  as  his  has  been  to  grapple 
with  so  many  different  and  conflicting  codes  of  law,  and  to  reduce  them 
to  a  consistent,  sound,  and  just  system.  Mr.  Garland  at  present  de 
votes  himself  exclusively  to  his  professional  pursuits,  and  takes  a  true 
pleasure  in  profound  legal  investigations.  He  hardly  allows  himself 
time  for  keeping  up  with  the  politics,  science,  and  literature,  of  the 
day,  so  intense  is  his  zeal  in  his  favorite  pursuit.  His  summer  vaca 
tions,  immediately  after  his  removal  to  St.  Louis,  were  devoted  to  the 
composition  of  the  life  of  John  Randolph,  which  work  was  published 
in  1850. 

Mr.  Garland  still  takes  an  interest  in  those  great  political  principles 
of  the  democratic  party  to  which  he  .devoted  so  much  of  his  life,  but 
he  has  taken  no  active  part  in  politics  since  he  became  a  citizen  of 
Missouri,  and  has  kept  aloof  from  the  party  strifes  that  have  distracted 
the  democracy  in  this  state  for  the  last  four  or  five  years. 

In  the  important  causes  entrusted  to  Mr.  Garland,  he  has  made  it  a 
rule,  to  write  out  in  full,  and  to  print  the  argument  by  which  he  sus 
tains  his  cause.  We  have  some  of  them  before  us  at  this  time ;  they 
evince  his  capacity  for  research,  his  thorough  knowledge  of  the  great 
principles  of  jurisprudence,  his  devotion  to  the  interests  of  his  clients, 
and  his  invincible  determination  to  go  to  the  bottom  of  the  cause  he  is 
investigating.  Mr.  Garland's  ability  as  a  lawyer  has  not  yet  become 
fully  known  in  the  state  to  which  he  removed  only  a  few  years  since. 
His  habits  are  reserved  and  retiring.  He  loves  the  retired  seclusion 
of  his  office,  and  the  profound  study  of  his  favorite  authors,  too  much 
to  be  as  much  conversant  with  the  busy  world  around  him  as  would  be 
conducive  to  his  fame,  and  have  a  greater  tendency  to  promote  his 
pecuniary  interests.  His  talents  are  not  superficial  and  brilliant, 
shining  forth  at  once  with  the  most  intense  splendor,  and  gradually 
diminishing  their  brightness  until  they  seem  to  fade  away  from  the  eye 
of  the  beholder.  On  the  contrary,  they  are  solid  and  substantial,  only 
developing  themselves  as  occasion  calls  for  their  exercise,  and  they  are 
most  highly  estimated  by  those  who  are  most  intimately  acquainted 
with  him.  He  is  esteemed  by  his  associates  at  the  bar  as  a  profound 
and  learned  jurist,  and  his  opinion  as  to  intricate,  difficult,  and  abstruse 
points  of  law  is  held  by  them  in  the  highest  reverence.  His  great 
learning,  his  unwearied  diligence,  and  his  unblemished  integrity,  will 
no  doubt  yet  secure  for  him  a  brilliant  professional  career. 

It  is  certainly  to  be  regretted,  on  some  accounts,  that  he  so  early  em 
barked  on  the  stormy  sea  of  politics,  and  that  so  much  of  his  life  has 
been  spent  amid  the  strifes  and  contentions  that  vex  and  disturb 
the  political  firmament.  Successful  as  he  has  been  in  accomplishing  so 
much  in  the  hazardous  and  dangerous  pursuit  in  which  he  was  so  long 
engaged,  it  is  evident  that  he  was  more  eminently  qualified  to  distin 
guish  himself  in  another  and  a  very  different  sphere.  Had  he  never 
been  tempted  to  forsake  the  calm  and  peaceful  performance  of  his  pro 
fessional  duties — had  he  given  his  whole  soul  and  all  his  energies,  with 
out  interruption,  to  the  study  of  the  great  principles  of  jurisprudence, 
his  fame  as  a  lawyer  would  have  been  much  greater  ;  and  yet  it  admits 


HUGH  A.  GARLAND,  OF  MISSOURI.  293 

of  a  doubt,  if  his  experience  in  political  life,  has  not  in  some  respects 
more  fully  prepared  him  for  the  perfect  investigation,  and  just  appre 
hension  of  many  of  the  difficult  questions,  which  must  necessarily  come 
before  the  man,  who  is  engaged  in  the  practice  of  law  in  the  United 
States  of  America. 

Mr.  Garland,  by  the  publication  of  the  life  of  John  Randolph,  has, 
beyond'  all  question,  acquired  for  himself  no  little  reputation  in  the  lite 
rary  world.  It  was  a  work  prepared  for  the  press  under  great  disad 
vantages.  It  was  commenced  about  the  time  that  Mr.  Garland  ex 
perienced  the  great  reverse  in  his  pecuniary  circumstances,  which  was 
so  peculiarly  painful  to  himself,  and  which  would  have  completely 
overwhelmed  a  man  of  less  firmness  and  decision  of  character.  It  was 
partly  written  during  the  prevalence  of  the  cholera,  as  an  epidemic,  in 
the  city  of  St.  Louis.  Hundreds  were  dying  around  him  daily.  The 
more  wealthy  citizens  were  flying  with  consternation  from  the  scene  of 
contagion  and  of  death.  But  Mr.  Garland  had  a  large  and  helpless 
family  to  support.  He  had  a  broken  down  fortune  to  repair,  and 
neither  the  heat  of  summer,  nor  the  presence  of  a  malignant  epidemic, 
which  filled  the  minds  of  other  men  with  terror,  could  induce  him  to 
suspend  his  labors,  or  to  seek  safety  in  flight ;  calmly  putting  his  trust 
in  an  overruling  Providence,  he  toiled  on  at  his  task,  and  accomplished 
the  object  he  had  in  view. 

The  favor  with  which  Mr.  Garland's  life  of  John  Randolph  was  re 
ceived  by  the  public,  bears  a  sufficient  and  satisfactory  evidence  as  to 
the  literary  abilities  of  its  author.  The  work  met  with  a  ready  sale.  It 
has  already  passed  through  several  editions,  and  has  been  a  source  of 
very  considerable  profit  to  Mr.  Garland.  If  any  fault  is  to  be  found 
with  it,  it  is  that  the  author  attempted  to  extend  his  work  rather  beyond 
the  legitimate  limits  of  a  biography.  Mr.  Garland  evidently  designed 
to  make  it  a  political  history  of  the  times,  in  which  Mr.  Randolph 
lived,  tracing  very  clearly  to  their  source  the  different  changes  which 
have  taken  place  among  politicians  in  our  country,  with  reference  to  the 
powers  of  the  general  government.  In  this  effort  Mr.  Garland  very 
happily  succeeded. 

His  work  furnishes  a  vast  amount  of  information  with  respect  to  the 
state  of  public  opinion,  and  the  attitude  of  our  different  political  parties 
during  the  long  and  interesting  period  that  Mr.  Randolph  held  a  seat  in 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States.  Mr.  Garland's  delineation  of  John 
Randolph's  character  was  faithful  and  striking.  He  gave  a  just  promi 
nence  to  his  many  virtues,  and  rare  and  excellent  qualities,  both  of  head 
and  heart ;  but  did  not  forget,  or  attempt  to  conceal  his  peculiarly 
morbid  nervous  excitability,  which  rendered  him  so  wonderfully  eccen 
tric  in  his  manners,  and  so  completely  unlike  all  other  men.  Ample 
justice  was  done  by  Mr.  Garland  to  Mr.  Randolph's  surprising  talents 
and  matchless  eloquence  in  debate ;  but  it  was  impossible  for  him,  or 
anv  other  man,  to  give  the  world  a  correct  idea  of  the  quickness  of  Mr. 
Randolph's  powers  at  repartee,  of  the  brilliancy  of  his  genius,  of  his 
withering  sarcasm,  or  of  the  delicate  strain  of  wit  and  humor  which  ran 
through  his  speeches  in  the  Senate,  and  all  his  familiar  conversations  at 
the  fire-side  with  his  intimate  friends.  There  was  a  combination  of  op 
posite  and  conflicting  qualities  in  Mr.  Randolph's  character,  which  it 


2CJ4  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

was  hard  to  delineate  ;  but  Mr.  Garland  succeeded  in  painting  and  em 
bellishing  a  faithful  portrait  of  Mr.  Randolph's  private  character — 
of  his  peculiarities  and  his  rare  endowments,  which  has  certainly  been 
no  small  contribution  to  the  literature  of  our  country. 

Mri  Garland's  success  as  an  author,  has  been  a  temptation  to  him  to 
engage  in  the  composition  of  some  more  elaborate  and  important  his 
torical  work  ;  but  he  has  been  prevented  from  doing  so  by  the 'urgent 
nature  of  his  professional  duties.  He  wields  a  ready  pen,  and  literary 
labors  are  to  him  a  source  of  pleasure,  rather  than  of  irksome  and 
fatiguing  toil. 

In  this  brief  memoir  the  peculiar  traits  of  Mr.  Garland's  mind  have 
perhaps  been  sufficiently  developed,  although  it  has  been  done  incident 
ally  in  giving  a  hasty  narrative  of  his  life.  Patient  thought  and  a  habit 
of  profound  investigation,  constitute  his  grand  mental  peculiarity.  His 
diligence  and  untiring  application  to  study  has  made  him  the  master  of 
a  rich  store  of  varied  knowledge.  His  reading  has  taken  a  wide  range. 
He  has  explored  the  domains  of  ancient  and  modern  literature.  He 
has  made  himself  familiar  with  most  of  the  ancient  and  modern  languages. 
The  beauties  of  poetry  and  the  subtilties  of  metaphysics  have  not  been 
without  their  charms  for  him;  and  his  ability  as  a  writer,  and  his 
readiness  as  a  debater,  and  eloquence  as  a  speaker,  have  enabled  him 
at  all  times  to  employ  efficiently  and  successfully  whatever  knowledge 
he  had  obtained  from  books,  or  by  his  study  of  the  different  characters 
of  men  in  his  intercourse  with  the  world. 

Mr.  G.  is  as  yet  only  in  the  prime  of  life.  Possessed  naturally  of  a 
good  constitution,  his  abstemious  habits  and  his  constant  activity  have 
preserved  his  strength  unimpaired.  Years  have  only  improved  his  judg 
ment,  without  diminishing  his  capacity  for  labor ;  and  should  no  untimely 
blight  overtake  him,  or  unlooked-for  calamity  overshadow  his  prospects, 
we  may  anticipate  for  him  a  long  career  of  usefulness  and  of  honor. 

But  justice  would  not  be  done  to  the  subject  of  this  memoir  if  some 
thing  more  was  not  said  with  reference  to  his  private  character.  He 
has  been  long  known  to  the  writer  of  this  imperfect  sketch,  and  he  can 
truly  say,  that  he  never  knew  any  man  more  perfectly  amiable  in  all 
the  domestic  relations  of  life.  As  a  friend,  as  a  father,  as  a  husband, 
and  as  a  Christian,  his  conduct  has  ever  been  most  exemplary  and 
blameless.  His  uprightness  and  integrity  have  never  been  called 
in  question.  They  have  passed  unharmed  through  a  series  of  the  most 
severe  trials,  and  still  more  dangerous  temptations.  As  a  public  offi 
cer,  and  as  a  private  citizen,  his  character  has  been  alike  free  from  re 
proach.  No  temptation  could  allure  him  from  the  path  of  rectitude. 
No  danger,  however  formidable,  could  deter  him  from  the  performance 
of  his  duty.  A  child-like  simplicity  characterizes  his  intercourse  with 
society.  There  is  no  appearance  of  malice  or  of  guile  about  him.  He 
is  mild  and  unassuming  in  his  manners,  and  yet  stern  and  unflinching 
in  his  adherence  to  truth  and  justice.  He  reminds  us  of  a  portrait 
drawn  by  the  hand  of  a  master  in  the  delineation  of  human  character : 

Justum  ac  tenacem  propositi  virum 
Non  civium  ardor  prava  jubentium, 
Non  vultus  instantis  tyranni 

Mente  quatit  solida,  fteque  Auster. 


WILLIAM  P.  GRACE,  OF  ARKANSAS.  295 

WILLIAM    P.    GRACE, 

OF  PINE  BLUFF,  ARKANSAS. 

WILLIAM  P.  GRACE,  the  subject  of  the  present  memoir,  was  born  in 
Caldwell  county,  in  the  State  of  Kentucky,  on  the  21st  day  of  Novem 
ber,  1822.  The  grandfather  of  Mr.  Grace,  James  Grace,  was  a  native 
of  South  Carolina,  and  lived  there  till  his  death,  which  took  place  about 
the  year  A.  D.  1810.  Shortly  after  his  death,  the  widow,  finding  her 
self  left  with  seven  children,  all  small,  and  with  but  slender  means  to 
raise  and  educate  them  with,  determined  to  remove  to  Kentucky,  think 
ing  that  a  new  country,  where  lands  were  cheap,  would  offer  more  ad 
vantages  to  her  young  family  of  boys  as  they  should  become  men  than 
the  old  and  more  closely-populated  State  of  South  Carolina,  and 
prompted  by  these  views,  the  widow,  in  the  year  A.  D.  1812,  moved  to 
and  settled  in  Caldwell  county,  Kentucky.  At  this  time,  Preston 
Grace,  her  oldest  child,  and  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this  memoir, 
was  about  twelve  years  old,  and  was  the  only  assistance,  beyond  her 
own  efforts,  his  mother  had  for  maintaining  and  educating  her  large 
family.  About  this  time  the  widow,  through  necessity,  hired  her  eldest 
son  to  work  in  a  brick-yard,  at  two  dollars  per  month;  and  the  boy,  as 
he  grew  to  be  a  man,  having  no  better  avocation  by  which  to  gain  a 
livelihood  for  himself,  learned  the  bricklaying  business  as  a  trade,  and 
finally  in  after  life  pursued  it  as  a  business.  In  the  year  A.  D.  1818, 
he  was  married  to  Miss  Jane  Kilgore,  of  the  same  county,  by  whom  he 
had  a  large  family,  the  subject  of  this  memoir  being  the  third.  The 
family  of  Mr.  Grace  was  exceedingly  poor,  and,  from  necessity,  as  fast 
as  his  sons  were  able  to  be  of  any  assistance,  they  were  placed  in  the 
brickyard  and  from  thence  to  the  building,  thus  allowing  them  no 
chance  for  educational  pursuits  other  than  about  two  of  the  coldest 
winter  months,  and  Sabbath-schools.  But,  notwithstanding  the  early 
opportunities  for  intellectual  pursuits  and  educational  acquirements  of 
young  Mr.  Grace  were  so  few,  still  he  did  not  fail  to  turn  those  few  to 
the  best  account,  and  at  the  age  of  eighteen  he,  by  his  own  strict  appli 
cation,  was  far  superior  in  general  information  to  many  of  those  who 
had  done  little  or  nothing  from  their  childhood  but  con  our  school 
exercises.  Thus,  between  daily  labor  and  nightly  reading  was  the  life 
of  Mr.  Grace  passed,  until  the  fall  of  A.  D.  1844.  At  that  time,  Mr. 
Clay  and  Mr.  Polk  were  candidates  for  the  presidency.  The  country 
trembled  with  party  excitement,  and  every  man  was  bound  to  come 
out  and  take  a  position — to  be  neutral  was  impossible.  Both  parties 
used  all  possible  means  to  organize  their  strength.  The  whigs  of  Cald 
well  county  had  formed  themselves  into  what  they  called  a  "  Clay 
Club,"  and  would  meet  once  a  week,  compare  notes,  and  have  a  speech 
from  some  whig  orator.  It  so  happened  that  at  one  of  these  meetings 
no  whig  who  was  in  the  habit  of  public  speaking  was  in  attendance.  To 
go  off  without  a  speech  would  not  do.  First  one  was  called  for,  and  then 
another,  but  none  would  take  the  stand.  At  last,  one  of  the  company 


296  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

seeing  Mr.  Grace  sitting  far  back  in  one  corner  of  the  room,  and  know 
ing  him  to  be  a  warm  whig,  called  for  him ;  others  then  joined  in  the 
call.  The  young  bricklayer  arose  to  excuse  himself,  but  while  making 
his  excuse,  he  overheard  a  lady  remark,  "  who  thinks  he  could  make  a 
speech"  Immediately  young  Grace  burned  with  indignation,  and,  in 
stead  of  continuing  his  excuse,  he  immediately  marched  to  the  stand 
and  addressed  the  house  for  about  an  hour.  The  ease  and  elegance  of 
his  style  was  such  that  the  audience  was  completely  electrified,  and  they 
gave  him  one  round  of  applause  from  about  the  middle  of  his  speech 
to  its  conclusion,  and  when  he  took  his  seat,  the  cry  of  "  Go  on"  was 
universal. 

Although  Mr.  Grace  had  many  warm  personal  friends  before  the  de 
livery  of  this  speech,  that  centred  attention  more  immediately  on 
him,  and  many  of  the  leading  men  about  Princeton  at  once  beset  him 
to  quit  his  trade  and  study  law.  To  this  he  was  disinclined,  however, 
for  he  knew  his  education  was  insufficient  to  promise  great  success  in  that 
learned  profession,  and  he  was  destitute  of  the  means  to  give  himself  those 
educational  qualifications  which  he  regarded  as  being  indispensably  neces 
sary  to  a  successful  lawyer.  At  last,  however,  he  gave  way  to  their  im 
portunities,  and,  in  the  winter  of  A.  L).  1844,  entered  Cumberland  Col 
lege  as  a  student.  His  correct  moral  deportment  and  rapid  progress, 
from  the  time  he  entered  that  institution  until  he  left  it  in  the  spring  of 
A.  D.  1846,  did  not  only  win  for  him  the  esteem  of  the  professors  of 
that  institution,  but  gave  to  the  public  increased  confidence  in  his  abili 
ty  and  integrity.  In  the  spring  of  A.  D.  1846,  finding  his  finances  in  a 
low  condition,  he  left  college,  and  entered  the  law-office  of  Livingston 
Lindsay,  then  a  leading  member  of  the  bar  in  Caldwell  county,  and 
remained  there  until  the  spring  of  A.  D.  1847  ;  in  the  mean  time  forsak 
ing  everything  like  pleasure  or  even  recreation,  he  pursued  his  studies  with 
untiring  efforts,  not  allowing  himself  more  than  five  hours  in  the  twenty- 
four  for  sleep  and  refreshment. 

In  the  spring  of  A.  D.  1847,  having  mastered  some  of  the  elemental 
principles  of  the  law,  and  being  unwilling  to  draft  further  upon  the  in 
dulgence  and  charity  of  his  friends,  he  determined  to  make  application 
for  admission  to  the  bar,  and  accordingly  did  make  application  and  was 
admitted.  Now  the  next  thing  was  a  location,  and  this  was  not  a  ques 
tion  of  easy  solution.  However,  with  his  usual  promptness,  in  the 
course  of  a  few  days  he  determined  to  remove  to  Arkansas,  and  in  the 
course  of  ten  days  bid  farewell  to  his  native  state  and  his  early  friends, 
and  on  the  16th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1847,  landed  at  Pine  Bluff.  While 
traveling  up  the  Arkansas  River  he  examined  the  geography  of  the 
country,  and  made  inquiry  of  those  on  board,  who  seemed  to  be  best 
acquainted,  of  the  different  portions  of  the  state.  Ascertaining  that  Pine 
Bluff  was  the  county  town  of  one  of  the  first  counties  in  the  state  in 
point  of  wealth  and  business,  he  by  the  time  the  boat  reached  that 
point  had  determined  to  make  that  his  home.  The  morning  after 
he  landed  at  Pine  Bluff,  the  circuit  court  for  that  county  commenced 
its  spring  session,  and  through  the  kindness  of  one  of-  the  members  of 
the  bar,  Mr.  Grace  was  presented  to  the  court,  and  after  an  examination 
the  court  admitted  him  a  member  of  the  bar. 

There  stood  indicted  in  that  court  a  slave  for  the  murder  of  his  o%ver 


WILLIAM  P.  GRACE,  OF  ARKANSAS.  297 

seer,  and  a  free  negro  for  larceny.  Neither  of  them  had  counsel.  It 
devolved  upon  the  court  to  appoint  them  counsel.  The  court  appointed 
Mr.  Byers  and  Mr.  Grace  in  the  one  case,  and  Mr.  Anderson  and  Mr. 
Grace  in  the  other.  The  murder  case  was  taken  up  immediately.  Of 
couree  Mr.  Grace  relied  on  his  co-counsel  in  the  choice  of  the  jury. 
When  the  evidence  was  gone  through  with,  it  made  it  a  clear  case  of 
murder,  so  clear  that  the  counsel  for  the  state  declined  making  an  open* 
ing  argument,  and  it  devolved  upon  Mr.  Grace,  as  he  was  the  junior 
counsel  in  the  defence,  to  make  the  first  argument.  Judge,  if  you 
please,  of  the  feelings  which  must  have  taken  possession  of  the  young 
lawyer  as  he  arose  to  make  his  first  effort  at  the  bar.  Not  only  was  it 
his  first  effort,  but  he  was  to  speak  to  a  court  and  jury  he  had  never 
seen  before,  on  a  case  he  had  not  as  much  as  one  hour  to  make  himself 
acquainted  with,  and  in  the  presence  of  an  audience  upon  whose  good 
opinion  of  him  depended  his  very  bread.  But  notwithstanding  all  this 
he  arose,  and,  without  apology,  proceeded  with  ease. 

After  he  had  been  speaking  for  some  time  and  got  a  little  collected, 
he  said  something  to  the  jury  as  being  law,  when  the  court  interfered, 
and  informed  the  jury  that  Mr.  Grace  was  right  at  common  law,  but 
that  the  legislature  of  Arkansas  had  changed  it  in  that  particular.  Mr. 
Grace  bowed,  thanked  the  court  for  the  correction,  and  went  on,  and  not 
long  after  the  court  corrected  him  again  in  the  same  manner  as  before. 
He  then  turned  to  the  jury,  and  told  them  that  he  had  never  read  the 
criminal  code  of  Arkansas,  having  been  in  the  state  but  four  days,  and 
consequently  did  not  know  what  its  provisions  were,  but  he  supposed 
that  the  legislature  of  Arkansas  had  not  passed  any  law  that  was  con 
trary  to  common  sense  and  common  justice,  and  for  the  future,  in  that 
case,  he  would  leave  the  law  to  the  court,  and  take  common  sense  and 
the  facts  for  it.  It  is  hardly  necessary  for  me  to  say  that  the  defendant 
was  found  guilty.  The  above  circumstance  is  mentioned  merely  to 
show  the  nerve  and  cast  of  the  character  of  Mr.  Grace.  On  the  follow 
ing  day  the  free  negro  was  tried  and  convicted.  And  notwithstanding 
he  had  such  bad  luck  (if  you  call  it  luck)  with  his  two  first  cases,  still 
he  made  a  favorable  impression  on  the  public  mind,  and  commenced  at 
once  to  do  some  practice,  which  has  gone  on  steadily  increasing  up  to 
this  time,  and  now  he  is  regarded  by  many  as  among  the  first  lawyers 
in  the  southern  part  of  the  state. 

As  a  jurist,  perhaps  there  are  those  in  the  state  who  stand,  in  the  es 
timation  of  the  community  in  which  he  resides,  as  the  superior  of  Mr. 
Grace,  on  account  of  their  age  and  experience  ;  but  certainly  he  has  no 
superior  with  the  same  amount  of  practice.  His  forte  consists  not  so 
much  in  the  preparation  of  his  cases  for  trial  (though  in  this  he  is  quite 
accurate)  as  in  the  peculiar  adroitness  with  which  he  manages  his  cases 
in  court.  In  the  presentation  of  a  cause  either  to  the  court  or  jury,  there 
is  a  degree  of  candor  and  fairness  that  characterizes  his  statements  that 
wins  its  way  to  a  fair  audience,  and  pre-engages  the  mind  to  a  just  ap 
preciation  of  the  conclusions  he  may  draw  from  the  premises.  The 
premises  being  laid,  he  proceeds  to  unfold  the  evidence  in  his  cause  in 
the  same  manner  and  the  same  order  he  has  made  his  statements,  pre 
senting  the  weaker  points  of  testimony  first,  and,  gradually  approaching 
a  climax,  reserving  the  most  clenching  testimony  for  the  last,  and  there 


298  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

he  rests  his  cause.  He  is  exceedingly  tenacious  of  the  theory  he  has  formed 
of  his  cause,  and  from  the  order  with  which  he  endeavors  to  invest  every 
case,  he  is  sometimes,  in  an  adverse  case,  exceedingly  tedious,  resulting 
from  an  endeavor  to  draw  out  the  evidence  so  as  to  fit  his  theory  of 
the  case.  His  mode  of  conducting  the  examination  of  a  witness  is  Con 
ciliatory,  and  well  calculated  to  disarm  prejudice,  leading  slowly  but 
certainly  to  some  point  he  desires  to  make  in  the  case.  He  relies  mostly 
on  the  strength  of  his  own  testimony  ;  and  if  the  main  point  of  his  testi 
mony  has  been  obscured  by  a  cross-examination,  he  goes  back  and  re 
develops  it,  much  after  the  same  fashion  he  drew  it  out  at  first ;  and  while 
he  is  sometimes  tedious  in  the  examination  of  a  dull  witness,  from 
whom  he  thinks  he  can  extract  some  valuable  testimony,  he  is,  on  the 
contrary,  exceedingly  laconic  with  a  known  adverse  witness,  rarely,  if 
ever,  putting  a  cross-interrogatory,  unless  it  is  a  dishonest  witness,  whom 
he  sometimes  castigates  most  unmercifully. 

His  style  of  speaking  is  easy  and  fluent,  sometimes  declamatory  and 
vehement,  but  never  harsh.  His  voice  is  soft  and  full,  and  well  modu 
lated,  with  a  great  flow  of  language ;  he  is  never  at  a  loss  for  a  word  ;  and 
perhaps  it  would  be  just  criticism  to  say  that  his  flow  of  language  is  too 
great,  and,  as  a  consequence,  his  sentences  sometimes  want  the  terse 
ness  and  energy  that  characterize  some  other  speakers.  His  manner  of 
handling  his  subject  is  much  after  the  style  of  developing  the  evidence 
of  the  case,  commencing  with  the  weaker,  and  concluding  with  the 
stronger ;  he  follows  up  his  own  side  of  the  case,  paying  but  little  atten 
tion  to  the  arguments  and  conclusions  of  the  opposing  counsel.  His 
style  of  reasoning  is  by  analogy  rather  than  by  induction,  which,  while 
it  may  be  less  certain  and  conclusive,  is  always  more  striking  and  per 
suasive.  There  is,  at  times,  when  he  does  attempt  to  reply  to  an  op 
ponent,  a  vein  of  sarcasm,  chaste  and  severe,  that  tells  most  wonderfully, 
though  it  is  not  often  that  he  attempts  the  use  of  it.  Perhaps  the  most 
just  criticism  that  can  be  passed  upon  his  style  of  speaking  is  an  effort 
to  make  the  whole  of  his  argument  too  perfect,  by  dwelling  too  much  on 
minor  points,  and  not  coming  direct  enough  to  the  main  point  and  conclu 
sion  ;  and  sometimes,. when  he  has  reached  the  climax,  an  effort  to  en 
force  it  too  elaborately.  This  is  an  error,  however,  which  he  is  fast 
correcting. 

He  is  yet  quite  a  young  man,  and,  from  his  uniform  courtesy  to 
other  members  of  the  bar,  his  quiet  and  active  intellect,  and  his  indomi 
table  energy  and  perseverance,  the  writer  will  predict  for  him  an  emi 
nence  at  the  bar  that  is  attained  by  but  few,  with  the  enjoyment  of  that 
wealth  and  influence  that  always  accompanies  such  distinction. 


R.  SEAL,  OF  MISSISSIPPI.  299 


HON.    RODERICK    SEAL, 

OF  BILOXI,  MISSISSIPPI. 

HON.  RODERICK  SEAL,  the  subject  of  this  memoir,  is  a  native  of 
North  Carolina,  and  was  born  in  Richmond  county  on  the  31st  day  of 
December,  1817.  His  father,  Colonel  Jacob  Seal,  removed  from  North 
Carolina  to  Mississippi,  and  located  himself  in  Hancock  county. 

The  country  to  which  he  had  removed  was  almost  a  wilderness.  The 
beauty  of  the  primeval  forest  had  scarcely  been  touched  by  the  march 
of  improvement,  or  the  soil  broken  by  the  hand  of  cultivation ;  conse 
quently  the  subject  of  this  sketch  passed  his  early  days  amid  scenes  and 
excitements  incident  to  frontier  life,  and  little  calculated  to  form  the 
character  now  witnessed  in  him.  Although  surrounded  by  such  unfa 
vorable  circumstances,  yet  an  impulse  was  given  to  his  young  mind 
which  has  never  been  lost.  His  aspirations  were  upward,  and  he  de 
sired  to  follow  other  pursuits  than  those  presented  in  the  wilderness  in 
which  he  was  situated.  He  therefore  became  restless  and  discontented. 
To  a  mind  like  his  the  inglorious  life  of  the  farmer  was  little  suited. 
His  father,  therefore,  sent  him  to  the  best  schools  in  the  country,  dis 
covering  that  it  would  not  be  expedient  to  keep  him  at  home  so  much 
against  his  inclination. 

At  the  age  of  nineteen  years  he  was  placed  under  the  care  of  Captain 
John  S.  Brush,  a  graduate  of  West  Point,  with  whom  he  completed  his 
academical  education ;  and  his  future  success  was,  no  doubt,  owing  in  a 
great  degree  to  the  interest  which  Captain  Brush  took  in  his  young  pu 
pil's  education,  discovering  in  him  faculties  of  the  mind,  which  he  was 
accustomed  to  say,  when  fully  developed,  would  render  him  eminent  in 
any  position  in  life. 

His  professional  studies  in  the  law  were  prosecuted  under  Judge 
Julius  C.  Monet,  whose  high  attainments,  purity  and  elevation  of 
character,  rendered  him  peculiarly  fitted  to  train  a  young  mind  of  such 
noble  and  generous  impulses. 

He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  March,  1843  ;  yet  such  was  his  desire 
to  become  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  theory  of  law,  that  he  did 
not  commence  the  practice  until  1846  ;  and,  as  had  been  predicted,  the 
ambitious  student  soon  rose  to  eminence  in  his  profession,  and  the  ex 
pectations  of  his  friends  were  fully  realized.  The  powers  of  his  mind 
were  soon  called  into  action.  Being  engaged  in  some  important  land 
cases,  growing  out  of  old  Spanish  grants,  his  arguments  showed  a  clear 
and  discriminating  mind,  and  were  uttered  with  that  force  and  precision 
which  have  since  rendered  him  so  successful  with  the  jury,  and  while  yet 
young,  was  considered  fully  competent  to  grapple  with  the  ablest  coun 
sel  in  the  state ;  and  although  employed  in  almost  every  criminal  case 
arising  in  his  district,  yet  is  said  never  to  have  lost  a  single  case. 

In  the  summer  of  1849  he  was  married  to  Miss  Charlotte  E.  Orr,  of 
New-Orleans,  daughter  of  Captain  John  D.  Orr,  late  of  the  United  States 
army,  and  removed  to  Biloxi,  his  present  place  of  residence,  where  he 
had  previously  been  -engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  profession.  Being  a 


300  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

highly  intelligent  and  accomplished  lady,  endowed  with  an  elasticity  and 
sprightliness  of  spirit,  her  pleasant  society  contributed  much  to 
sweeten  the  pathway  of  his  life,  surrounded  with  all  the  difficulties  and 
perplexities  of  the  young  practitioner.* 

In  the  fall  of  1849  he  was  elected  to  the  state  legislature  by  a  large 
majority  over  his  opponent,  who  had  the  decided  advantage  in  the  politi 
cal  issues  of  the  day.  So  high  was  the  approval  of  his  course  as  a  legis 
lator,  that  on  his  return  after  a  long  and  exciting  session,  he  was  received 
and  welcomed  by  the  public  authorities  of  Biloxi ;  and  the  speech  de 
livered  on  that  occasion,  so  fraught  with  fervid  eloquence,  will  long  be 
remembered  by  those  who  were  so  fortunate  as  to  hear  it. 

He  was  re-elected  to  the  legislature  in  the  year  1851,  in  which  he 
took  an  elevated  position.  His  high  legal  attainments,  connected  with 
that  integrity  of  principle  and  force  of  character  which  have  always 
characterized  his  life,  rendered  him  peculiarly  fitted  to  modify  and 
restrain  the  excited  feeling  which  so  strongly  marked  that  session ;  and 
the  fearlessness  and  independence  with  which  he  advocated  his  measures, 
were  looked  upon  with  astonishment  by  the  trafficking  politicians  of  the 
day. 

Being  placed  on  the  committee  of  education,  one  of  the  most  import 
ant  in  the  House,  he  showed  his  thorough  knowledge  of  the  wants  of 
the  state  by  strenuously  advocating  and  finally  passing  a  bill  appropria 
ting  three  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  educational  purposes,  remember 
ing  the  want  of  an  institution  of  this  kind  in  his  early  days ;  and  what 
ever  may  be  his  future  destiny,  he  has  the  gratification  to  know  that  his 
public  life  thus  far  has  received  the  approbation  of  both  parties,  and  his 
private  is  not  stained  with  dishonor. 


THOMAS  WHITTEMORE,  ESQ. 

OF  CAMBRIDGE,  MASSACHUSETTS. 

A  BIOGRAPHY  of  this  individual  will  show  perhaps  as  much  variety  of 
character  as  generally  falls  to  the  lot  of  one  man.  In  the  earlier  part 
of  his  manhood  he  was  a  clergyman  and  a  clergyman  only  ;  and  was 
the  pastor  of  a  small  society  in  the  town  of  Milford,  county  of  Wor 
cester,  Massachusetts,  and  afterwards  of  a  society  in  Cambridge,  Mas 
sachusetts,  in  the  vicinity  of  Harvard  University.  Notwithstanding  all 
his  other  pursuits,  the  character  of  a  clergyman  has  not  been  given  up. 
In  1828,  he  commenced  a  religious  newspaper  in  Boston,  which  has  now 
been  continued  successfully  for  a  quarter  of  a  century,  almost  entirely 
under  his  sole  care.  In  the  month  of  May,  1831,  he  began  a  somewhat 
distinguished  career  in  the  House  of  Representatives  of  Massachusetts, 
as  a  member  from  Cambridge ;  and  about  the  same  time  he  commenced 
to  issue  various  works  from  his  own  pen.  These  works  have  been 
multiplied  by  his  assiduity  to  several  volumes,  on  subjects  of  ecclesi 
astical  history,  dogmatical  theology,  biography  and  music.  For  some 


THOMAS  WHITTEMORE,  OF   MASSACHUSETTS.  301 

ten  years,  commencing  in  1834,  he  was  an  eminent  temperance 
lecturer  in  New-England,  not  abating  in  the  least  during  this  time  his 
zeal  in  prosecuting  his  duties  in  the  characters  heretofore  referred  to. 
In  October,  1840,  he  was  elected  a  director,  and  in  December,  1842, 
president  of  Cambridge  Bank — an  office  which  he  holds  with  honor  to 
himself  at  this  day.  In  the  meantime  he  served  his  town  as  an  efficient 
member  of  the  board  of  selectmen;  and,  since  Cambridge  has  become 
a  city,  as  one  of  the  aldermen.  To  all  these  responsible  stations,  one 
other  highly  important  one  is  to  be  added :  he  was  elected  in  the  month 
of  February,  1849,  a  director  of  the  Vermont  and  Massachusetts  Rail 
road,  and  became  president  of  that  institution  a  few  months  afterwards. 
Notwithstanding  this  great  increase  of  cares,  Mr.  Whittemore  resigned 
no  one  of  his  former  duties, — as  a  preacher  of  the  gospel,  an  editor,  and 
the  president  of  the  bank.  Such  is  the  varied  character  of  the  individual 
whose  biography  we  now  present. 

From  a  biographical  sketch  by  Rev.  T.  J.  Sawyer,  D.  D.,  first  pub 
lished  in  February,  1849,  we  gather  the  following  facts : 

"  The  gentleman  whose  name  stands  at  the  head  of  this  article  has 
been  now  (in  1849)  for  more  than  twenty-eight  years  in  the  ministry  of 
the  reconciliation.  During  a  large  part  of  this  time  he  has  stood 
at  the  head  of  one  of  our  most  popular  religious  journals,  and  has  thus 
occupied  a  commanding  and  influential  position.  Aside  from  his 
editorial  labors,  he  has  also  added  several  volumes  to  our  theological 
literature,  and  both  as  an  author  and  a  publisher  has  become  widely 
known  throughout  the  denomination.  A  sketch  of  his  life,  it  has  been 
thought,  would  interest  and  please  many  in  our  country  who  have  never 
seen  him,  and  perhaps  never  may,  and  who  yet  would  gladly  know  more 
of  one  whose  name  they  have  so  often  heard,  and  from  whose  labors 
they  have  derived  so  much  instruction.  To  gratify  this  natural  desire 
is  the  object  of  this  sketch. 

"  Thomas  Whittemore  was  born  in  that  part  of  Boston  known  as 
Copp's  Hill,  on  January  1st,  1800.  He  is  a  descendant  of  an  old  family 
in  New-England,  and  traces  his  ancestry  back  to  one  Thomas  Whitte 
more,  who  is  supposed  to  have  emigrated  from  England  to  Massachu 
setts,  and  settled  in  that  part  of  Charlestown  called  Mystic  North  Side, 
and  which  in  1649  was  incorporated  as  Maiden.  Among  a  large  family 
of  children  was  a  son  John,  who  was  probably  born  in  England,  and 
came  a  minor  with  his  father  to  this  country,  and  having  married  in 
Maiden,  removed  to  Charlestown.  Here  he  became  the  father  of  one 
Joseph,  who  in  his  day  was  an  innkeeper,  and  who  in  turn  had  a  son 
Joseph,  who  was  a  house-joiner,  and  who,  not  to  be  out-done  by  those 
who  went  before  him,  himself  had  a  son  Joseph,  who  lived  by  some 
honest  trade,  like  his  ancestors,  and  was  the  great-grandfather  of  our 
divine.  He,  among  other  children,  had  a  son  Thomas,  who  was  a 
chaise-maker,  and  who  luckily  married  one  Elizabeth  Rand,  who  is  still 
remembered  and  honored  as  '  one  of  the  best  of  women.'  Thomas  died 
at  the  age  of  33,  leaving  his  wife  with  an  only  son,  Joseph,  who,  in  1 794, 
at  the  age  of  28,  married  a  young  woman  of  19,  named  Comfort  Quiner. 
They  had  ten  children,  of  whom  Thomas,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was 
the  fourth.  The  good  grandmother  lived  many  years,  to  bless  with  her 


302  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

lessons  of  piety  and  religion,  and  her  holy  living,  both  her  son  and  his 
wife  and  children. 

"  Thomas  was  duly  baptized  in  the  Brattle-street  Church,  Boston, 
within  a  fortnight  of  his  birth,  by  Rev.  Peter  Thatcher,  D.  D. ;  and 
when  he  was  five  years  of  age,  his  father  removed  to  Charlestown,  and 
established  himself  in  the  baking  business.  Here  the  father  continued, 
feeble  in  health  and  not  very  successful  in  business,  till  January,  1814, 
when  he  died,  a  poor  but  good  man,  at  the  age  of  47,  leaving  a  widow 
and  seven  children. 

"Thomas  was  not  an  over  quiet  boy;  and,  to  tell  the  truth,  he 
occasioned  his  poor  father  a  great  deal  of  anxiety ;  not  that  he  was 
really  wicked,  but  a  restive,  roguish,  rambling  youngster,  who  loved 
stories  better  than  study,  and  play  far  better  than  either. 

"  At  the  age  of  seven,  Thomas  was  placed  in  one  of  the  common 
schools  of  Charlestown,  where  he  acquired  all  the  education  he  ever  re 
ceived  under  a  teacher,  if  we  except  three  months  at  an  evening  school 
just  before  he  was  twenty-one,  and  a  few  weeks  of  private  tuition  after 
that  time.  At  the  age  of  fourteen  he  went  as  an  apprentice  to  a 
morocco-dresser  in  Charlestown  ;  but,  disliking  restraint,  he  was,  at  his 
earnest  solicitation,  taken  home  again  by  his  mother.  He  was  next 
placed  to  learn  th«  trade  of  a  brass-founder,  but  soon  grew  weary 
of  this  also  ;  and  being  told  that  he  must  remain,  he  trusted  in  '  the 
legs  of  a  5oy,'  and  ran  away.  His  mother  found  him  at  night,  and  per 
suaded  the  boy  to  return  and  the  master  to  receive  him  again. 
But  notwithstanding  the  lad's  promises  to  do  his  best,  he  soon  grew 
weary,  and  ran  away  once  more.  This  ended  his  connection  with  his 
second  master.  Still  the  mother  continued  true  to  the  best  interests  of  the 
boy,  and  sought  him  a  place  at  the  ladies'  shoe- making  business  in  Lynn, 
that  town  of  shoes  and  shoe-makers.  Here,  among  other  apprentices, 
he  was  contented ;  but  his  master  was  poor,  and  under  the  hard  times 
in  the  darkest  days  of  our  late  war  with  Great  Britain,  it  became  neces 
sary  for  his  mother  to  seek  him  another  place.  In  this  she  was  fortu 
nately  successful,  and  apprenticed  him  to  Mr.  Abel  Baker,  a  boot 
maker,  of  Boston,  to  whom  he  was  bound  by  legal  indentures,  and  with 
whom  he  lived  till  he  arrived  at  the  full  age  of  twenty-one. 

"  It  was  during  the  last  year  of  his  apprenticeship  that  he  became 
acquainted  with  the  Rev.  Hosea  Ballou,  a  distinguished  clergyman 
of  Boston.  Mr.  Ballou  had  taken  and  occupied  a  part  of  the  house  in 
which  Mr.  Baker  resided.  Young  Mr.  Whittemore  was  anxious  to 
make  his  acquaintance,  for  the  purpose  of  completing  his  English  gram 
mar,  which  he  had  studied  in  the  evening-school  before-mentioned.  He 
Ventured,  therefore,  to  call  upon  him  one  evening,  to  lay  the  subject 
before  him,  and  solicit  his  assistance.  He  was  received  with  much 
kindness,  and  having  stated  the  object  of  his  visit,  was  requested  to 
write  an  article  for  inspection,  when  he  should  receive  such  advice  as 
he  needed.  In  a  day  or  two  he  prepared  an  article  of  poetry,  as  a  matter 
of  course,  and  presented  it.  Philosophers  tell  us  that  the  poetic  was 
the  first  form  of  language,  and  they  probably  draw  that  conclusion  from 
the  fact  that  young  writers  almost  always  try  their  unfledged  wings  first 
in  poetry.  Mr.  Ballou  was  pleased  with  the  article,  and  after  offering 


THOMAS  WHITTEMORE,  OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  303 

such  remarks  as  he  deemed  advisable,  he  begged  the  favor  of  being 
permitted  to  retain  it.  Judge  of  our  young  boot-maker's  surprise, 
when  a  few  days  afterwards  it  appeared  in  the  poet's  corner  of  the 
*  Universalist  Magazine,'  which  was  then  in  the  first  year  of  its  existence, 
under  the  editorial  conduct  of  Mr.  Ballou.  The  gratified  writer  looked 
and  looked  again ;  but,  there  it  was,  all  in  print,  and  he  was  an  author! 
The  sun,  when  he  went  down  that  day,  had  seen  in  all  his  course 
no  happier  heart  than  that  of  our  apprenticed  shoe-maker.  The  publi 
cation  of  this  little  article  had  fired  his  soul  with  the  thought,  the  hope, 
that  possibly  at  some  future  time  he  might  be  able  to  write  for  the 
press ! 

"  The  good  understanding  thus  established  between  Rev.  Mr.  Ballou 
and  young  Whittemore  continued.  Mr.  Whittemore  wrote  pieces  for 
Mr.  Ballou's  inspection,  and  the  latter  often  published  them.  It  seems 
that  Mr.  Ballou  supposed  his  young  friend  was  preparing  himself  for  the 
ministry,  but  as  yet  the  thought  had  not  entered  his  mind.  About  this 
time  Mr.  Whittemore  was  employed  to  play  the  bass  viol  in  Mr.  Bal 
lou's  church.  His  salary  was  raised  by  the  change  of  places,  (for  he 
had  previously  been  hired  at  a  Baptist  church,)  and  besides,  he  was  now 
enabled  to  listen  to  the  preaching  of  one  whom  he  had  come  to  know 
and  esteem.  At  this  point  we  may  date  the  shaping  of  Mr.  W.'s  future 
course.  Here  he  took  much  of  his  direction  for  life.  The  character  of 
Mr.  Ballou's  preaching  is  well  known.  It  is  eminently  scriptural  as 
well  as  logical;  and  it  soon  engaged  the  undivided  attention  of  young 
Whittemore.  His  Sabbaths  now  began  to  be  days  of  delight,  and  he 
looked  forward  to  them  more  and  more,  with  the  most  earnest  expec 
tations  of  pleasure.  Every  argument  was  heard  and  pondered ;  every 
word  was  listened  to.  In  the  course  of  two  or  three  months,  he  entered 
upon  a  new  existence.  The  Bible,  his  faith  in  which  had  been 
weakened  by  the  belief  that  certain  absurd  doctrines  were  taught 
therein,  once  more  assumed  its  place  in  his  heart's  faith,  and  its  blessed 
doctrines  shed  their  influence  over  his  whole  spiritual  being. 

"  About  the  time  he  began  to  attend  the  preaching  of  Mr.  Ballou,  the 
latter  propounded  to  him  the  question  if  he  did  not  think  of  preparing 
for  the  ministry.  'No,  sir,'  he  replied,  'the  thought  never  entered  my 
mind.'  Yet  from  that  moment  the  fear  came  over  him  that  he  should 
become  a  preacher.  The  more  he  thought  of  it,  the  more  he  dreaded 
it;  but  still  it  seemed  to  become  more  and  more  certain  that  it  would  be 
so.  Under  this  impression,  he  began  the  study  of  the  Bible  in  earnest, 
and  with  the  best  helps  at  his  command.  He  read  Paley's  Evidences 
of  Christianity,  and  listened  with  the  utmost  attention  to  the  preaching 
of  Mr.  Ballou,  as  I  have  before  remarked.  Gradually  the  doctrine  of 
Christ  began  to  open  his  mind,  and  especially  the  great  doctrine  of  the 
atonement,  which  is  so  lovely  when  properly  understood,  but  so  revolt 
ing  as  taught  by  some  sects.  He  began  to  see  how  beautifully  the 
Scriptures  harmonize,  and,  as  before  said,  he  entered  a  new  existence. 
The  dread  of  being  a  preacher  gradually  subsided,  and  gave  place  to  an 
ardent  desire  for  that  holy  office.  During  the  summer  and  fall  of  1820 
he  devoted  every  leisure  hour  to  the  study  of  the  Scriptures. 

"  We  have  now  arrived  at  a  period  of  much  interest  in  Mr.  Whitte- 
more's  life.  Though  not  yet  twenty-one,  he  had  formed  his  purpose, 


304  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

and  just  three  weeks  before  he  gained  his  majority  he  preached  his  first 
sermon.  This  was  in  Roxbury,  Mass.,  where  his  fellow-believers  were 
then  engaged  in  building  a  meeting-house.  His  text  was  Rom.  i.,  16: 
*  I  am  not  ashamed  of  the  gospel,'  etc.  His  master  endeavored  to  di 
vert  him  from  his  course,  and  especially  from  entering  the  ministry 
among  those  with  whom  he  was  then  associated.  When  he  reached  the 
1st  of  January,  1821,  he  closed  the  shop  of  his  master  on  Saturday  night 
at  ten  o'clock,  for  the  last  time  it  devolved  upon  him  to  do  it,  and  on 
the  next  Monday  morning  we  find  him  in  the  family  of  Mr.  Ballou 
for  the  purpose  of  studying  for  the  ministry.  He  was  known  to  be 
poor,  and  Mr.  Ballon  had  kindly  laid  his  case  before  some  of  his  society, 
who  generously  furnished  the  means  necessary  to  defray  his  expenses 
for  one  year.  I  mention  this  instance  of  genuine  benevolence  towards 
a  deserving  young  man,  and  of  sincere  regard  to  the  welfare  of  our  holy 
cause,  with  the  more  pleasure,  because  it  is  so  worthy  of  imitation. 

"Mr.  Whittemore  remained  with  Mr.  Ballou  only  a  few  months,  for  in 
April  following  (1821)  he  received  and  accepted  an  invitation  to  settle 
with  a  society  in  Milford,  Massachusetts.  Here  he  formed  an  ac 
quaintance  with  Lovice,  daughter  of  John  Corbett,  Esq.,  whom  he 
married  in  September  of  the  same  year.  Three  months  after  mar 
riage,  while  he  was  absent  on  a  ministerial  exchange,  the  house  he  oc 
cupied  was  burned  to  the  ground,  and  everything  belonging  to  him  was 
destroyed,  except  his  young  wife,  who  was  saved  by  leaping  from  the 
chamber  window.  The  pecuniary  loss  they  suffered  was  made  up  to 
them  by  the  liberality  of  Mr.  Ballou's  society,  and  some  other  socie 
ties  of  his  faith  in  the  neighborhood. 

"  After  spending  a  year  in  Milford,  he  removed  to  Cambridgeport,  and 
took  charge  of  a  new  society  there.  His  pastoral  relations  with  this 
society  continued  for  nine  years,  when,  owing  to  the  pressure  of  other 
duties,  he  resigned  his  office,  but  has  ever  remained  a  resident  of  the 
place.  On  his  removal  to  Cambridgeport,  he  became  joint  editor  of 
the  '  Universalist  Magazine,'  with  Rev.  H.  Ballou  and  H.  Ballou,  2d. 
His  articles  sometimes  bore  the  signature  of  "  W,"  and  sometimes 
that  of  "  Richards,"  by  which  they  may  be  known  in  the  nine  volumes 
of  that  periodical.  Each  volume  extended  through  an  entire  year. 
During  this  period  his  labors  were  frequent  beyond  the  limits  of  his 
parish.  He  often  gave  evening  lectures  in  Medford,  Maiden,  West 
Cambridge,  Newton,  Quincy,  etc.,  etc.,  and  preached,  both  on  the 
Sabbath  and  on  other  days  of  the  week,  in  many  towns  in  the  neigh 
borhood  of  Boston.  At  that  time  the  cause  he  had  espoused  was  in 
its  infancy,  even  in  Massachusetts,  and  this  kind  of  labor  was  in  con 
siderable  and  increasing  demand. 

"It  was  about  the  year  1823  that  Rev.  H.  Ballou,  2d,  (a  relative  of  the 
gentleman  before  named.)  proposed  to  Mr.  Whittemore  to  engage  in 
making  preparations  for  a  history  of  the  doctrine  they  believed.  Ac 
cording  to  their  arrangement,  Mr.  Ballou  was  to  take  the  department 
of  its  ancient,  and  Mr.  Whittemore  that  of  its  modern  history.  The 
time  of  the  Reformation  was  to  constitute  the  dividing  line  between 
the  two.  For  the  better  performance  of  his  part  in  this  undertaking, 
Mr.  Whittemore  commenced  the  study  of  the  French  language.  The 
German  would  have  been  vastly  more  useful,  but  of  this  little  or 


THOMAS  WHITTEMORE,  OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  305 

nothing  was  then  known.  It  is,  perhaps,  impossible  to  form  any  just 
conception  of  the  difficulties  which  impeded  every  step  in  the  progress 
of  their  task.  The  field  was  quite  new,  and  the  materials  which  were 
to  form  their  novel  structure  were  first  to  be  found,  then  mined,  and 
lastly,  fitted  to  their  respective  places.  Without  a  guide,  much  labor 
must  necessarily  have  been  lost  in  the  execution  of  their  work.  But  I 
shall  revert  to  this  subject  at  a  later  date,  when  the  histories  appeared. 
During  the  course  of  their  labors  in  this  field,  Mr.  Ballou  brought  out, 
in  the  magazine  referred  to,  Memoirs  of  Origen,  Winchester  and 
Chauncey ;  and  Mr.  Whittemore  also  published  a  memoir  of  Vidler. 

"In  the  autumn  of  1827,  Mr.  Whittemore  made  a  journey  to  Cin 
cinnati,  Ohio,  where  he  remained,  preaching  to  immense  audiences,  for 
several  weeks,  and  received  a  pressing  invitation  to  remove  there  and 
take  charge  of  a  society  in  that  city.  This  invitation  he  was  strongly 
inclined  to  accept,  but  was  dissuaded  from  doing  so  by  his  friends  in 
Massachusetts.  On  his  way  he  preached  in  Philadelphia,  and  the  re 
sult  was,  he  was  invited  by  both  societies  in  that  city,  to  whom  he 
preached,  to  become  their  pastor.  He  did  not  accept  of  either  invi 
tation. 

"In  the  spring  of  1828, Mr.  Whittemore  became  impressed  with  the 
thought  that  the  interests  of  the  doctrine  he  believed  demanded  a  larger 
and  more  attractive  paper  than  the  '  Magazine.'  The  name  '  Trumpet ' 
occurred  to  him  as  one  peculiarly  appropriate,  for  whether  we  '  sound 
an  alarm  in  Zion,'  or  '  speaking  with  an  inviting  voice,'  a  trumpet  is 
alike  employed.  This  paper  has  now  continued  for  more  than  twenty- 
four  years  (1852),  under  the  control  of  Mr.  Whittemore,  and  from  a 
subscription  of  seven  hundred  has  gone  up  to  nearly  six  thousand.  It 
is  but  justice  to  say,  that  it  has  been  one  of  the  most  efficient  of  the  re 
ligious  magazines.  Its  extensive  circulation  shows  how  it  is  appreciated 
by  the  public. 

"  In  January,  1830,  Mr.  Whittemore  published  his  '  Modern  His 
tory  of  Universalism,'  a  work  too  well  known  to  require  any  notice 
here.  '  But,  having  myself  devoted  much  attention,  for  the  last  ten 
or  fifteen  years,  to  the  history  of  our  faith  and  cause,'  says  Dr.  Sawyer, 
*  I  must  be  allowed  to  express  the  increasing  admiration  I  have  felt  for 
the  variety  and  general  accuracy  of  its  facts,  and  the  immense  labor 
which  I  know  the  work  must  have  cost.  Of  this  work,  as  well  as  that 
of  Mr.  Ballou,  I  have  taken  occasion  to  speak  in  some  of  my  reports  to 
the  Historical  Society.' 

"  In  March,  1831,  Mr.  Whittemore  resigned  the  pastorship  of  the 
society  in  Cambridgeport.  This  step  was  rendered  necessary  by  the 
rapidly  increasing  business  of  his  religious  journal,  which  forbade  the 
proper  attention  to  parochial  duties.  In  May  following,  he  was  elected 
a  representative  for  Cambridge,  in  the  Massachusetts  legislature.  It  is 
no  uncommon  thing,  it  seems,  for  clergymen  in  New-England  to  repre 
sent  their  fellow-citizens  in  almost  every  civil  capacity.  Mr.  Whitte 
more  represented  Cambridge  for  several  years,  and  did  his  town,  and 
the  state,  honor,  by  the  prominent  part  he  took  in  effecting  a  change  in 
the  third  article  of  the  bill  of  rights,  or  constitution  of  Massachusetts. 
This  article  provided  for  the  compulsory  support  of  religion ;  that  is,  it 
made  religion  a  matter  of  state,  and  provided  for  its  support  by  law. 

20 


306  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

Mr.  Whittemore,  like  Jefferson,  Madison,  and  others,  believed  that  the 
support  of  religion  might  be  safely  entrusted  to  the  piety  and  good 
sense  of  the  public.  He  moved  the  reference  of  certain  petitions  to  a 
select  committee,  of  which  he  was  made  chairman,  a  post  that  he  held 
through  three  successive  sessions.  The  first  year,  1831,  the  amend- 
ment  passed  the  house  by  a  vote  of  two-thirds,  but  was  lost  in  the 
Senate.  The  next  year  it  passed  through  both  branches  of  the  legis 
lature,  by  a  vote  of  two-thirds  in  the  house,  and  a  majority  in  the 
Senate,  without  which,  a  change  in  the  constitution  cannot  take  place. 
The  constitution  also  required  that  it  should  pass  both  branches  a 
second  year,  which  was  done  in  1833.  It  was  then  submitted  to  the 
people,  and  was  adopted  by  a  large  majority,  and  thus  religion  in 
Massachusetts  became  free."* 

On  a  subject  of  such  great  interest  it  was  to  be  expected  Mr. 
Whittemore  would  address  the  house — a  body  composed  of  nearly 
five  hundred  legislators,  at  that  time.  After  expressing  his  regret  that 
it  had  fallen  to  him,  among  his  other  numerous  engagements,  to  take 
the  lead  in  this  movement  of  reform,  he  went  on  to  show  at  some 
length  the  character  of  the  petitions  received,  and  the  reasons  assigned 
by  the  petitioners  for  the  change  they  asked.  A  few  extracts  from  the 
subsequent  parts  of  his  extended  speech  must  suffice  : 

"For  one,  Mr.  Whittemore  thought  it  worthy  of  consideration, 
whether  the  civil  power  can,  with  propriety,  interfere  in  the  concerns  OT 
religion  to  compel  people  to  support  it.  Jesus  Christ  never  designed 
that  his  religion  should  be  supported  by  the  civil  power.  He  did  not 
apply  to  the  civil  power  for  support ;  he  never  had  the  support  of  the 
civil  power,  but  was  always  opposed  by  it.  And,  furthermore,  he  has 
left  no  directions  to  his  followers  to  seek  the  aid  of  civil  power.  A 
man's  views  of  piety,  religion,  and  morality,  are  a  concern  solely  be 
tween  his  conscience  and  his  God.  He  is  not  accountable  for  them  to 
civil  government,  unless  he  disturbs  the  public  peace.  Our  common 
Master  did  not  hold  himself  accountable  to  Jewish  law  in  this  respect. 

"  Men  whom  he  should  call  political  religionists,  answer  this  argu 
ment  as  follows:  'That  government  has  aright  to  legislate  on  that 
which  tends  to  the  public  good,  and  that  we  may  legislate  on  religion 
for  the  same  reason  that  we  legislate  concerning  schools.  Every  man 
is  obliged  to  pay  taxes  for  the  support  of  the  public  schools,  not  ex 
cepting  him  who  has  no  children,  because  these  schools  are  for  the 
public  good,  and  he,  indirectly,  at  least,  enjoys  the  benefit  of  them. 
For  the  same  reason  every  man  should  be  compelled  to  support  re 
ligion,  for  he  enjoys  the  benefit  of  the  religious  state  of  society,  though 
he  never  attends  public  worship.'  Mr.  Whittemore,  in  reply,  said, 
that  religion  and  education  are  two  entirely  different  things.  So  long 
as  a  man's  religion  does  not  disturb  the  public  peace,  the  laws  have 
nothing  to  do  with  it.  But  education  is  a  fair  subject  of  human  legis 
lation.  On  this  all  the  citizens  are  agreed — they  are  not  split  into  in- 


*  Thus  far  this  sketch  has  been  principally  made,  from  a  memoir  from  the  pen  of 
Rev.  T.  J.  Sawyer,  D.D.,  first  published  in  1849,  but  various  alterations  have 
been  indulged  in. 


THOMAS  WHITTEMORE,  OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  307 

numerable  sects,  with  a  thousand  conflicting  interests  and  prejudices — 
and  no  one's  conscience  suffers  violence. 

"  But,  (said  Mr.  Whittemore,)  the  argument  th&tpure  religion  tends  to 
the  stability  of  government,  goes  to  show  that  we  should  not  establish 
it  by  law.  The  way  to  keep  religion  pure  is  to  leave  it  to  the  free  will 
of  the  people.  No  religion  but  that  which  is  voluntary  can  do  good. 
If  you  force  people  to  support  it,  it  is  only  their  money  you  can  get — 
you  do  not  cause  them  to  respect  religion,  and  therefore  you  do  hurt, 
for  you  excite  their  ill  will.  The  benefit  which  religion  gives  to  the  sta 
bility  and  good  order  of  society,  is  greater  without  the  aid  of  law  than 
with  it ;  because  the  benefit  of  religion  to  any  individual  consists  in  its 
being  left  entirely  to  his  conscience  and  his  choice.  Religion,  to  do  any 
man  good,  must  operate  on  his  heart ;  it  must  regulate  his  affections ; 
it  must  subdue  his  passions ;  it  must  impress  its  likeness  on  his  soul ; 
but  this,  a  mere  artificial  support  can  never  do — this  a  legal  enactment 
never  will  effect."  Mr.  Whittemore  maintained,  therefore,  that  legal 
support  was  a  clog  to  pure  aud  undefiled  religion — it  was  a  mill-stone 
hung  around  its  neck,  with  the  preposterous  object  of  elevating  it  in 
public  estimation.  This  has  been  precisely  the  effect  of  the  legal  sup 
port  of  religion  in  Massachusetts.  The  commonwealth  has  been  split 
up  into  numberless  and  unnamable'  sects — the  oldest  parishes  in  the 
several  towns  have  been  injured  by  the  laws  that  were  designed  to  sup 
port  them — and  unless  they  have  been  sustained  by  gifts,  bequests  and 
funds,  they  have  become  weakened,  until  they  can  with  difficulty  breathe 
the  breath  of  life.  Religion  has  flourished  most  among  the  dissenters 
from  the  oldest  parishes — a  fact  undeniable  in  the  estimation  of  every 
one  acquainted  with  the  state  of  religion  throughout  the  commonwealth. 

"  Moreover,  Mr.  Speaker,"  said  Mr.  Whittemore,  "  you  always  lower 
the  standard  of  religion  by  connecting  it  with  human  law.  This,  all  ec 
clesiastical  history  proves.  Religion  has  always  been  the  purest  when 
totally  disconnected  from  the  civil  power,  and  even  when  persecuted 
by  it.  This  fact  is  stronger  than  a  volume  of  speculations,  conjectures 
and  fine  drawn  inferences.  What  history  teaches  in  its  plainest  forms — 
what  the  experience  of  eighteen  centuries  fully  proves — should  not  be 
lightly  passed  over.  In  the  primitive  ages  of  Christianity,  the  religion 
of  our  common  Master  shone  in  its  primeval  lustre ;  but  does  any  one 
need  to  be  told  that  he  was  not  supported  by  human  law,  but  opposed 
and  persecuted  and  crucified  by  it  1  His  followers  were  pursued  from 
city  to  city — they  were  scourged,  stoned  and  sawn  asunder.  But  their 
religion  was  pure.  Three  centuries  afterwards,  when  Constantine,  the 
first  of  the  Roman  emperors  who  was  converted  to  Christianity,  linked 
the  religion  with  the  state,  it  soon  became  debased.  Its  ministers  were 
corrupted — they  grew  proud,  indolent  and  arrogant — they  perverted 
the  word  of  God  to  sustain  the  state  that  indulged  and  pampered  them ; 
and  it  was  not  long  before  few  traces  of  the  original  purity  of  the  re 
ligion  of  Christ  could  be  found.  This,"  said  Mr.  Whittemore,  "  is  a 
solemn  fact  that  should  not  be  forgotten,  and  he  begged  of  the  house 
not  to  forget  it.  Follow  religion  through  the  dark  ages,  while  it  was 
the  close  ally  of  the  civil  power,  and  what  do  you  find  of  that  beautiful 
system  of  piety,  doctrine  and  morals  bequeathed  to  the  world  by  Jesus 
Christ,  except  the  mere  name  and  shadow  of  if?  When  the  voice  of 


308  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

Martin  Luther  broke  the  silence  of  a  thousand  years,  and  he  endeavored 
to  call  back  the  church  from  its  wanderings  and  errors,  by  whom  was 
he  opposed  1  By  civil  rulers  under  the  dominion  of  a  corrupt  clergy ; 
and  although  one  or  two  of  the  petty  potentates  of  Germany  espoused 
the  cause  of  the  Reformation,  it  is  indisputable  that  the  Emperor 
Charles  V.  and  the  civil  rulers  generally  at  first  opposed  it ;  and  at  last 
they  were  induced  to  aid  it,  principally  because  it  gave  them  deliver 
ance  from  the  terrific  power  of  the  Roman  Pontiff.  The  pages  of  ec 
clesiastical  history  are  black  with  the  accounts  of  the  evil  that  has  been 
done  to  religion  by  associating  it  with  human  law. 

"  The  petitioners  say,  sir,  that  religion  will  be  abundantly  supported 
without  compulsion.  Mr.  Whittemore  mentioned  this,  because  it  is 
sometimes  said,  if  we  do  not  afford  religion  legal  support  it  will  come 
to  nought.  Are  gentlemen,  then,  willing  to  say  that  the  Supreme  Being 
cannot  sustain  religion  without  man's  feeble  aid  ?  Where  religion  has 
power  upon  men's  hearts,  there  need  be  no  fear  that  they  will  not  sup 
port  it ;  and  where  it  has  not,  all  support  is  utterly  vain. 

"  It  does  not  follow,  Mr.  Speaker,  because  a  thing  is  beneficial  to 
society,  therefore  we  must  legislate  about  it.  The  shining  of  the  sun 
is  of  vast  benefit  to  the  commonwealth,  but  is  far  above  the  power  of 
human  legislation ;  and  so  is  that  religion  above  human  legislation 
which  is  '  the  Sun  of  righteousness'  and  '  the  light  of  the  world.'  The 
falling  of  the  rain  is  of  incalculable  benefit  to  the  commonwealth,  but 
it  is  above  the  power  of  human  constitutions  and  statutes ;  and  so  is 
that  religion  which  *  drops  like  the  rain,  which  distils  like  the  dew,  like 
the  small  rain  upon  the  tender  herb,  and  the  showers  upon  the  grass.' 
It  is  for  the  benefit  of  society  that  persons  should  enter  into  the  mar 
riage  relation,  but  we  make  no  laws  to  compel  them  to  be  married. 
What  should  we  do  if  the  farmers  should  refuse  to  till  the  earth  *?  So 
ciety  would  be  in  a  most  lamentable  situation ;  but  no  one  thinks  it 
necessary  to  enact  laws  to  compel  them  to  do  this.  Such  things  are 
governed  by  laws  which  sway  men  with  an  irresistible  force,  far  above 
the  power  of  formal  statutes.  Government  would  very  soon  come  en 
tirely  to  an  end,  if  every  person  should  refuse  to  eat.  But  is  it  neces 
sary  to  ordain  that  persons  shall  eat.  and  threaten  them  with  penalties 
if  they  neglect  ?  No  sir.  The  laws  which  God  has  ordained  in  man 
regulate  that  matter.  Well,  sir,  to  apply  this  comparison,  the  laws  of 
the  human  mind  and  conscience  will  regulate  religion  with  as  much  cer 
tainty.  Religion  is  the  aliment  of  the  soul — the  bread  and  water  of 
life — the  soul  cannot  live  without  it.  The  matter  is  made  certain  by 
the  laws  of  the  human  constitution ;  it  is  above,  far  above  all  legis 
lative  enactments ;  they  can  have  in  the  nature  of  things  no  more  effect 
in  sustaining  religion,  than  discussions  concerning  the  motions  of  Saturn 
can  control  the  revolutions  of  that  planet." 

After  having  stated  these  general  principles  which  apply  in  the  case, 
Mr.  Whittemore  turned  to  the  operation  of  the  then  existing  constitu 
tional  enactment  concerning  religion,  as  it  was  seen  in  Massachusetts. 
This  formed  a  very  important  part  of  his  speech,  and  had  a  great  effect 
at  the  time,  but  is  omitted  here  for  want  of  room.  He  concluded  by 
saying : 

"  The  voice  of  the  people,  Mr.  Speaker,  calls  loudly  for  the  alteration 


THOMAS  WHITTEMORE,  OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  309 

of  the  third  article  of  the  bill  of  rights.  In  this  country  they  are  the 
supreme  power.  Popular  opinion,  in  its  steady  course,  is  like  the  cur 
rent  of  a  river,  but  in  its  violence  it  is  like  a  cataract  which  nothing  can 
withstand.  What  are  we,  sir,  but  the  straws  that  are  borne  on  the  sur 
face  ]  We  are  the  servants  of  the  people  sent  here  to  represent  them. 
The  power  of  public  opinion  always  will  be  felt,  more  or  less,  even  in 
those  countries  where  it  is  restrained  by  constitutional  provisions;  and 
where  it  has  not  legal  redress  it  will  break  forth  in  violence.  Look  at 
the  exhibition  of  public  sentiment  in  England  on  the  rejection  of  the 
reform  bill  by  the  House  of  Lords.  It  convulsed  the  nation.  The 
castles  of  the  offending  peers  were  leveled  in  the  dust.  We  have  no 
fear  of  such  an  issue  here,"  said  Mr.  Whittemore,  "  because  the  people, 
when  aggrieved,  can  always  avail  themselves  of  constitutional  redress. 
And  they  will.  If  the  desired  alteration  does  not  take  place  now,  they 
will  speak  in  a  voice  of  seven  thunders,  and  they  will  be  heard.  We 
cannot  resist  them.  There  is  great  force  and  beauty  in  the  classical 
apotheosis  of  public  sentiment — vox  populi  vox  Dei.  Sir,  bid  the  Mis 
sissippi  roll  back  its  waters  to  the  north ;  say  to  the  earth,  cease  thy 
revolution  ;  speak  to  the  sun  in  mid-heaven — command  him  to  turn  to 
the  east ;  and  you  shall  be  obeyed,  when  the  force  of  public  opinion  in 
Massachusetts  can  be  successfully  resisted." 

While  engaged  in  his  labors  as  an  editor,  as  a  preacher,  and  also  as  a 
representative,  Mr.  Whittemore  found  time  to  bring  out  another  valu 
able  volume,  entitled  "  Notes  and  Illustrations  of  the  Parables."  The 
first  edition  appeared  in  1832,  which  was  carefully  revised  and  much 
enlarged  in  the  summer  of  1833,  and  a  second  edition  appeared  in  1834. 
"  It  is  an  admirable  work,"  says  Dr.  Sawyer,  "  which  immediately  took 
its  deserved  place  in  libraries  of  clergymen  and  others,  and  has  done  much 
towards  correcting  public  opinion  on  these  portions  of  Scripture."  In  No 
vember,  1833,  Mr.  W.  held  an  oral  discussion  in  Danvers,  with  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Braman,  a  clergyman  of  that  place.  This  was  published  in  a 
pamphlet.  Mr.  Braman  did  not  well  understand  the  task  he  assumed. 
The  discussion  occupied  but  a  single  day.  About  this  time,  Mr.  Whitte 
more  commenced  a  series  of  labors,  continued  for  more  than  a  dozen 
years,  as  a  temperance  lecturer.  In  town-houses,  city-halls,  meeting 
houses  of  all  sects,  on  Sabbaths  and  secular  days,  his  voice  was  heard 
in  favor  of  this  good  cause.  Few  men  in  Massachusetts  took  a  deeper 
interest  in  this  subject,  or  labored  with  more  success.  And  he  desisted 
from  his  efforts  only  when  disease  admonished  him  that,  sturdy  as  his 
constitution  was,  there  is  still  a  limit  to  all  human  endurance. 

He  preachec^  the  occasional  sermon  before  the  Massachusetts  con 
vention  of  the  sect  to  which  he  belonged  in  1836  and  1851,  and  in  1837 
before  the  United  States  Convention,  in  Philadelphia.  During  1839, 
besides  other  duties,  he  prepared  "  The  Plain  Guide  to  Universalism," 
which  was  published  the  following  year.  It  was  designed  as  a  popular 
work,  and  its  plan  embraced  a  large  range  of  topics.  It  is  not  so  ela 
borate  as  some  of  his  other  works,  but  perhaps  it  has  done  its  work 
still  better  than  if  it  had  been  so.  Few  books  have  sold  so  extensively, 
ten  or  twelve  thousand  copies  having  been  disposed  of  since  its  first 
publication. 

The  "Songs  of  Zion,"  on  which  he  had  been  laboring  for  two  years 


310  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

or  more,  appeared  in  1836.  It  is  a  book  of  church  music,  of  360  pages, 
and  many  of  the  tunes  and  anthems  are  his  own  composition.  In  the 
fall  of  1841,  he  also  published  the  "  Gospel  Harmonist,"  another  book 
of  church  music,  the  same  size,  and,  like  the  former,  containing  many 
original  pieces  from  his  own  pen.  During  1842,  there  appeared  his 
first  book,  and  in  1843,  his  second  book  of  "  Conference  Hymns."  In 
1844,  he  also  published  his  "  Sunday-school  Choir,"  a  book  consisting 
of  services,  tunes  and  hymns  for  Sunday-schools.  This  may  be  regard 
ed  as  Mr.  Whittemore's  musical  period,  though  from  his  youth  he  had 
been  very  fond  of  Church  music. 

It  has  been  already  stated  that,  in  1840,  Mr.  W.  was  elected  a  direc 
tor  of  the  Cambridge  Bank,  and  in  a  short  time  was  made  president. 
By  mismanagement  and  misfortune  this  bank  had  been  seriously  in 
jured,  and  Mr.  W.  went  into  the  direction  at  the  most  unfavorable  time. 
The  stock  sold  at  about  30  per  cent,  discount.  He  used  his  influence 
to  bring  the  bank  under  the  management  of  a  board  in  favor  of  reform. 
The  president,  an  excellent  man,  resigned  his  office,  and  Mr.  W. 
was  immediately  placed  at  the  head  of  the  institution.  By  the  aid  of 
the  new  members,  a  course  of  measures  was  carried  out  which  soon 
increased  public  confidence.  Directors  of  unsettled  pecuniary  standing 
were  induced  to  resign ;  the  accommodation  paper  was  gradually 
changed  to  that  of  a  good  business  character ;  demand  loans  to  directors 
were  called  in,  and  by  these  means  the  bank  was  brought  up  to  its 
present  high  condition.  No  bank  in  Massachusetts,  it  may  truly  be 
said,  gave  greater  satisfaction  to  the  board  of  bank  commissioners,  at 
their  recent  examination,  (1852,)  than  the  Bank  of  Cambridge. 

Mr.  W.'s  connection  with  the  rail-roads  of  Massachusetts  commenced 
in  1849.  One  hundred  millions  of  dollars  had  been  invested  in  rail 
roads  in  that  state.  The  roads  first  built  were  prosperous,  such  as  the 
Lowell,  the  Worcester,  the  Fitchburg,  the  Eastern.  This  fact  increased 
the  rail-road  mania;  and  because  the  rail-roads  which  had  a  terminus  in 
Boston  were  good  property,  it  was  hastily  concluded  that  all  others 
would  be.  Due  allowance  was  not  made  for  the  greater  cost  of  building 
rail-roads  among  the  mountains,  sometimes  crossing  rivers  at  every 
mile,  the  roads  being  left  therefore  exposed  to  destructive  freshets. 
Neither  was  due  allowance  given  to  the  fact,  that  unless  a  road  should 
have  a  profitable  through  business,  the  farther  it  was  extended  into  a 
sparsely  settled  country,  the  smaller  its  business  must  be.  Hence 
some  of  the  New-England  rail-roads  have  presented  the  discouraging 
spectacle  of  running  an  engine  of  20  or  25  tons  with  two,  and  sometimes 
only  one  passenger  car,  and  that  half  full,  and  a  freight  business  corres 
pondingly  small.  As  if  this  class  of  misfortunes  were  not  ruinous 
enough,  two  or  three  lines  of  rail-road  have  been  built  on  certain  great 
courses  of  transit ;  and  each  road,  in  its  efforts  to  get  the  business,  has 
underbid  the  others,  until  the  receipts  of  roads,  which  might  otherwise 
have  paid  a  dividend  to  their  stockholders,  have  fallen  below  their  run- 
ing  expenses.  That  the  rail-road  mania  has  been  a  benefit  to  the  whole 
country  there  is  no  doubt,  albeit  it  has  been  decidedly  the  reverse  to 
those  at  whose  expense  the  interior  roads  were  built.  Among  these  in 
terior  roads,  is  the  "  Vermont  and  Massachusetts,"  extending  from 
Fitchburg  to  Montague,  48  miles,  and  there  branching  northwardly  to 


THOMAS  WHITTEMORE,  OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  311 

Battleboro',  Vermont,  22  miles,  and  westward!/  to  Greenfield,  Massa 
chusetts,  eight  miles,  making  78  miles  in  length.  This  road  has  24  ex 
pensive  bridges,  of  which  two  cross  the  Connecticut  River,  the  two 
last  named  costing  not  less  than  $120,000.  These  different  lines  of 
interior  roads  were  being  pressed  on  to  completion,  with  subscriptions 
to  their  capital  stock  altogether  inadequate  to  the  expenditures.  It  was 
soon  found  that  rail-roads  could  not  be  built  without  large  amounts  of 
money.  Many  persons  became  fearful  of  loss,  and  hesitated,  and  some, 
at  last,  refused  to  pay  for  the  shares  for  which  they  had  subscribed. 
These  things  threw  the  executive  officers  of  these  boards,  with  their  en 
gineers  and  contractors,  into  great  embarrassments.  They  had  either 
to  stop  the  works  as  they  were,  and  thus  sink  all  they  had  invested,  or 
they  had  to  raise  money  by  extraordinary  means.  They  sought  to 
obtain  it  by  issuing  stock,  first  at  25  per  cent,  discount  from  the  par 
value,  then  at  50 ;  and  one  of  the  roads  issued  at  70  per  cent,  dis 
count,  and  that  was  probably  30  per  cent,  more  than  the  stock  was 
worth.  Stocks  were  hawked  about  the  country  ;  they  were  exchanged 
for  anything  of  which  rail-roads  could  be  made,  or  on  which  laborers 
could  subsist  while  they  were  making-them.  The  market  was  overbur 
dened,  and  the  consequence  was  that  the  stocks  of  almost  all  the  interior 
roads  were  sold  at  prices  ruinous  to  the  holders.  All  these  roads  were 
greatly  in  debt.  They  were  obliged  to  borrow  money  ;  and,  as  their 
paper  was  mistrusted,  they  had  to  pay  high  commissions  to  individual 
ndorsers.  As  evils  never  go  singly,  those  numerous  calls  for  money, 
added  to  other  things,  caused  it  to  become  very  scarce ,  and,  in  addi 
tion  to  the  commissions  paid  to  individual  indorsers,  two  per  cent,  a 
month  was  frequently  paid  for  the  use  of  money,  and  so  difficult  was  it 
to  get  it  even  at  that  price  that  another  commission  had  to  be  paid 
to  the  broker  to  raise  it. 

At  the  crisis  now  described,  certain  of  the  large  stockholders  in  the 
Vermont  and  Massachusetts  Rail-road  applied  to  Mr.  Whittemore  to 
allow  himself  to  be  run  as  a  candidate  for  a  seat  at  the  board.  This 
was  done  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  changing  the  character  of  the  board 
almost  entirely,  and  the  proposition  produced  a  great  opposition  from 
the  friends  of  the  old  directors.  The  new  ticket,  however,  prevailed 
by  a  large  majority.  This  happened  in  February,  1849,  and  in  the 
course  of  the  following  summer  the  former  president  resigned,  and  Mr. 
W.  was  elected  in  his  place.  The  new  board  had  great  difficulties 
to  overcome — land  damages  to  be  settled — a  series  of  suits  in  the 
courts — buildings  to  be  erected — a  branch  road  to  be  finished — and 
they  also  found  the  corporation  floating  on  a  sea  of  debt  on  which  it  was 
doubtful  how  much  longer  they  should  be  able  to  keep  it  afloat.  The 
new  board  scanned  all  these  matters  carefully,  and  they  were  not  long 
in  coming  to  the  conclusion,  that  upwards  of  a  million  of  dollars  must  be 
raised,  and  that  the  best  way  to  raise  the  sum  would  be  by  the  issue  of 
bonds  secured  by  the  mortgage  of  the  road.  This  measure  was  carried 
through,  and  bonds  to  the  amount  of  $1,100,000  were  issued  and  sold 
at  a  sacrifice  of  from  12  to  20  per  cent.  This  measure  gave  great  relief 
for  the  time.  Great  care  has  been  exercised  in  the  expenditures  on  this 
road  ;  every  effort  has  been  made  to  increase  its  business,  and,  so  far 
as  possible,  to  get  a  remunerative  price  for  it.  Mr.  W.  has  taken  a 


312  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

deep  interest  in  aiding  the  project  of  a  tunnel  through  the  Hoosac  Moun 
tain,  at  North  Adams,  Massachusetts,  which  would  remove  the  last  ob 
struction  to  a  through  road  from  Boston  to  Troy,  New-York,  via 
Northern  Massachusetts,  twenty  miles  shorter  than  the  Western  Rail 
road,  and  with  but  slight  grades.  While  the  subject  of  a  loan  for  this 
object  was  before  the  legislature  of  Massachusetts,  in  the  spring  of 
1851,  Mr.  W.  wrote  many  articles  in  aid,  the  chief  of  which  was  his 
pamphlet  entitled  "A  Letter  to  a  Boston  Representative,"  &c.  &o.  If 
this  tunnel  should  be  made,  that  part  of  the  Vermont  and  Massachu 
setts  Rail-road  between  Fitchburg  and  Greenfield,  56  miles,  will  consti 
tute  a  very  important  part  of  the  line.  How  much  longer  Mr.  W.  will 
consent  to  remain  the  chief  officer  of  this  road,  it  is  impossible  now  to 
say  ;  but  of  one  thing  there  can  be  no  doubt,  viz.  :  that,  with  the  aid  of 
a  careful  and  untiring  board  of  directors,  he  has  conducted  the  corpora 
tion  through  a  series  of  trials  which  seemed  at  first  almost  utterly  over 
whelming. 

There  are  other  points  in  Mr.  W.'s  life  which  we  cannot  fully  notice. 
Subject  as  the  town  of  Cambridge  was  to  conflagrations,  it  being  princi 
pally  built  up  of  wood,  Mr.  W.,  while  one  of  the  select  men,  pro 
cured,  by  private  subscriptions  and  public  appropriations,  some  thirty 
reservoirs  of  water  to  be  put  down  in  a  single  year,  which  have  proved 
of  immense  service.  And  a  few  years  since,  when  an  effort  was  made 
by  the  citizens  of  "  Old  Cambridge,"  so  called,  it  being  that  section  in 
which  Harvard  College  stands,  to  obtain  a  division  of  the  town,  Mr. 
W.  opposed  it  with  all  his  energy.  He  appeared  as  the  agent  of  the 
town  authorities,  before  successive  committees  of  the  legislature  ;  and 
it  was  principally  by  his  instrumentality  that  the  design  was  frustrated. 
So  impressed  was  he  with  the  injustice  of  the  attempt,  that  he  described 
the  petitions  to  the  committee  as  a  proposition  to  incorporate  the  wealth 
into  one  town,  and  the  expenses  into  another.  Hon.  Robert  Rantoul, 
on  one  of  these  occasions,  was  the  opposing  counsel  to  Mr.  W.  Shortly 
after,  these  petitioners  were  defeated,  and  to  set  the  matter  of  a  division 
at  rest,  Mr.  W.  advised  an  application  for  a  city  charter,  which  was  ob 
tained,  and  the  town  was  changed  to  the  "  City  of  Cambridge."  In  the 
debates  before  the  legislative  committee,  on  the  subject  of  the  charter, 
Mr.  Whittemore  met,  as  the  opposing  counsel,  Hon.  J.  G.  Palfrey. 

Having  thus  given  as  brief  a  sketch  as  possible  of  the  biography  of 
Mr.  W'hittemore,  it  becomes  us  now  to  describe  his  character.  This  we 
shall  do  in  the  language  of  Dr.  Sawyer.  He  says  : 

"  Having  thus  glanced  at  the  principal  events  of  Mr.  Whittemore's 
life,  I  now  propose  to  enter  upon  the  more  delicate  part  of  my  subject, 
and  offer  some  remarks  upon  his  character.  After  what  I  have  already 
said,  it  must  be  unnecessary  for  me  to  add  that  we  meet  here  with  great 
activity  and  energy.  Mr.  Whittemore's  life  has  been  strikingly  active. 
His  industry  is  untiring.  No  man,  perhaps,  in  the  denomination,  and 
few  in  the  country,  have,  during  the  same  time,  accomplished  more  than 
he.  One  needs  but  to  turn  to  the  files  of  the  'Magazine,*  and  of  the 
4  Trumpet,'  in  order  to  see  how  great  his  industry  has  been  in  this  de 
partment  of  his  labor.  Besides  this,  he  is  the  author  of  several  volumes, 
as  his  '  Modern  History/  '  Notes  and  Illustrations  of  the  Parables,'  '  The 
Plain  Guide,'  and  '  Exposition  of  the  Book  of  Revelation,'  besides  nu- 


THOMAS  WHITTEMORE,  OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  313 

merous  smaller  works  in  the  shape  of  pamphlets,  etc.,  etc.,  and  a  variety 
of  musical  works.  His  indomitable  energy  is  seen  in  the  readiness  with 
which  he  undertakes  the  most  difficult  tasks,  and  the  unyielding  perse 
verance  with  which  he  prosecutes  them  to  a  favorable  issue.  That  he  is 
unprepared  by  previous  study  is  a  matter  of  no  consequence  whatsoever. 
He  prepares  himself,  and  goes  on  with  his  work.  He  carries  the  same 
activity  and  energy  into  every  department  of  life.  This  is  one  of  the  se 
crets  of  his  success.  Thus  he  was  designed  by  Nature  for  an  active  and 
laborious  life.  He  is,  perhaps,  a  little  below  the  middle  height,  with  a 
broad  chest  and  muscular  frame.  His  head  is  rather  large,  and  indica 
tive  of  very  active  powers.  His  temperament  is  good,  and  implies  much 
endurance.  This  would  account  for  his  multifarious  labors,  and  his  suc 
cess  in  them.  We  see  in  him,  what  we  so  frequently  meet  with  in  New- 
England,  an  innate  force  of  character,  which  no  circumstances,  however 
adverse,  can  repress,  and  which,  amidst  difficulties  and  trials,  rises  supe 
rior  to  everything  that  would  oppose  its  progress.  With  a  very  limited 
education,  we  see  him,  by  his  almost  unaided  efforts,  raising  himself  to 
eminence. 

"  As  a  writer,  Mr.  Whittemore  is  distinguished  rather  by  force  than 
elegance.  Neither  his  early  education,  the  character  of  his  mind,  nor  his 
habits,  qualify  him  to  be  ambitious  for  the  artificial  charms  of  style.  He 
never  writes  without  having  something  to  say,  and  that  he  usually  says 
in  the  most  direct  and  simple  manner  in  his  power.  The  polished  sen 
tence,  the  rounded  period,  he  willingly  leaves  to  others,  and  strikes 
with  all  his  force  at  the  object  before  him.  Perhaps  some  may  think 
him  wanting  in  refinement  and  grace,  and  others,  I  know,  regard  him  as 
at  times  bolder  and  plainer  than  necessary.  That  he  deals  severely 
with  some  of  his  opposers,  is  certain ;  yet,  with  all  this  severity,  there 
is  a  frankness  and  manliness  which  challenges  the  respect  even  of  his 
enemies.  Then  it  is  but  just  to  remember  the  school  in  which  he  has 
been  disciplined.  With  him  it  has  been  no  warfare  for  paper  hats  and 
silk  gloves.  The  head  needed  a  helmet  of  steel,  and  the  hand  must 
know  how  to  grasp  the  sword  and  spear.  Reflect,  for  one  moment,  on 
the  antagonists  with  whom  Mr.  Whittemore  has  been  called  to  con 
tend,  and  then  tell  me  if  the  old  soldier  has  not  come  out  of  the  fight 
with  charity  and  kindness  worthy  of  admiration.  Paul  fought  with 
beasts  at  Ephesus;  Whittemore  has  been  scarcely  more  fortunate  in 
Boston. 

"  Considered  as  a  preacher,  Mr.  Whittemore  ranks  very  much  as  a 
writer.  He  has  an  indifferent  voice,  and  few  think  him  handsome  in 
person,  or  graceful  in  action.  But  he  who  listens  to  him  when  he 
preaches  will  find  something  else  to  do,  than  to  admire  or  even  think  of 
his  person  or  his  voice.  He  speaks  distinctly,  and  without  too  great 
rapidity.  He  has  nothing  of  the  so-called  eloquence  of  the  schools ; 
yet  he  is  often  eloquent  in  a  higher  and  better  sense.  He  warms 
as  he  proceeds  with  his  subject ;  he  speaks  in  earnest,  and  with  a  natu 
ral  tone  and  emphasis,  and  almost  necessarily  commands  attention. 
His  subject  is  generally  unfolded  in  a  simple  and  easy  manner,  and  he 
never  fails  to  make  himself  perfectly  understood.  His  style  is  simple 
and  familiar,  bordering  too  much,  perhaps,  upon  the  colloquial,  to  con* 
form  to  the  higher  rule  of  pulpit  oratory  ;  and  his  illustrations  are  al- 


314  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

ways  chosen  from  common  life,  or  well-known  sources.  His  principal 
aim  is  not  elegance,  but  he  speaks  like  a  man  who  has  something  to 
say,  and  goes  about  it  at  once  and  in  earnest. 

"  During  the  recent  outbreak  of  infidelity,  under  the  specious  genius 
of  New-England  transcendentalism,  or  the  arrogant  pretensions  of  clair 
voyance,  he  has  stood  like  a  rock,  and  repelled  the  angry  and  turbid 
waves  that  threatened  to  involve  whatever  came  within  their  reach. 
The  good  temper  with  which  he  resisted  those  who  thus  opposed  them 
selves,  has  been  remarkable.  Himself  a  sincere  believer  in  the  Chris 
tian  religion,  he  cannot  but  look  with  regret  upon  every  effort  to  cor 
rupt  it.  He  knows,  from  his  own  experience,  the  vast  difference  be 
tween  faith  and  unbelief. 

"  Upon  the  whole,  Mr.  Whittemore  is  a  man  whose  life  and  charac 
ter  deserve  high  consideration.  He  has  faults,  no  doubt,  enough  to 
spoil  some  puny  characters ;  but  then  they  are  overbalanced  by  many 
and  great  virtues.  When  in  health,  and  in  the  full  flow  of  animal 
spirits,  he  is  too  humorous  and  jocose  to  be  quite  clerical ;  and  his  wit, 
of  which  he  has  much,  is  sometimes  too  broad  or  too  caustic  to  be 
relished  by  all.  He  is  supposed  by  some  to  be  too  much  a  party  man, 
and  to  consult  with  too  much  exclusiveness  the  interests  of  the  deno 
mination  of  which  he  is  so  prominent  a  member.  Perhaps  it  is  so ; 
but,  if  this  charge  is  sustained  against  him,  I  hope,"  says  Dr.  Sawyer, 
"  1  may  be  included  in  the  same  condemnation.  He  loves  the  truth,  and 
would  promote  it.  God  grant  him  a  long  and  ever  useful  life." 


H.    J.    MINER, 


OF  H.  J.  MINER  S  BANK,  AT  FREDONIA,  NEW-YORK. 

INSTRUCTION  is  often  most  effectually  given  by  example.  Not  a  few 
men,  it  is  believed,  pass  their  lives  in  obscurity  and  want,  mainly  be 
cause,  from  the  unfavorable  circumstances  in  which  their  lives  com 
mence,  they  pass  the  period  of  youth  under  a  vague  but  general  im 
pression  that  eminence,  in  any  important  respect,  is  unattainable  by 
them ;  and  hence  they  form  no  fixed  purpose  to  attain  it.  A  better 
means  of  dissipating  this  delusion,  and  of  rousing  the  minds  of  young 
men  and  lads,  in  the  humbler  walks  of  life,  to  high  and  noble  aims,  and 
of  stimulating  them  to  the  achievement  of  such  aims,  can  hardly  be 
adopted,  than  holding  before  them  the  example  and  history  of  others 
who  have  pushed  their  way  upward  into  affluence,  honor,  and  useful 
ness,  from  amidst  circumstances  not  less  discouraging  than  their  own. 
Impressed  with  this  thought,  the  writer  of  the  following  sketch  here 
offers  to  his  readers  the  example  of  one  who,  from  a  condition  of  abso 
lute  poverty,  with  all  its  attendant  embarrassments,  and  having  no 
family  distinction  or  influential  friends  to  help  him,  has,  by  his  own 
patient  and  persevering  exertions,  passed  from  his  early  penury  through 
competence  up  to  opulence,  acquiring  by  the  way  increasing  respect 


HIRAM  J.  MINER,  OF  NEW-YORK.  315 

and  esteem  by  men,  and  living  apparently  in  favor  with  God,  until 
now,  in  the  meridian  of  life,  from  the  position  of  one  of  the  most  pros 
perous  bankers  in  the  country,  he  is  able  to  look  back  on  his  path, 
strewed  with  achievements,  which  are  alike  honorable  to  himself,  satis 
factory  to  his  friends,  and  useful  to  society. 

Our  subject,  now  the  president  and  sole  proprietor  of  "  H.  J.  Miner's 
Bank  of  Utica,"  located  in  Fredonia,  New-York,  is  descended  from  an 
obscure  but  respectable  ancestry,  who,  on  his  father's  side,  emigrated 
from  England,  and  on  his  mother's  side,  from  Wales.  The  former 
came  to  America  about  the  year  1700,  and  settled  soon  after  in  Wood- 
bury,  Connecticut,  and  the  latter,  about  fifty  years  earlier,  came  and 
settled  in  Weymouth,  Massachusetts.  His  mother  was  the  daughter 
of  Rev.  Ebenezer  Jones,  a  Baptist  clergyman,  who,  for  his  third  wife, 
married,  in  1779,  a  widow,  by  the  name  of  Quithel.  In  the  early  part 
of  the  Revolution  she  resided  on  Long  Island,  where  she  lost  her  former 
husband,  and  where,  being  a  whig  in  principle,  and  having  espoused 
the  cause  of  her  country  with  marked  decision,  she,  like  many  others 
of  similar  spirit,  suffered  much  privation  and  sacrifice.  At  length,  to 
escape  the  dangers  of  a  battle  then  raging  between  the  Americans  and 
English,  she  was  compelled  to  relinquish  all,  and  fly  with  her  little 
children,  and  such  valuables  only  as  she  could  bear  away  in  her  apron. 
With  these,  she  betook  herself  to  a  little  boat,  and  afterwards  landed 
at  Stonington,  Connecticut.  Here  she  became  acquainted  with,  and 
married  Eev.  Ebenezer  Jones.  Soon  after  their  marriage  they  re 
moved  from  Stonington  to  Stephentown,  New- York.  By  this  woman 
Mr.  Jones  had  two  children,  Matthew  and  Eunice.  Matthew  is  now  a 
Baptist  clergyman,  in  Stephentown,  having  succeeded  to  his  father's 
pastorate  ;  and  Eunice  became  the  wife  of  John  Miner,  and  mother  of 
him  who  is  the  subject  of  the  present  sketch.  She  was  a  woman  of 
active  and  clear  mind,  remarkable  for  patience,  perseverance,  and  hope, 
combined  with  mildness  and  amiability  of  temper,  and  withal,  a  de 
cided  and  exemplary  Christian.  She  died  in  Westmoreland,  New- 
York,  October  30,  1836,  at  the  age  of  fifty-five  years. 

John  Miner,  the  father  of  Hiram  J.,  was  the  son  of  Timothy  Miner, 
a  deacon  of  the  Congregational  church  in  Woodbury,  Connecticut,  who, 
by  his  first  wife,  had  four  sons,  Judson,  Gerry,  Treat,  and  John ;  and  three 
daughters,  Betsy,  Mary,  and  Anna ;  and  by  his  second  wife,  three  sons  and 
one  daughter.  One  of  these  latter  sons,  Timothy,  became  an  Episcopal 
clergyman,  and  recently  died  in  the  city  of  New- York.  John,  the  youngest 
son,  by  the  first  wife,  was  born  in  Woodbury,  August  29,  1776. 
Having  lost  his  father  in  boyhood,  he  enjoyed  very  small  advantages 
for  education,  and  was  early  apprenticed  to  the  carpenter's  trade,  which 
occupation  he  continued  to  follow  through  life.  His  marriage  with 
Eunice  Jones  took  place  in  Stephentown,  October,  1801.  By  her 
he  had  four  sons  and  four  daughters,  viz. :  Eunice,  Hiram,  John,  Isaac, 
Eliza,  Mary,  Caroline,  and  Heman,  all  of  whom,  except  Mary,  who 
died  in  infancy,  are  now  living,  married,  and  members  of  Christian 
churches.  Although  Mr.  Miner  was  a  man  of  good  natural  abilities, 
much  decision  and  energy  of  character,  and  commanded  a  large  share  of 
public  influence  for  one  in  his  condition,  yet  he  was  not  without  serious 
faults,  owing,  however,  in  a  great  measure  to  the  faults  of  his  time. 


316  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

But 'whatever  were  his  errors  in  practice,  the  precepts  which  he  enjoined 
on  his  family  were  always  those  of  integrity,  morality,  and  reverence 
for  religion.  Possessed  of  a  generous  and  social  disposition,  his  earn 
ings  were  not  always  husbanded  wisely,  and,  as  a  natural  consequence, 
he  was  unstable  in  his  residence,  and  always  poor.  He  died  of  cholera, 
in  Westmoreland,  New- York,  August  2*2,  1835,  aged  fifty-nine  years. 

HIRAM  J.*  MINER,  whose  biographical  sketch  we  purpose  now  to  give, 
is  the  eldest  son  of  John  Miner,  and  was  born  in  Stephentown,  Rensse- 
laer  county,  New- York,  1804.  The  sun  of  his  existence  arose  under  a 
cloud  of  temporal  adversity,  from  which  it  did  not  emerge  until  after 
he  had  begun  to  act  for  himself  under  his  own  direction.  The  effect  of 
his  father's  poverty  he  often  sorely  felt  during  the  period  of  his  mi 
nority  ;  and  yet,  by  throwing  him  upon  his  own  energies,  and  denying 
him  the  supports  of  voluptuous  indolence  or  the  means  of  youthful  ex 
travagance  which  many  sons  of  the  rich  possess,  it  led  him  to  the  forma 
tion  of  those  stricter  habits  which,  in  a  great  degree,  have  constituted  the 
basis  of  his  eminent  success. 

In  order  to  give  the  reader  a  proper  view  of  his  early  life,  and  of  the 
disadvantages  and  embarrassments  out  of  which  he  has  arisen,  as  well 
as  to  elucidate  his  natural  traits  of  character,  it  will  be  necessary  briefly 
to  trace  the  family  of  his  father  while  he  remained  connected  with  it. 

In  1806,  when  Hiram  was  two  years  of  age,  his  father  removed  from 
Stephentown  to  Hamilton,  Madison  county,  New- York,  and  thence  in 
1808,  to  Westmoreland,  Oneida  county.  Just  before  the  family  removed 
from  Hamilton,  when  about  four  years  old,  Master  Hiram  met  with 
an  accident  which  nearly  cost  him  his  life.  In  attempting  to  ascend 
the  rude  ladder  by  which  the  chamber  of  their  log-house  was  to  be 
reached,  the  adventurous  boy  lost  his  hold  and  fell  from  the  top.  He 
alighted  on  one  of  the  cooking  utensils,  which  laid  open  his  nose  longitu 
dinally  to  the  bone,  and  was  taken  up  senseless,  supposed  to  be  dead.  But 
medical  aid  was  soon  procured,  and  the  little  sufferer  was  again  restored. 

Whilst  Mr.  Miner  resided  in  Westmoreland,  which  was  some  seven 
years,  Hiram  was  accustomed  to  attend  the  district  school  during  the 
summer  terms,  but  in  winter  he  remained  at  home  on  account  of  the 
distance  of  the  school  from  his  father's  residence.  He  was  at  first  a 
dull  scholar,  although  abundantly  capable  of  making  rapid  progress. 
Full  of  the  amusement  afforded  by  his  mischiefs,  he  had  no  disposition 
to  fix  his  mind  on  the  unexciting  pages  of  his  book.  Fun  was  his  de 
light  and  his  principal  aim.  And  yet,  his  experience  proved  to  him  even 
then  that  "  the  way  of  the  transgressors  is  hard."  Abundance  of  chastise 
ments  made  him  more  familiar  with  the  lessons  of  the  rod  than  with 
the  lessons  of  his  book ;  and  he  was  rapidly  becoming  a  most  trouble 
some  member  of  the  school  fraternity,  when  an  incident  occurred  which 
wholly  changed  his  character  as  a  pupil.  This  was  when  he  was  about 
six  years  of  age.  On  a  certain  day,  as  the  school-dame  was  preparing 
to  administer  his  accustomed  discipline,  she  remarked  with  a  somewhat 
impatient  gravity,  "  I  expect  to  have  to  lick  this  boy  every  day,  as  regu 
larly  as  the  day  comes/'  "  That  is  true,"  replied  Hiram  to  himself, 
mentally—"  That  is  true,  and  it  shall  be  so  no  more.  I  will  do  letter? 

*  The  J.  is  inserted  by  himself,  as  the  initial  of  Jones,  his  mother's  name. 


HIRAM  J.  MINER,  OF  NEW- YORK.  317 

And  from  that  hour  he  did  "  do  better,"  and  thereafter  became  a  very 
respectable  inmate  of  the  school,  and  in  some  of  the  departments  of 
study  he  surpassed  others  much  older  and  at  first  more  promising  than 
himself. 

It  was  about  two  years  after  this,  at  the  age  of  eight,  when  the  idea 
and  the  purpose  of  becoming  a  merchant  first  took  possession  of  his 
mind — a  purpose  which  he  never  relinquished  until  it  was  accomplished. 
In  company  with  his  parents  he  had  gone  from  Westmoreland  to  Au 
gusta  to  see  the  elephant.  While  there,  his  father  handed  him  his  snuff 
box  with  a  penny,  and  directed  him  to  go  to  a  store  and  get  a  penny's 
worth  of  snuff.  He  took  the  box  and  the  penny,  and  entering  Chan 
dler's  store,  purchased  the  snuff.  While  standing  there  in  waiting  for 
the  article,  the  thought  came  into  his  mind,  which  he  instantly  formed 
into  a  resolve,  and  he  said  to  himself,  "  /  will  be  a  merchant."  From 
that  moment  it  became,  until  it  was  realized,  his  ruling  desire  and  aim 
to  enter  a  store  as  a  merchant's  clerk. 

Mr.  Miner,  at  this  time,  and  during  the  war  with  England,  lived  on 
the  "Seneca  turnpike,"  a  route  much  traversed  by  the  troops  going 
west  or  east  •,  so  that  Hiram  had  frequent  opportunities  of  seeing  them 
and  of  feeling  the  inspiration  of  their  military  display  and  their  reported 
exploits,  as  well  as  of  listening  to  the  tale  of  British  aggression  and 
British  barbarity.  His  father  was  of  the  war  party,  and  in  these  cir 
cumstances  the  lad  naturally  acquired  a  strong  bias  in  favor  of  the  po 
litical  principles  which  were  then  in  the  ascendant,  and  has  continued 
a  firm  democrat  ever  since. 

After  the  ratification  of  peace,  as  soon  as  the  fact  was  known,  Mr. 
Miner  with  his  family  set  off  for  "the  Holland  Purchase,"  then  regarded 
as  "  the  far  west"  Their  destination  was  the  township  of  Sheldon, 
Genesee  county,  (now  Wyoming  county,)  New- York.  The  journey 
was  long  and  tedious,  occupying  nearly  a  month,  and  was  attended 
with  much  expense,  not  a  little  peril,  and  some  disaster.  The  Gene- 
see  River  at  that  time  overflowed  all  its  banks,  and  was  crossed  at 
great  hazard.  On  leaving  the  ferry  they  were  obliged  to  pass  over 
meadows  buried  so  deeply  in  the  water  that  for  a  considerable  distance 
the  loaded  wagons  were  upborne  and  floated.  They  however  suc 
ceeded  in  crossing  and  passed  on  to  Sheldon,  where  they  arrived  March 
21,  1815. 

Here  Mr.  Miner  "  took  up"  an  entirely  new  lot  of  land,  covered  with 
a  heavy  Genesee  forest,  and  on  it  hastily  erected  a  rude  log-house,  in 
which  he  placed  his  family,  and  commenced  the  labor  of  "  clearing." 
Hiram  was  now  eleven  years  of  age.  But  young  as  he  was  he  entered 
with  his  father  on  the  work  of  removing  the  forest  with  zeal,  and 
energy,  and  hope.  He  was  valiant  in  felling  the  trees ;  cutting,  and 
piling,  and  burning  the  brush;  "  niggering  off"  the  logs,  &c.,  &c., 
anticipating  the  day  when,  instead  of  the  dark  forbidding  woods,  he 
should  look  upon  clear  and  well-fenced  fields,  dressed  in  richest  green; 
and  upon  waving  meadows,  golden  harvests,  and  thriving  herds.  Often, 
during  the  three  years  of  their  residence  in  Sheldon,  these  visions  of 
hope  would  dance  before  the  imagination  of  the  boy,  and  fire  his  zeal, 
and  stimulate  his  courage,  and  fortify  his  patience  to  meet  and  endure, 


818  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

or  surmount,  the  almost  incredible  trials  and  hardships  which  befel 
him  there. 

Those  who  remember  the  severities  which  rested  on  the  new  settle 
ments  of  Genesee  during  the  years  1816  and  1817,  on  account  of  the 
frosts  and  consequent  scarcity  of  provision,  will  be  the  better  pre 
pared  to  appreciate  the  sufferings  of  this  family  of  pioneers  in  that  part 
of  the  state  during  "  the  cold  seasons."  The  subject  of  this  sketch  has 
said  to  the  writer  that  what  he  was  there  compelled  to  witness  and  to 
suffer  loft  an  impression  on  his  mind  never  to  be  forgotten ;  and  that 
the  honest  poor  man  can  never  fail  to  excite  his  commiseration,  or  to 
find  in  him  a  sympathizing  friend. 

During  the  first  summer  and  autumn,  Mr.  Miner  succeeded  in  clear 
ing  off  a  few  acres  which,  in  the  following  spring,  were  planted  mostly 
in  com.  Then  came  the  frosts  of  June  and  July,  1816,  and  destroyed 
it  all,  and  with  it,  all  visible  dependence,  or  source  of  hope  to  the  family 
for  subsistence  through  the  approaching  winter.  The  protracted  and 
expensive  journey  to  the  west,  the  maintenance  of  his  family  thus  long 
in  the  woods,  and  now  this  cutting  off  of  his  crops,  effectually  stripped 
Mr.  Miner  of  what  little  means  he  possessed,  and  lefthim,  with  his  family 
— then  a  wife  and  six  children — to  the  buffetings  of  poverty  in  its 
most  appalling  form — the  want  of  daily  bread.  The  succeeding  winter, 
and  the  summer  of  1817,  was  a  period  of  dreadful  suffering  to  nearly 
all  the  log-cabin  settlers  in  that  new  country,  and  particularly  so  to  the 
family  of  Mr.  Miner.  And  when,  again,  the  crops  of  1817  were  also 
destroyed  by  frost,  it  threw  a  shade  of  gloom  over  their  condition  and 
prospects  which  language  fails  to  express.  His  little  property  entirely 
consumed,  and  all  hope  of  securing  a  livelihood  by  clearing  off  and 
cultivating  new  land  being  extinguished,  by  the  continued  severity  of 
the  seasons,  and  fearing  absolute  starvation,  Mr.  Miner  and  his  family 
were  compelled  to  resort  to  every  honest  expedient  to  maintain  sub 
sistence  at  all.  Sending  his  children  to  school  was  out  of  the  question. 
He  could  not  meet  the  expense.  The  boys  who  were  old  enough 
wrought  for  the  more  favored  neighbors  for  whatever  wages  they  could 
get,  and  sometimes  even  for  their  bread.  At  one  time  Hiram  and  his 
younger  brother,  John,  were  employed  by  a  neighboring  landholder 
in  cutting  and  piling  "  under-brush,"  and  in  picking  up  potatoes,  at 
twelve  and  a  half  cents  per  day,  paid  in  potatoes,  which  they  would 
carry  home  at  night  to  feed  the  rest  of  the  family.  Potatoes  were 
then  worth  from  fifty  to  seventy-five  cents  per  bushel.  At  other  times 
the  most  profitable  expedient  was  a  resort  to  fishing.  Mr.  Miner  was 
obliged  to  leave  home  and  search  for  employment  at  his  trade  where- 
ever  a  day's  work  could  be  procured.  Often,  with  his  tools  on  his 
back,  he  would  wander  off  many  miles,  and  be  gone  one  to  two  weeks  ; 
then  bring  home  upon  his  shoulders  the  avails  of  his  labor  to  feed  his 
famished  family.  His  entire  earnings  for  a  week  he  could  very  con 
veniently  carry  home  upon  his  back.  While  labor  was  extremely 
low,  all  kinds  of  provision  were  unprecedently  high.  At  some  sea 
sons  of  the  year  wheat  was  worth  $3  00  per  bushel ;  Indian  corn,  $1  50 
to  $200;  and  potatoes,  $1  00;  while  other  provisions  bore  correspond 
ing  prices.  Their  own  backs  were  the  only  beasts  of  burden ;  and 
when  a  bushel  of  corn  or  of  wheat  was  procured,  Mr.  Miner  would 


HIRAM  J.  MINER,  OF  NEW-YORK.  319 

swing  it  upon  his  shoulder,  and,  along  with  young  Hiram,  tramp  away 
to  "  Colonel  Verry's  mills,"  and  get  it  ground.  Then  the  boy,  taking 
the  bran,  would  set  off  close  upon  the  footsteps  of  his  father  bearing 
the  flour,  and  thread  the  unbroken  forest  four  miles,  to  reach  the 
hungry  ones  who  waited  at  home.  Sometimes  pausing  to  rest  upon 
a  log  beside  the  path,  the  father  would  cheer  up  the  spirits  of  the  lad 
by  relating  some  stirring  incident  in  his  own  life,  or  rouse  his  hope  to 
anticipate  future  good,  by  telling  what  he  expected  his  Hiram  would 
yet  attain  to. 

Hiram  had  even  then  not  only  a  strong  sense  of  the  straits  they  were 
in,  but  also  a  ludicrous  conception  of  the  appearance  which  his  father 
and  himself  presented  in  these  pedestrian  milling  excursions.  Often 
would  he  amuse  his  father  with  his  boyish  suggestions  for  relief.  At 
one  time,  on  their  return  from  mill,  as  they  sat  resting  on  a  log,  he  pro 
posed  the  following  improvement  in  their  mode  of  travel :  "  Suppose," 
said  he,  "  that  you  should  let  me  get  astride  of  your  grist  and  ride  until 
you  become  tired,  and  then  you  do  the  same  by  me — and  so  we  alter 
nate;  and  by  this  means  save  the  time  of  stopping  to  rest."  Naturally 
of  a  proud  spirit,  and  stung  to  the  quick  by  the  sense  of  bitter  poverty 
and  hardship  which  this  playful  thought  of  the  boy  awakened,  yet  sup 
pressing  his  emotion  and  affecting  merriment,  he  started  to  his  feet,  ex 
claiming  :  "  King  Hiram,*  shoulder  your  grist  and  keep  up  if  you  can !" 
— then  set  off  upon  a  run  with  "  King  Hiram"  close  upon  his  heels. 

On  one  occasion,  during  the  summer  of  1817,  in  the  absence  of  Mr. 
Miner,  the  family  had  consumed  their  last  morsel  of  food ;  and  Mrs. 
Miner,  accompanied  by  Hiram,  went  to  a  neighbor's  house  two  miles 
distant  through  the  woods,  in  hope  of  procuring  something  for  herself 
and  children  to  subsist  upon  for  a  few  days,  until  her  husband  should 
return.  But  she  did  not  succeed;  and  on  returning  at  night,  they  found 
that  the  children,  having  been  without  food  through  the  day,  had  been 
vainly  trying  to  allay  the  cravings  of  hunger  with  bark  from  the  twigs 
of  the  birch.  A  pile  of  denuded  brush  met  them  at  the  door,  and  told 
too  plainly  the  tale  of  want  within.  "  That  scene,"  remarks  the  sub 
ject  of  this  sketch,  in  narrating  the  circumstance  to  the  writer — "That 
scene  pierced  my  young  heart,  and  gave  me  so  strong  and  vivid  a  con 
ception  of  our  situation  as  it  then  was,  that  no  distance  of  time  can  ever 
efface  the  impression.  It  remains  before  me  now,  fresh  as  of  yester 
day."  He  adds:  "  During  all  this  period  of  want,  nothing  like  des 
pondency  was  ever  discoverable  in  our  parents.  My  mother,  especially, 
was  at  all  times  cheerful.  However  sad  she  might  feel,  (and  she  doubt 
less  had  her  painful  forebodings,)  towards  her  children  she  was  ever 
cheerful  and  hopeful ;  saying  often :  '  I  trust  in  Providence.'  '  Hope 
for  the  future.'  '  All  is  for  the  best,  and  will  turn  out  so  at  last.'  " 

The  scarcity  of  provisions  continued.  It  became  almost  impossible 
to  procure  food,  even  with  money.  The  older  settlements  were  a  little 
better  off  in  this  respect ;  and  in  these  occasionally  Mr.  Miner  could 
procure  a  little  work  at  his  trade.  Commonly  he  would  be  gone 


*  The  boy  was  named  for  Hiram,  King  of  Tyre  ;   and  in  his  merry  moods,  his 
father  used  commonly  to  call  him,  "  King  Hiram." 


320  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

a  week  or  more — distant  twelve  to  fifteen  miles,  and  return  with  what 
he  could  bring  on  his  back,  as  mentioned  above.  The  family  were,  of 
course,  kept  on  the  smallest  allowance  which  nature  could  endure.  On 
one  occasion  Mr.  Miner,  having  been  at  first  unsuccessful  in  seeking 
employment,  was  gone  longer  than  the  time  fixed  upon.  Mrs,  Miner 
had,  for  the  last  few  days,  tasked  herself  to  the  utmost  to  keep  up  the 
drooping  spirits  of  the  children ;  and  had  resorted  to  every  expedient 
to  lengthen  out  the  little  store  of  provision.  But  the  appalling  time 
came  when  the  last  cake  was  baked,  and  the  last  morsel  was  eaten. 

For  several  days  they  had  been  restricted  to  only  a  fraction  of  what 
nature  demanded.  Again  night  was  coming  on.  The  anxious  mother 
gazed  long  and  vainly  for  relief  in  her  returning  husband.  No  father, 
no  bread.  The  children  were  gathered  about  the  door  of  the  humble 
cabin  with  piteous  looks,  and  hungry.  The  younger  ones  were  crying 
for  food,  and  asking,  "  When  will  father  come1?"  Mrs.  Miner,  in  her 
extremity,  said :  "I  don't  know  but  we  shall  perish  if  he  does  not  come 
soon.  But  we  will  not  give  up  yet,  nor  go  to  bed  till  we  have  made 
another  effort  to  get  up  one  more  supper.  He  may  possibly  be  home 
in  the  morning."  She  then  went  to  a  neighbor's  and  borrowed  six  pota 
toes — all  she  could  get — and  returned.  The  potatoes  were  buried  in 
the  hot  embers  and  roasted.  A  little  wheat  bran  which  remained  in  the 
house  was  wet  with  water,  and  made  into  a  cake  and  baked.  The 
cooking  being  accomplished  late  in  the  evening,  and  there  being  no  pros 
pect  of  other  relief  that  night,  the  table  was  set  as  usual.  The  roasted 
potatoes,  with  salt,  were  distributed  to  the  places  of  the  several  children. 
The  bran  cake  occupied  the  centre  of  the  table ;  and  beside  it  stood  an 
iron  candlestick,  bearing  a  hemlock  knot  lighted  for  the  occasion. 
When  all  was  ready,  the  family  took  their  seats  at  the  table  with  usual 
formality.  The  knot  candle  threw  up  a  dingy  flarne,  with  a  cloud  of 
black  curling  smoke,  which  found  egress  through  the  open  gable,  as  no 
chimney  was  there.  The  pitchy  light  shed  a  sombre  hue  upon  the 
table,  and  on  all  around.  It  was  a  melancholy  scene,  and  felt  to  be  such 
by  every  member  of  that  suffering  group.  For  a  moment,  all  sat  in 
mute  and  motionless  solemnity,  contemplating  the  sad  spectacle.  Pre 
sently  the  silence  was  broken  by  the  mother  in  a  subdued  and  plaintive 
tone,  "  Oh,  la  me !  this  is  poverty  indeed !"  At  that  instant  the  light 
went  out ;  and  the  next,  a  roar  of  laughter  broke  from  every  child — 
each  at  the  same  time  grasping  and  devouring  his  potato  in  the  dark. 
When  the  light  was  again  restored,  nothing  appeared  on  the  table  but 
the  bran  cake.  This  was  served  around  the  board  in  dubious  suspense 
in  regard  to  its  fate.  To  eat  such  a  thing  had  not  been  attempted 
by  them  before.  The  trial  was  made,  but  it  was  impossible.  They 
could  not  swallow  it.  A  cake  of  sawdust  could  have  been  eaten  as 
well.  "  It  would  have  required,"  says  Mr.  Miner,  "  a  force-pump  to  get 
it  into  our  stomachs."  So,  the  remainder  of  the  repast  was  abandoned, 
and  all  went  to  bed ;  when  the  children,  at  least,  forgot  in  sleep  their 
hunger  for  that  night.  Early  the  next  morning  the  father  returned  with 
his  usual  bag  of  flour  or  meal,  and  relieved  the  distress  of  that 
occasion. 

It  often  happened  that  Hiram  was  sent  several  miles  with  a  few  shil 
lings  to  purchase  articles  for  the  family,  and  in  these  excursions  he  was 


HIRAM  J.  MINER,  OF  NEW-YORK.  321 

generally  accompanied  by  his  brother  John.  At  one  time,  the  boys 
were  dispatched  to  a  distance  of  some  two  miles  to  make  a  trifling  pur 
chase,  and  arrived  at  their  destination  just  as  the  family  were  taking 
their  dinner.  The  lads  were  kindly  asked  to  sit  by  and  dine  with 
them.  But  Hiram  modestly  declined,  saying,  he  thought  it  was  "not 
worth  while  ;"  or,  as  John  would  have  it,  "not  so  file  ;"*  and  was  pro 
ceeding  to  thank  the  gentleman  for  his  kindness,  while  John  had  doffed 
his  hat  and  was  down  at  the  table  long  before  Hiram  had  finished  his 
speech.  Then,  as  a  matter  of  course,  Hirarn  had  to  yield  and  accept 
the  invitation.  We  mention  this  to  show  that,  hungry  and  faint  as  he 
then  was,  he  did  not  feel  at  liberty  to  accept  the  hospitality  of  this 
family  without,  at  least,  manifesting  some  modesty  in  its  acceptance. 
After  dinner,  the  boys  paid  for  the  articles  they  had  purchased  and  re 
turned  home.  John  gave  his  version  of  the  adventure,  and  Hiram  his ; 
but  to  this  day,  if  Hiram  makes  objection  to  a  proposition  from  one  of 
his  brothers,  he  is  met  with  "  I  suppose  you  think  it  lnot  so  file.''  " 

Soon  after  this,  the  condition  and  prospects  of  the  family,  as  regarded 
food,  began  to  brighten.  Mr.  Miner  obtained  regular  employment  at 
his  trade  in  Attica,  some  12  to  15  miles  distant,  whence  flour  and 
other  provisions  were  sent,  or  brought  by  himself  as  often  as  he  return 
ed  home. 

Hiram  was  now  13  years  old,  and  was  frequently  employed  in  the 
transportation  of  supplies  from  Attica  to  his  father's  house.  He  would 
work  for  a  neighbor  a  week  or  more,  to  pay  for  the  use  of  a  horse,  then, 
ride  to  Attica  and  return  with  flour  and  other  provisions.  Much  of 
the  way  was  only  what  was  called  "  a  woods  road" — a  narrow  pass 
opened  through  the  forest  by  clearing  away  the  underwood  wide  enough 
for  a  wagon-path.  And  he  did  not  always  escape  disaster,  from  the 
narrowness  of  the  road.  On  one  occasion,  as  he  was  returning  home 
with  60  pounds  of  flour,  and  some  other  articles,  upon  his  horse's  back, 
the  road  being  rough  and  the  mud  deep,  the  animal  was  quite  disposed 
to  sheer  from  the  main  track,  in  many  places,  to  avoid  the  difficulties 
of  the  way.  Hiram  felt  the  danger  to  which  these  sidelong  plunges 
exposed  him,  and  for  the  most  part  managed  his  rein  with  becoming 
caution.  But  it  happened,  in  an  unguarded  moment,  that  his  fastidious 
steed,  spying  an  unlovely-looking  mud-hole,  darted  sideways  and 
brought  up  against  a  tree.  The  unfortunate  concussion  tore  a  hole  in 
the  bag,  and  cast  both  rider  and  grist  into  the  mud.  It  was  a  cruel  ca 
tastrophe  ;  but  the  young  hero  was  equal  to  the  emergency.  He  had 
held  fast  the  rein,  and  thus  prevented  the  horse's  escape,  but  how  to  se 
cure  and  replace  on  his  back  the  half-buried  grist  was  now  the  question. 
He  was  small,  and  of  a  light  frame,  and  to  lift  the  bag  by  main  strength 
and  put  it  upon  the  animal  was  impossible.  He  was  in  the  centre  of  a 
dense  forest,  five  miles  from  home,  and  to  wait  for  some  passer-by 
seemed  preposterous.  He  therefore  resolved  on  a  desperate  effort  to 
help  himself.  Putting  forth  all  his  strength,  he  dragged  the  bag  of  flour 
from  the  mud,  and  stopped  the  breach  by  crowding  in  leaves  and  small 
twigs.  Next  he  led  his  horse  up  beside  a  high  log  and  made  him  fast 


A  blunder  of  articulation  occasioned  by  his  embarrassment, 

21 


322  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

to  the  limb  of  a  tree  ;  then,  with  much  labor,  he  succeeded  in  getting 
the  bag  on  the  log,  and  thence  upon  the  back  of  the  horse.  He  was 
soon  mounted  again,  and  completed  the  journey  without  further  mishap. 
But  both  the  bag  of  flour  and  his  own  apparel  very  distinctly  proclaim 
ed  that  he  had  been  "in  the  ditch." 

During  his  father's  residence  in  Sheldon,  Hiram,  though  so  young, 
was  made  practically  familiar  with  all  the  varieties  of  labor,  as  well  as 
all  the  hardships  and  privations  incident  to  a  new  country.  He  was 
employed  at  intervals  in  the  various  processes  of  clearing  new  lands — 
chopping,  piling  and  burning  logs  and  brush  ;  in  riding  horse  to  plow 
out  newly-cleared  fields  of  com — the  roots  and  stumps  every  few  rods 
jerking  him  nearly  off  the  animal's  back  ;  in  gathering  and  boiling  the 
sap  of  the  maple  in  the  manufacture  of  sugar  ;  in  attending  upon  pits  of 
burning  charcoal ;  in  peeling  bark  for  the  roofs  of  log-houses ;  in  pound 
ing  out  buckwheat  in  the  open  fields ;  in  gathering  ashes,  and  manufac 
turing  black  salts  and  potash.  He  was  always  ready  and  willing  to 
engage  in  any  honest  employment  which  promised  remuneration — es 
teeming  no  work  unworthy  of  him  which  needed  to  be  done.  In  this 
manner  he  acquired  an  interest  and  a  sympathy  in  the  employments  of 
the  laboring  poor  which  has  characterized  him  in  all  his  subsequent 
life,  and  materially  helped  to  make  him  what  eminently  he  appears  to 
be — the  virtuous  poor  man's  friend.  His  opportunities  for  schooling 
in  this  place  were  very  limited,  being  restricted  to  a  part  of  one  winter 
and  one  term  of  summer.  The  privilege  of  attending  religious  meet 
ings  and  listening  to  the  gospel  was  seldom  enjoyed.  Once  in  a  great 
while  he  heard  a  sermon  from  some  traveling  missionary  ;  but  his  reli 
gious  instruction  was  chiefly  derived  from  his  mother.  She  did  not  fail  to 
urge  on  her  children,  above  everything  else,  the  duty  of  reverencing  the 
authority  of  God,  and  of  looking  by  faith  to  the  Saviour,  who  died  for 
sinners,  and  rose  again.  She  taught  them  to  be  honest  in  word  and  ac 
tion,  true  to  each  other,  and  kind  to  all.  And  she  promised  that,  if 
Providence  spared  their  lives,  they  should  yet  rise  from  their  present 
condition,  and  become  respected  and  esteemed  among  men.  This 
pledge  she  gave  them,  confiding  in  the  words  of  Christ,  "  Seek  first  the 
kingdom  of  God,  and  his  righteousness,  and  all  these  things  shall  be 
added  unto  you."  And  before  her  death,  she  was  permitted  to  see  her 
assurances  to  them  becoming  literally  fulfilled,  especially  in  the  case  of 
her  eldest  son. 

Early  in  the  winter  of  1817-18,  Mr.  Miner,  having  sold  out  in  Shel 
don,  removed  with  his  family  into  the  township  of  Attica,  four  miles 
south  from  the  village  of  that  name.  Here,  in  the  neighborhood  of 
"  Cotton's  Mills,"  on  the  Tonawanda  Creek,  he  occupied  a  log-house, 
surrounded  by  forest.  He  remained  in  this  place  through  the  winter; 
and  in  the  spring  of  1818,  having  secured  the  job  of  building  a  house 
for  Dr.  Disbrow  in  the  village,  he  removed  his  family  thither. 

During  the  winter  at  "Cotton's  Mills,"  Hiram  was  variously  em 
ployed  as  occasion  required — sometimes  cutting  and  hauling  to  the  door, 
on  his  hand-sled,  the  necessary  fuel ;  sometimes  making  and  furnishing 
to  the  market  birchen  splint  brooms;  often  ranging,  for  one  purpose  or 
another,  over  the  snow-clad  hills,  or  penetrating  the  deep  forests ;  some 
times  on  snow-shoes,  and  accompanied  by  his  brother  John.  In  these 


HIRAM  J.  MINER,  OF  NEW- YORK.  323 

rambles  they  had  frequent  opportunity  of  trying  their  speed  and  prov 
ing  their  prowess  in  pursuit  of  the  deer — a  privilege  which  they  never 
failed  to  improve  when  the  snow  was  deep  and  its  crust  sharp,  as  was 
often  the  case  during  the  winter  and  early  spring.  In  such  circum 
stances,  though  destitute  of  fire-arms  or  other  effective  weapons,  if  they 
saw  a  deer,  they  were  ever  ready  to  give  him  chase.  Hiram  was  the 
master  spirit,  but  John  was  resolute  to  follow  wherever  Hiram  would 
lead.  As  a  specimen  of  their  daring  and  unyielding  perseverance,  let 
the  following  incident  be  related: 

Hiram  was  now  in  his  fourteenth  year,  and  John  in  his  twelfth.  One 
morning  about  sunrise — the  boys  having  just  arisen — as  Mrs.  Miner 
was  commencing  her  preparations  for  breakfast,  on  opening  the  door  she 
called  out :  "  Here,  boys,  are  two  deer  before  the  door,  walking  in  the 
road;  and  "they  move  very  slow,  as  if  they  were  tired."  The  boys 
rushed  to  the  door ;  and.  on  seeing  them,  the  deer  plunged  into  the 
deep  snow,  and  soon  disappeared  in  the  thick  forest.  Hiram  stepped 
back  to  the  table,  and  seizing  a  large  butcher-knife,  said  to  John : 
"  Come  on,  my  boy,  let  us  give  chase."  John  was  ready  at  the  word, 
and  instantly  they  were  off  at  the  top  of  their  speed.  The  crust  of  the 
snow  was  sufficient  to  bear  up  the  boys  ;  while  the  deer,  when  kept  on 
the  bound,  sank  through  to  the  bottom  at  every  leap.  The  underwood 
being  so  thick,  the  boys  did  not  come  in  sight  of  the  animals  but  once, 
until  they  had  run  the  distance  of  five  miles.  But  now  the  deer  were 
so  hard  pressed  by  the  young  pursuers  that,  leaving  the  woods,  they 
sought  refuge  in  an  adjacent  barn-yard  among  the  cattle.  But  they 
were  not  long  permitted  to  pause,  before  the  furious  sportsmen  were 
rushing  upon  them.  Again  they  took  to  the  woods.  At  this  place  the 
boys  were  joined  in  the  pursuit  by  the  farmer  with  his  rifle  But  after 
accompanying  them  a  few  miles,  he  gave  out,  and  returned  home.  Not 
so  the  lads.  Only  one  thought  filled  their  minds.  They  started  with 
the  purpose  to  catch  and  kill  one  or  both  of  these  deer ;  and  until  that 
was  accomplished,  they  could  -think  of  nothing  else.  They  kept  on  the 
trail,  coming  every  now  and  then  in  sight  of  their  objects;  when, 
although  they  expected  soon  to  have  a  knock-down  fight  with  the 
beasts,  they  would  brandish  the  butcher-knife,  and  with  new  vigor 
press  on — resolved  to  hazard  a  battle,  whatever  might  be  the  event. 
At  length  one  of  the  deer,  in  passing  under  a  fallen  tree  which 
laid  somewhat  elevated  from  the  ground,  was  wounded  by  a  sharp  pro 
jecting  knot  which  penetrated  the  flesh  so  as  to  bring  blood.  Tln> 
gave  the  boys  new  hope.  Very  soon  after,  the  animals  parted,  takinfe 
different  directions.  The  fierce  pursuers  chose  the  trail  of  the  wounded 
beast — distinguished  by  its  bloody  track.  Onward  they  rushed,  with  all 
their  remaining  strength.  It  was  now  late  in  the  afternoon.  Although 
the  race  had  been  most  of  the  time  in  a  dense  forest,  they  had  kept  their 
reckoning  so  as  not  to  get  lost,  and  were  encouraged  by  perceiving  that 
the  creature  was  taking  a  course  towards  their  home.  At  length  he  began 
to  flag  from  fatigue,  and  made  for  a  clearing  about  two  miles  from  their 
father's  house.  As  he  rieared  the  open  field,  he  was  seen  by  a  man 
armed  with  a  rifle,  and  was  shot.  The  boys  were  only  a  few  rods  be 
hind,  ignorant  that  any  one  was  near  until  they  heard  the  crack  of  tho 
rifle.  They  came  up  and  looked  on  the  deer  for  a  few  moments,  feel 


324  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

ing  a  little  chagrined  that  they  had  not  been  permitted  to  fight  and  kill 
him  themselves;  but  in  the  main  satisfied — the  beast  was  dead.  Then, 
faint  and  exhausted  with  fatigue  and  want  of  food,  they  hastened  home, 
much  to  the  relief  of  their  anxious  mother,  who  had  feared  they  were 
lost  and  would  perish  in  the  snow.  But  the  boys  were  proud  of  their 
feat.  They  had,  indeed,  been  from  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning  until 
four  in  the  afternoon,  without  breakfast  or  dinner,  in  a  furious  race 
through  the  dark  woods  ;  but  they  had  accomplished  .their  object ;  and 
until  that  was  effected,  they  would  not  give  up. 

Illustrative  of  the  same  trait  of  character — stopping  at  no  difficulty 
and  shrinking  at  no  hardship  in  the  pursuit  of  an  object  once  fixed  upon 
— let  another  scene  of  boyhood  be  presented.  Sometime  in  the  autumn 
following  the  occurrence  related  above,  while  the  family  were  living  in 
the  village  of  Attica,  there  was  a  cattle  show  and  fair  held  in  Batavia, 
twelve  miles  distant.  Hiram  and  John  desired  to  see  it.  It  was, 
to  be  sure,  a  good  way  off;  and  they  had  no  horse,  or  money,  or 
shoes  for  their  feet.  But,  despite  the  obstacles,  the  expedition  was  re 
solved  on.  Accordingly,  on  the  morning  of  the  appointed  day,  they  set 
off,  in  pedestrian  style,  bare-footed,  and  with  not  a  sixpence  in  their 
pockets — their  only  resource  for  the  expenses  of  the  journey  being  a 
"  Barlow  knife."  On  arriving  at  Batavia,  they  sold  the  knife  for 
twelve  and  a  half  cents.  This  fund  they  spent — a  penny  at  a  time — 
through  the  course  of  the  day,  in  obedience  to  the  demands  of  ap 
petite;  and  returned  at  night  with  merry  hearts,  to  relate  to  the 
younger  children  the  adventures  they  had  had,  and  the  sights  they  had 
seen. 

The  next  winter,  1818-'19,  Hiram  was  at  school.  An  opportunity  was 
offered  him  to  board  in  the  family  of  Harvey  Putnam,  Esq.,  of  Attica, 
where,  by  working  mornings  and  evenings,  he  could  pay  for  both  his 
board  and  tuition.  This  was  a  privilege  which  he  gladly  embraced ;  and 
he  made  rapid  progress  in  study,  under  the  instruction  of  Mr.  (now  Rev.) 
Asa  Mahan,  late  president  of  Oberlin  Collegiate  Institute,  Ohio.  Here 
he  commenced  the  study  of  English  grammar ;  and  particularly  distin 
guished  himself  in  spelling  ; — having  mastered  Dabol's  arithmetic  the 
previous  winter  by  himself  at  home.  During  this  winter,  an  accident 
occurred  in  which,  almost  as  by  miracle,  he  escaped  instant  death. 
While  he  was  at  school  one  day,  and  out  with  the  boys  during  a  recess, 
an  ox  team  attached  to  a  sled  passed  along,  and  the  boys  all  jumped  on. 
The  driver  applied  his  whip  to  the  lads,  when  Hiram  leaped  from  the  sled 
into  the  path.  Just  at  that  moment,  a  span  of  horses  and  sleigh,  filled 
with  men  fresh  from  a  neighboring  tavern,  were  rushing  by  at  full  speed. 
Instantly  he  was  struck  by  the  horses  and  thrown  down,  the  team  pass 
ing  directly  over  him.  With  perfect  presence  of  mind  he  hugged  the 
ground  as  closely  as  possible,  so  as  to  let  the  beams  of  the  sleigh  pass 
over  him.  But  just  as  he  came  under  the  roller,  the  team  was  stopped ; 
and  he  crawled  out  from  the  heels  of  the  horses  but  slightly  wounded, 
to  the  great  joy  of  his  terror-stricken  companions.  As  he  rose  to  his 
feet,  the  intoxicated  driver,  with  an  oath,  demanded  what  he  was  there 
for.  Hiram  bowed  with  a  grateful  heart,  thanking  the  wretch  for  not 
killing  him  outright ;  then  took  his  seat  in  the  school-room,  bathed  in 
tears,  and  overflowing  with  gratitude  to  his  Maker  that  his  life  was 


HIRAM  J.  MINER,  OF  NEW-YORK.  325 

spared.  The  serious  impression  produced  by  this  narrow  escape  from 
death  continued  with  him  during  the  remainder  of  the  school. 

The  removal  of  Mr.  Miner's  family  into  the  village  of  Attica  made 
an  important  change  in  the  condition,  views,  and  manners  of  Hiram. 
Instead  of  the  retiring  bashfulness  of  a  backwood's  lad,  he  here  ac 
quired  the  more  easy  and  familiar  manners  of  a  village  boy.  He  was 
brought  more  into  contact  with  men  and  things;  found  new  oppor 
tunities  for  gaining  information  ;  and  his  knowledge  of  the  world  about 
him  became  essentially  enlarged.  During  the/owr  years  of  his  father's 
residence  in  that  place,  he  enjoyed  his  best  and  last  advantages  for 
schooling.  The  first  two  winters  he  was  enabled  to  attend  school 
steadily,  and  also  a  part  of  the  third.  And  here  it  was  that  he  com 
menced  his  operations  in  money -making.  He  says  to  the  writer,  "  The 
first  money  that  I  recollect  of  earning,  and  laying  aside  as  my  own, 
was  gained  in  the  following  manner :  the  teacher  of  our  school  offered, 
that  if  I  would  make  the  morning  fires  during  the  winter,  I  might  have 
the  ashes  for  my  pay.  I  did  so  ;  and  in  the  spring  had  collected  some 
ten  or  twelve  bushels,  which  I  sold  at  twelve-and-a-half  cents  per  bushel, 
and  received  my  cash  all  at  once,  which  I  thought  was  a  pretty  large 
pile"  At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  left  school  altogether,  and  with  many 
regrets.  Yet,  for  a  long  time  after,  he  did  not  entirely  abandon  the 
hope  that,  in  some  way,  he  might  be  permitted  to  resume  his  studies. 
But  in  this  hope  he  was  disappointed.  His  time  and  services  were  re 
quired  by  his  father  in  helping  to  support  the  family. 

During  his  continuance  in  Attica,  when  not  in  school,  Hiram  was 
occupied  in  every  variety  of  labor  that  could  be  turned  to  best  account. 
He  assisted  his  father  in  house-building,  shingling,  painting,  and  other 
light  work ;  cultivated  land  on  shares ;  hired  out  to  farmers  at  twenty- 
five  cents  a  day ;  wrought  in  the  brick-yard ;  ground  bark  in  the 
tannery,  &c.,  &c.  On  one  occasion,  when  the  mail-carrier  was  sick,  he 
was  employed  to  transport  the  mail  on  horseback  between  Attica  and 
Buffalo,  a  distance  of  forty  miles,  and  much  of  the  way  through  the 
woods.  His  compensation  for  performing  this  trip  was  fifty  cents, 
paid  in  advance.  But,  unfortunately,  from  the  jolting  of  the  horse — a 
hard  trotting  one — the  money  in  some  way,  as  was  supposed,  bounded 
from  his  vest  pocket,  and  was  lost.  Consequently  he  returned  minus 
the  fifty  cents,  and  had  the  pleasure  and  the  pounding  of  the  trip  to  re 
ward  him  for  his  services.  And  the  pounding  part  he  thought  was  by 
no  means  inconsiderable,  for  he  was  so  bruised  by  the  ride  of  eighty 
miles,  on  the  back  of  suck  a  horse,  in  the  heat  of  summer,  that  it  was 
a  full  week  before  he  was  able  to  go  out  again  to  his  usual  labor.* 
And  yet  his  visit  to  Buffalo  had  in  it  much  to  interest  the  mind  of  such 
a  stripling  in  his  early  teens.  The  village  at  that  time  contained 
about  110  houses,  and  exhibited  in  strong  features  the  traces  of  the 
British  fire  of  1813.  He  left  the  mail  at  the  post-office,  near  a  corner 
of  the  public  square,  on  which  the  first  Presbyterian  Church  now 
stands,  and  put  up  at  a  hotel,  in  what  was  then  the  upper  part 


*  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that,  over  this  same  route,  between  Attica  and  Buffalo, 
the  mail  is  now  transported  by  steam  in  about  forty  minutes. 


326  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

of  the  town,  nearly  opposite  to  where  the  "American"  now  is. 
Having  arrived  early  in  the  afternoon,  he  walked  out  to  see  the 
wonders  of  the  place.  Passing  the  ruins  on  the  site  of  the  fire,  where 
still  were  naked  walls  and  chimneys  standing,  he  went  down  to  the  har 
bor,  and  there,  on  the  lake  and  in  the  creek,  had  his  first  view  of  the 
great  sloops.  He  also  cast  a  look  of  indignant  scorn  over  upon  His 
Majesty's  dominions,  lying  in  the  distance  across  from  Black  Rock. 
After  gazing  as  long  as  he  wished,  swelling  with  haughty  contempt, 
and  bidding  defiance  to  the  hated  enemies  of  his  country,  with  a  proud 
step  and  excited  brain  he  returned  to  his  hotel  for  the  night,  and  the 
next  morning  at  six  o'clock  was  off  for  home. 

While  in  Attica  he  enjoyed  access  to  the  village  library,  at  a  trifling 
expense,  and  read  many  valuable  works,  which,  in  some  degree,  com 
pensated  his  feelings  for  the  deprivation  of  school  instruction.  And 
often  there  did  he  urge  his  father  to  procure  him  a  situation  as  clerk  in 
one  of  the  village  stores,  then  kept  by  Gains  B.  Rich,  Esq.,  and  David 
Scott.  His  father  as  often  made  application  for  him,  but  without  suc 
cess,  perhaps  because  the  merchants  saw  nothing  of  special  interest  in 
the  young  aspirant,  or  perhaps,  (which  was  the  more  probable  reason,) 
because  of  the  want  of  influential  friends.  From  some  cause,  other 
young  men  always  filled  the  vacancies  which  not  unfrequently  occurred 
in  the  stores.  But  with  purpose  unflinching,  he  had  made  up  his  mind 
to  be  a  merchant,  and  he  doubted  not  that  sooner  or  later  he  should 
attain  to  the  long-desired  situation  of  merchant's  clerk. 

The  affairs  of  Mr.  Miner  being  in  an  unpropitious  state,  he  resolved 
on  another  change  of  location.  Accordingly,  in  the  winter  of  1821-2  he 
removed  to  Hopewell,  Ontario  county,  leaving  Hiram  and  his  eldest 
sister,  Eunice,  behind.  Hiram  was  engaged  to  labor  for  a  neighboring 
farmer,  a  Mr.  Howe,  at  $5  per  month,  for  a  couple  of  months,  to  pay 
some  trifling  debts  which  his  father  had  left.  After  completing  this 
engagement,  he  entered  into  a  conditional  contract  with  the  same  man 
to  labor  in  his  employ  one  year.  The  conditions  were,  that  he 
should  not  be  able  to  secure  a  clerkship  in  the  time,  and  that  he  should 
not  be  called  away  by  his  father.  His  compensation  was  to  be  $5  per 
month  in  winter,  and  $6  in  summer,  to  be  paid  in  clothing  and  in  live 
stock — cattle  and  sheep,  as  he  might  choose.  His  plan  was  to  let  out 
his  stock,  to  be  returned  double  in  three  years,  according  to  the  then 
existing  custom  of  the  country.  Upon  the  carrying  out  of  this  plan  he 
set  his  heart  with  a  good  deal  of  interest,  in  the  expectation  of  realizing 
something  for  himself.  But,  after  laboring  about  four  months,  until 
late  in  June,  his  hopes  were  dashed  by  a  summons  from  his  father  to 
come  home.  He  was  bitterly  chagrined  ;  but  the  principle  of  obedience 
to  parental  authority  was  firmly  fixed  in  his  creed  and  in  his  heart,  and 
at  once  he  prepared  to  obey  the  mandate,  much  to  the  disappointment 
of  Mr.  Howe  and  his  kind  family.  After  paying  the  debts,  and  settling 
for  the  clothing  he  had  received,  about  one  dollar  was  paid  him  in  cash, 
to  bear  his  expenses  on  the  way. 

The  usual  modes  of  traveling  then  were,  either  with  one's  own  horse, 
or  else  on  foot.  The  latter  was  the  only  means  available  for  Hiram. 
Out  of  one  of  his  shirts  Mrs.  Howe  constructed  a  knapsack,  into  which 
were  put  his  clothing,  and  two  days'  provision;  and  in  the  gray  of  morn- 


HIRAM  J.  MINER,  OF   NEW-YORK.  327 

ing,  staff  in  hand,  he  bid  the  family  "good  by,"  and  commenced 
the  journey.  Two  miles  on  his  way  he  called  at  the  place  where  his 
sister  Eunice  was  stopping.  She  was  looking  for  him,  and  met  him  at 
"  the  bars."  With  a  laugh  she  exclaimed,  "  Why,  Hiram  !  what  a  ridi 
culous  appearance  you  make  !  I  wonder  if  you  intend  to  go  home  with 
that  big  pack  on  your  back.  I  am  ashamed  of  your  appearance ;  and 
what  will  our  folks  say  1"  He  replied :  "  I  have  no  other  means  to  go. 
They  have  sent  for  me,  and  I  can  go  it."  They  parted  in  tears ;  she  sit 
ting  on  the  fence,  looking  after  him,  until  he  passed  over  the  hill  out 
of  her  sight.  The  morning  was  lovely,  and  he  trudged  on  over  hill  and 
valley,  ruminating  sadly  on  the  past,  and  nerved  up  with  bright  anticipa 
tions  of  the  future.  In  his  reveries  he  almost  forgot  the  huge  pack, 
which  contrasted  so  strongly  with  his  little  body ;  and  the  pedestrian 
efforts  he  was  making ;  as,  taking  off  his  hat.  he  wiped  away  with  the 
sleeve  of  his  shirt  the  perspiration  rolling  from  his  brow.  The  day  be 
came  extremely  warm,  but  he  faltered  not,  nor  abated  his  motion  till 
the  sun  stood  high  in  the  meridian.  Then  he  paused  at  an  humble 
dwelling,  for  the  purpose  of  taking  his  midday  meal.  As  he  approached 
the  door,  the  good  woman  stopped  her  spinning  wheel,  while,  as  politely 
as  he  knew  how,  he  asked  her  for  a  cup  of  water,  and  permission  to  eat  his 
dinner  in  the  shade.  With  an  expression  of  countenance  seen  only  in  a 
woman  and  a  mother,  she  offered  him  a  chair,  and  then  hasted  to  get  him 
the  water,  which  she  mingled  liberally  with  milk.  He  laid  off  his  knap 
sack,  took  out  and  ate  his  dinner,  drank  the  refreshing  beverage,  and 
then  sat  a  little  time  to  rest  himself.  He  had  now  traveled  nearly 
twenty  miles.  After  about  an  hour's  pause,  he  thanked  the  lady  for  her 
kindness,  shouldered  his  pack,  and  resumed  his  journey.  The  heat  was 
exceedingly  oppressive,  and  some  of  the  way  was  rendered  peculiarly 
wearisome  by  the  deep  and  burning  sand.  But  he  pressed  forward,  and 
crossed  the  Genesee  River  just  above  Geneseo,  at  the  same  place 
where,  seven  and  a  half  years  before,  he  had  crossed  with  his  parents  in 
moving  to  the  West.  Instead  of  the  angry  flood,  covering  all  its  banks 
and  the  adjacent  flats,  it  was  now  reduced  to  a  comparatively  small 
stream.  He  descended  to  the  boat,  which  was  in  waiting,  and  the  oars 
man  put  him  across  for  four  cents — no  charge  for  baggage!  About  sun 
set  he  arrived  in  the  village  of  Geneseo.  He  had  made  but  one  stop 
during  the  day,  and  was  now  tired,  and  his  feet  were  sore;  and  prudence 
seemed  to  demand  that  he  should  here  rest  for  the  night.  But,  as  he 
scanned  the  aspect  and  dimensions  of  the  hotel,  he  fancied  there  was  a 
little  too  much  the  appearance  of  style  in  it  for  one  in  his  present  plight ; 
and  Learning  that  there  was  another  public  house  about  two  miles  fur 
ther  on,  he  resolved  to  proceed. 

In  Geneseo  he  inquired  for  the  residence  of  Gen.  Wardsworth,  which  was 
pointed  out;  and  at  the  same  time  he  was  told  that  Mr.  Wardsworth 
owned  all  the  adjacent  Genesee  flats  !  As  he  stood  in  front  of  the  man 
sion,  he  cast  a  wondering  look  over  the  vast  flats  below,  and  then  again 
upon  the  house ;  and  contrasted  the  condition  of  the  princely  proprietor 
with  his  own  humble  lot.  And  he  was  to-ld  that  this  man  of  immense 
wealth  commenced  life  comparatively  poor.  The  thought  arose  in  his 
mind,  "  Is  it  within  the  reach  of  man,  by  his  own  exertions,  to  achieve 


328  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

all  this  ?"      And  the  example  inspired  him  with  new  hope,  and  excited 
the  spirit  of  emulation  within  him. 

After  surveying  this  scene  to  his  satisfaction,  he  passed  on  to  the  tavern 
two  miles  ahead.  On  approaching  it,  he  was  gratified  to  find  it  bearing 
an  appearance  of  plainness  which,  in  some  measure,  relieved  the  embar 
rassment  he  felt  on  account  of  his  own  rustic  plight.  It  bore  the  inviting 
signal,  "  Traveler's  Home."  He  had  now  walked  forty  miles,  most  of 
the  way  in  a  hot  sun,  and  was  thoroughly  exhausted.  He  entered  the 
bar-room,  which  was  lighted  with  candles,  and  nearly  filled  with  trav 
elers  who  had  stopped  for  the  night,  and  were  sitting  around  the  room  on 
rude  benches  and  chairs.  With  much  trepidation  he  advanced  to  the  bar 
and  attempted  to  speak  to  the  landlord.  But  his  tongue  would 
not  obey  his  will  in  the  office  of  articulation.  After  repeated  efforts — 
bashfully  stammering — he  succeeded  in  making  the  man  understand 
that  he  wanted  lodging  for  the  night.  The  landlord  did  not  instantly 
answer ;  but  scanned  the  youngster  from  head  to  foot  with  a  piercing 
eye.  If  he  had  stood  in  the  presence  of  a  king,  Hiram  could  not  have 
trembled  more.  After  a  moment's  suspense,  he  was  relieved  by  the 
landlord's  reply, — "Yes,  my  brave  lad,  you  shall  be  accommodated1?" 
He  laid  off  his  pack,  called  for  a  dish  of  bread  and  milk,  ate  it,  and  went 
to  bed.  The  next  morning  he  arose  early,  settled  his  bill,  and  at 
tempted  to  proceed  on  his  journey.  But  he  found  his  feet  so  badly 
swollen  and  blistered  that  he  could  not  walk  in  his  shoes.  So  he  took 
them  off,  and  bearing  them  in  one  hand,  with  his  staff  in  the  other,  and 
his  pack  on  his  back,  he  started  again,  accompanied  by  an  old  man  and 
his  son  who  had  passed  the  night  at  the  same  house.  Occasionally  these 
fellow-travelers,  with  much  kindness,  would  relieve  our  young  hero  by 
carrying  his  pack.  When  they  had  come  within  five  miles  of  Canan- 
daigua,  they  were  overtaken  by  the  mail  wagon,  and,  for  twenty-five 
cents  each,  were  carried  to  Blossom's  Hotel  in  the  village.  Here  young 
Miner  parted  with  his  obliging  companions ;  and  replacing  his  shoes  on 
his  feet  until  he  had  passed  out  of  the  village,  as  he  had  done  in  passing 
through  other  villages  during  the  day,  he  walked  on  over  the  remaining 
nine  miles  to  his  father's  residence  in  Hopewell.  In  passing  through  a 
piece  of  woods  within  the  last  six  miles,  an  animal  somewhat  larger 
than  a  black  squirrel  darted  across  the  road  just  in  front  of  him.  He  had 
never  before  seen  the  like,  and  knew  not  what  it  was.  Instantly  all  the 
boy  in  him  was  roused.  Forgetting  his  fatigue,  and  the  soreness  of  his 
feet,  and  the  burden  on  his  back,  he  rushed,  pell-mell,  over  the  logs,  and 
through  the  brush,  in  pursuit  of  the  strange  creature.  On  his  coming 
up,  the  animal  paused  to  show  fight ;  and  seemed  to  beckon  him  on  by 
&  peculiar  wag  of  its  tail.  The  young  assailant  then  advanced  with  some 
caution,  until  he  came  within  reach  of  his  cane.  After  making  several 
feint  passes,  to  try  the  temper  of  the  animal,  which  coolly  kept  its  posi 
tion,  he  presently  dealt  the  creature  a  severe  blow  on  the  tip  of  the 
nose.  At  the  instant,  a  rapid  discharge  from  its  magazine  convinced 
the  aggressor  what  sort  of  animal  it  was;  and  he  beat  a  hasty  retreat. 
Fortunately  the  fire  took  effect  only  on  his  cane ;  which,  however, 
afforded  decisive  proof  to  his  younger  brothers,  after  his  arrival  home, 
that  he  had  had  an  inglorious  fight  with  a . 


HIRAM  J.  MINER,  OF   NEW-YORK.  329 

A  little  short  of  his  parents'  residence,  he  came  where  his  father  was 
building  a  new  house  for  a  farmer.  Mr.  Miner  saw  him  coming ;  and, 
mortified  with  his  appearance,  met  him  at  the  door  to  prevent  his 
entrance.  After  the  first  greeting  the  father  said :  "  How  like  Satan  you 
look !  Come,  let  us  go  home."  So,  taking  the  sack  from  the  son's 
shoulders,  they  walked  on  together ;  the  father  swinging  the  uncouth 
burthen  in  his  hand,  and  saying  :  "  This  will  do  for  mother's  rag-bag  ; 
else  I  would  throw  it  away,  with  your  dinner,  clothes,  and  all."  They 
Were  soon  at  the  log-house  in  which  the  family  resided.  Hiram  was 
met  by  his  mother  at  the  door,  who  greeted  him  with  much  maternal 
joy ;  and  was  also  warmly  welcomed  by  all  the  household.  Though  greatly 
fatigued,  and  with  feet  badly  blistered  and  swollen,  he  was  comparatively 
happy  in  thus  meeting  with  his  friends,  all  in  usual  health  and  spirits. 

After  a  few  days  of  rest,  he  was  out  at  work  again ;  either  on  the  land 
occupied  by  his  father,  or  among  the  neighboring  farmers.  In  this 
place  he  commonly  attended  the  Methodist  Church  on  the  Sabbath,  at 
u  the  Sulphur  Springs" — now  "  Clifton  Springs  ;"  and  felt  himself  not 
a  little  dressed  up,  when  clad  in  his  nankeen  coat,  and  nankeen  or 
bleached  tow  pantaloons. 

During  this  summer  his  father  found  opportunity  to  engage  him  as 
clerk  to  Jonathan  Mayhew,  now  of  Buffalo,  NY  Y.,  then  merchant  in 
Manchester,  Ontario  county,  on  a  salary  of  $50  for  the  first  year.  He 
commenced  his  clerkship,  with  a  glad  heart,  in  September,  1822,  in  the 
19th  year  of  his  age,  and  continued  with  Mr.  Mayhew  until  April,  1824. 
Sometime  in  the  winter  of  1823-4,  his  father  removed  his  family  back 
to  Westmoreland,  and,  soon  after,  Hiram  was  requested  by  his  parents 
to  return  also  to  Westmoreland,  and  try  to  get  a  situation  nearer  home. 
The  inducements  for  him  to  remain  longer  at  Manchester  were  not  great. 
Mr.  Mayhew  was  engaged  in  the  cast-iron  business,  and  in  the  manu 
facture  of  patent  plows,  so  that  his  mercantile  operations  were  quite 
limited,  and  did  not  afford  to  young  Miner  all  the  advantages  which  his 
ambition  desired.  He  felt,  however,  that  he  had  no  cause  of  complaint 
or  dissatisfaction  with  his  employer.  Mr.  Mayhew  had  given  him  every 
facility  to  acquire  a  knowledge  of  trade,  which  his  business  afforded, 
had  taken  him  from  the  field,  with  no  recommendation  but  his  appear 
ance — a  retiring,  bashful  boy,  small  of  stature,  and  looking  much 
younger  than  he  was — and  had  given  him  his  first  lessons  in  mercantile 
life.  He  regarded  this  gentleman  as  a  high-minded,  honorable,  and  up 
right  man,  and  his  wife  as  one  of  the  most  amiable,  affectionate,  and 
lovely  of  women.  To  them  and  their  family  he  had  become  strongly 
attached,  and  the  example  and  instruction  which  he  there  enjoyed  have 
been  happily  felt  in  all  his  after  life.  Still  he  could  discover  nothing  in- 
the  prospect  which  promised  much  advantage  in  remaining  longer  with 
his  present  employer.  He  felt  a  strong  desire  to  be  in  an  active  and 
extended  mercantile  house,  where  he  could  anticipate  future  ad 
vancement.  This,  together  with  the  desire  to  gratify  the  wish  of 
his  parents  in  being  nearer  them,  determined  him  to  go  home  and 
stand  his  chance  of  better  employment.  Immediately  he  acquainted 
Mr.  Mayhew  and  family  with  his  design.  Mrs.  M.  replied  that  "  the 
advice  which  mothers  give  should,  in  general,  be  obeyed  ;  but  when  it 
related  to  business,  she  somewhat  doubted  whether,  in  all  cases,  it 


330  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

could  be  done  with  propriety,  since  their  maternal  affection,  and  desire 
to  have  their  sons  near  them,  were  liable  to  outweigh  considerations 
which  would  otherwise  be  seen  to  have  the  advantage."  The  force  of 
this  remark  he  afterwards  strongly  realized,  as  it  was  nearly  three  years 
before  he  again  obtained  the  situation  of  merchant's  clerk;  and  he  now 
believes  that  if  it  had  not  been  for  his  unalterable  determination  to  be 
come  a  merchant,  the  scenes  of  the  next  three  years  (considering  the  bu 
siness  which,  as  he  thought,  he  was  compelled  to  pursue,  or  do  worse — 
with  its  trial  of  patience  and  principle,  and  the  examples  it  held  continu 
ally  before  him)  would  have  eventually  made  him,  perhaps,  a  stage- 
driver,  or  a  common  day-laborer,  and  have  thus  prepared  him  to  drag 
out  a  miserable  and  comparatively  useless  life.  But  that  determination 
never  wavered — that  object  of  his  ambition  was  never  lost  sight  of. 
On  all  occasions  he  kept  a  steady  eye  to  the  mercantile  business  as  his 
future  employment. 

Agreeably  to  the  request  of  his  parents,  early  in  April,  1824,  he  left 
Manchester  for  Westmoreland,  and,  taking  the  stage  at  Canandaigua,  he 
arrived  at  his  father's  house  the  next  day.  As  usual,  all  were 
glad  to  see  him  home  again,  and  he  enjoyed  the  merriment  for  a  time. 
But  he  could  not  long  remain  idle.  After  visiting  all  his  young  friends 
and  former  acquaintances,  he  became  uneasy,  and  must  have  something 
to  do.  For  want  of  better  employment,  he  assisted  a  Mr.  Cushman,  an 
innkeeper  at  Lairdsville,  in  the  post-office  and  about  the  house,  for  a 
few  months.  At  length,  failing  in  every  effort  to  obtain  a  clerkship,  he 
engaged  in  the  employment  of  H.  Y.  Stewart,  proprietor  of  the  stage- 
house  and  keeper  of  the  post-office  in  Vernon  village.  Mr.  Stewart's 
business  was  large,  and,  finding  in  it  active  employment,  Hiram  con 
tinued  in  this  service  about  two  years.  While  here  he  was  brought 
into  contact  and  association  with  the  very  bane  of  society,  and  particularly 
with  the  drinking  men  of  the  day.  Scarcely  did  a  stage-load  of  gentle 
men  arrive,  but  each,  as  a  matter  of  course,  wanted  his  glass  of  brandy, 
gin,  or  other  liquor,  at  the  bar.  Besides,  it  was  the  custom  of  the  house 
to  take  a  dram  on  rising  in  the  morning,  and  again  before  every  meal. 
In  all  this  Hiram  shared  with  the  others.  He  was  accustomed  to  be  up 
at  all  hours  of  the  night  whenever  the  stage  arrived,  and  the  cup  was  the 
remedy  for  his  broken  rest.  In  such  circumstances  it  was  almost  mira 
culous  that  he  escaped  the  dreadful  gulf  into  which  so  many  noble  ones 
have  fallen  ;  but  a  sovereign  Providence  employed  the  disgusting  ex 
cesses  of  others  as  the  means  of  his  deliverance.  Commonly,  at  the  first 
peep  of  day,  the  sated  customers  at  the  bar  would  be  in  for  their  morn 
ing  dram.  Among  them  was  one  old  man  in  particular,  whose  appear 
ance  and  habits  especially  affected  the  mind  of  Hiram.  With  trembling 
hand  he  would  fill  his  glass,  and  greedily  swallow  its  conten-ts.  But 
.sometimes  abused  nature  would  rebel.  A  sudden  convulsion  of  the 
stomach  would  hurl  back  the  vile  stuff,  which  the  poor  old  wretch  would 
receive  again  in  the  tumbler  held  close  to  his  lips.  Then,  with  counte 
nance  distorted — almost  fiendish — rather  than  lose  the  horrid  draught, 
he  would  again,  the  second  time,  force  the  filthy  poison  down.  "  That," 
says  Mr.  Miner,  "  was  more  than  I  could  bear.  Sickened  and  disgusted, 
I  resolved  that  thenceforth  and  forever  I  would  use  no  more  spirituous 
liquors  as  a  beverage,  which  resolution  I  have  thus  far  sacredly  kept." 


HIRAM  J.  MINER,  OF  NEW-YORK.  331 

While  here  in  Vernon,  he  made  earnest  and  repeated  efforts  to  ob 
tain  other  employment  better  suited  to  his  inclination  and  taste,  but,  as 
usual,  without  success,  in  whatever  business  he  was  engaged  it  was  al 
ways  his  ambition  to  progress,  and  strive  to  reach  the  highest  mark ; 
hence  he  was  always  looking  out  for  a  more  advantageous  position.  In 
the  summer  of  1826,  through  the  influence  of  Hon.  John  E.  Hinman,  he 
obtained  the  situation  of  bar-keeper  in  u  Bagg's  Hotel,"  Utica,  which  was 
then  kept  by  A.  Shepherd.  This  position  he  continued  to  occupy  until 
December  following,  and  performed  the  business  of  the  office  to  the  en 
tire  satisfaction  of  his  employer.  While  in  this  place,  he  had  opportu 
nity  to  see  most  of  the  distinguished  men  01  the  time.  The  grand  cele 
bration  had  on  the  occasion  of  opening  the  Erie  Canal,  took  place  while 
he  was  there ;  and  Governor  Clinton,  with  other  prominent  men  who 
accompanied  him  on  that  occasion,  put  up  at  this  house.  The  opportu 
nity  thus  afforded  him  of  seeing  and  hearing  the  great  men  of  the  age, 
was  a  privilege  which  he  highly  prized,  although  his  employment  was 
by  no  means  satisfactory,  nor  could  anything  meet  his  desires  which  did 
not  appear  to  lie  in  the  direct  path  of  his  ambition,  and  his  fixed  resolve 
to  become  a  merchant.  But  his  experience  in  hotel-keeping,  considering 
the  acquaintance  with  men  and  the  ways  of  the  world  which  it  afforded, 
although  so  eminently  beset  with  peril,  was  not  without  advantage  to 
him,  especially  if  we  take  into  the  account  the  important  resolution 
mentioned  above,  which  was  formed  and  confirmed  in  view  of  the  evils 
he  was  thus  compelled  to  witness. 

In  December,  1820,  Mr,  Miner,  now  nearly  23  years  of  age,  made  an 
arrangement  with  Mr.  Starr  Clark,  a  merchant  at  Vernon  Centre,  now 
of  Mexico,  New-York,  for  a  clerkship  in  his  store.  Gladly  did  he  quit 
the  precincts  of  the  hotel  for  the  more  congenial  employment  of  mer 
chant's  clerk,  even  in  a  country  store,  and  at  a  much  smaller  pecuniary 
compensation.  He  found  the  change  decidedly  grateful  to  his  feelings. 
He  was  now  permitted  to  resume  that  employment  which  was  the  choice 
and  purpose  of  his  heart.  Opportunity  for  reading  and  meditation  was 
afforded  him,  and  the  Sabbath  became  to  him  a  day  of  rest  He  applied 
himself  closely  to  the  business  of  the  store,  and  made  Mr.  Clark's  inter 
est  his  own.  He  soon  gained  the  confidence  and  affection  of  his  em 
ployer  and  family,  and  now  says,  that  he  looks  back  to  his  stay  in  that 
family  as  one  of  the  most  agreeable  passages  in  his  life.  While  there, 
under  the  ministry  of  Rev.  John  Barton,  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
during  the  great  revivals  of  1826-7,  he  became  interested  in  the  subject 
of  personal  religion,  and  was  believed  to  be  spiritually  renewed ;  and  he 
publicly  espoused  the  Christian  cause  by  uniting  himself  with  the  Pres 
byterian  Church  of  that  place  in  1827.  It  was  there  that  he  became 
acquainted  with  Miss  Adeline  M.  Hungerford,  a  young  lady  whom  he 
afterwards  married,  and  who  is  now  his  wife. 

Mr.  Clark's  was  an  ordinary  country  retail  business,  consisting  much 
in  credit  and  barter  trade,  and  chiefly  confined  to  the  little  community  of 
Vernon  Centre.  Consequently  it  was  small,  and  ill-adapted  to  satisfy, 
for  any  considerable  time,  the  aspiring  spirit  of  young  Miner.  Being  a 
jnan  of  fine  feelings  and  benevolent  heart — one  who  can  hardly  do 
enough  for  his  friends — Mr,  Clark  was  willing  to  forego  a  personal  ad 
vantage  for  the  sake  of  serving  the  interest  of  his  clerk.  He  had  ascer- 


332  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

tained  the  business  talents  of  the  young  man,  as  adapted  to  a  larger 
sphere  of  action,  and  knowing  that  he  would  not  long  be  content  to  re 
main  in  Vernon  Centre,  proposed  to  write  to  a  friend  of  his  in  the  city 
of  New-York,  and  get  a  situation  for  him.  He  did  so  ;  and  in  Septem 
ber,  1827,  Mr.  Miner  visited  the  commercial  metropolis  for  the  first 
time.  He  remained  a  few  weeks  with  Messrs.  Keeler  &  Lynes,  whole 
sale  merchants  in  Pearl-street;  and  the  knowledge  he  there  acquired 
was  of  much  service  to  him  afterwards.  But  he  did  not  find  New- York 
to  be  quite  what  he  had  fancied  it.  Failing  to  get  a  situation  to  his 
mind,  he  returned  to  Vernon  Village,  and  was  employed  in  the  store  of 
Messrs.  Hitchcock  &  Stevens,  until  February,  1828.  He  then  went 
again  to  New- York,  and  entered  as  clerk  in  the  store  of  Arthur  Tappan 
&  Co.,  then  extensively  engaged  in  the  silk  trade.  Here  he  had  a  fine 
opportunity  for  improvement,  which  he  did  not  fail  to  take  advantage 
of,  and  turn  to  the  best  account,  by  making  himself  acquainted  with  the 
various  kinds  of  goods,  their  qualities,  prices,  &c. 

When  he  engaged  for  Mr.  Tappan,  he  did  it  intending  to  remain  a 
long  time,  and  ultimately  become  a  New-York  merchant.  But  after 
carefully  calculating  the  chances  between  the  city  and  country  for  a 
poor  clerk,  without  money,  or  credit,  or  influential  friends,  he  changed 
his  mind,  and  resolved  to  make  the  country  the  theatre  of  his  enter 
prise.  Hence,  while  in  the  city,  he  was  actuated  by  an  earnest  zeal  to 
acquire  knowledge  and  experience  which  should  aid  him  in  his  future 
operations,  rather  than  by  any  particular  interest  he  felt  in  city  life.  He 
remained  with  Mr.  Tappan  through  the  spring  trade,  and  then  left  again 
for  the  country,  without  knowing,  or  very  much  caring,  where  he 
went,  so  that  he  found  a  position  which  suited  him.  Mr.  Tappan  had 
kindly  given  him  a  letter  recommending  him  to  the  favor  of  mercantile 
men,  which  he  knew  would  procure  him  admittance  into  any  store 
where  he  could  find  a  vacancy.  He  first  went  up  into  Westchester 
County,  and  spent  a  few  weeks  visiting  an  uncle  in  Tarry  town.  Here 
he  was  invited  to  the  house  of  Isaac  Van  Wart,  one  of  the  captors  of 
the  British  spy,  Major  Andre,  and  enjoyed  the  satisfaction  of  hearing 
the  old  man  rehearse  the  whole  story,  which  imparted  to  it  fresh  and 
peculiar  interest. 

After  visiting  the  different  towns  along  the  Hudson  Kiver,  he  pro 
ceeded  by  canal  to  Syracuse,  and  thence  to  Oswego.  His  passage  from 
Syracuse  to  Oswego  Falls  (now  Fulton)  was  made  in  the  best  manner 
which  the  conveniences  of  the  time  afforded,  viz. :  by  a  small  sail-boat, 
tracing  the  length  of  Onondaga  Lake,  and  then  down  the  Oswego  River. 
Sometimes  the  boat  was  rowed,  and  sometimes  was  drawn  with  ropes 
by  men  walking  on  the  river-shore,  and  sometimes  was  hurried  over 
rapids  on  a  rushing  current.  But  it  was,  altogether,  a  delightful  pas 
sage,  because  so  new  and  wild.  From  the  Falls  the  stage  conveyed 
him  to  Oswego. 

The  first  morning  after  his  arrival  in  Oswego  came  near  to  being 
made  disagreeably  memorable  to  Mr.  Miner,  by  the  loss  of  his  little 
earthly  all.  He  had  stopped  over  night  at  a  public  hotel,  and,  on  retiring 
to  bed,  placed  his  pocket-book,  containing  every  dollar  he  was  worth,  un 
der  his  pillow,  as  he  was  wont.  He  arose  early  in  the  morning,  and  walk 
ed  out  to  survey  the  grounds  of  the  old  fort.  He  had  not  been  long  out 


HIRAM  J.  MINER,  OF  NEW-YORK.  833 

before  he  discovered  his  error — he  had  left  his  pocket-book  under  hia 
pillow.  With  not  a  little  anxiety  he  hastened  back  to  his  room.  The 
chamber-maid  was  there,  just  finishing  her  work.  Instantly  he  inquired 
if  she  had  found  a  pocket-book.  "  Which  bed  did  you  occupy,  sir  V 
she  asked.  (There  were  two  in  the  room.)  On  his  pointing  to  the  one 
he  had  slept  in,  she  drew  the  pocket-book,  yet  unopened,  from  her 
bosom  and  presented  it  to  him,  saying,  "  You  are  a  careless  fellow." 
He  compensated  her  for  the  honest  act ;  and  ever  after  that,  when  tra 
veling,  it  has  been  his  practice,  on  retiring  to  bed,  if  he  wished  to  place 
anything  valuable  under  his  pillow,  first  to  enclose  it  in  one  of  his 
stockings,  assuming  that  none  but  a  crazy  man  would  put  on  his  cold 
boot  or  shoe,  minus  the  stocking,  without  knowing  it.  From  that  time  he 
has  never  had  occasion  to  hurry  back  to  his  room  in  a  hotel  to  recover 
aught  from  his  bed,  nor  ceased  to  remember  the  admonition  of  the  ho 
nest  chambermaid — "  A  careless  fellow." 

After  passing  a  few  days  in  Oswego,  and  not  feeling  altogether  satis 
fied  with  the  appearance  of  things,  he  passed  on  over  a  fine  agricultural 
region,  through  New-Haven,  Mexico,  Richland,  Ellisburg,  and  Adams, 
to  Watertown,  the  shire  town  of  Jefferson  county.  In  the  course  of 
this  tour  his  mind  was  far  from  being  idle.  Being  a  close  observer,  he 
was  all  the  time  gathering  an  intellectual  fund  for  future  use,  and  sought 
every  day  to  make  some  profitable  advance  in  knowledge.  It  was,  in 
deed,  a  characteristic  habit  of  his  mind  to  be  continually  reaching  for  a 
higher  mark  in  his  qualifications  for  business,*  as  well  as  business 
achievements.  Whether  at  home  or  on  a  journey,  at  the  desk  or  be 
hind  the  counter,  his  thoughts  were  ever  active,  calculating  results, 
balancing  advantages,  estimating  probable  value,  or  counting  the 
chances  of  profit  and  loss  in  this  or  that  enterprise,  or,  while  contem 
plating  the  present,  trying  to  picture  in  imagination  the  improvements 
of  the  future. 

As  he  passed  through  Richland,  the  magnificent  farm  of  Judge 
Meacham,  containing  several  hundred  acres,  was  pointed  out  to  him, 
with  which  he  was  much  delighted.  It  was  said  to  be  the  largest  and 
best  form  in  that  county,  and  on  which  the  judge  at  one  time  made, 
from  his  own  dairy,  a  cheese  weighing  1600  pounds.  This  cheese  Mr. 
Meacham  transported  to  Washington,  and  presented  to  General  Jack 
son,  then  President  of  the  United  States. 

On  arriving  in  Watertown  Mi-.  Miner  put  up  at  the  stage-house,  then 
kept  by  D.  Hungerford,  where  he  remained  incog,  for  several  days. 
He  was  much  pleased  with  the  appearance  of  the  place.  Beebee's 
large  cotton  factory,  since  destroyed  by  fire,  was  then  in  full  operation 
— a  noble  structure,  built  of  stone  from  the  proximate -quarries,  from 
which  also  the  material  for  most  of  the  better  class  of  houses  was  ob 
tained.  This  gave  them  an  aspect  of  strength  and  durability,  espe 
cially  pleasing  to  such  a  mind  as  his.  Then  there  was  the  almost  un 
limited  water-powrerf  which  seemed  to  promise  permanent  prosperity 


*  He  assures  the  writer  that  in  all  his  changes  during  the  period  of  his  clerk 
ship,  it  was-never  a  question  with  him  what  salary  he  was  to  receive,  but  what  ad 
vantages  for  acquiring  a  knowledge  of  business  he  could  enjoy. 

t  The  Black  River  passes  on  one  side  of  the  village,  with  its  deep  and  foaming 


334  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

to  the  place,  surrounded  as  it  was  by  a  rich  farming  community.  On 
the  whole,  it  appeared  to  him  that  this  was  the  place  for  him  to  stop, 
provided  he  could  get  a  situation  to  suit  him.  lie  had  no  acquaint 
ance  in  Watertown,  but  having  learned  that  Silas  Clark,  a  brother  of 
his  friend  and  patron,  Starr  Clark,  was  a  druggist  in  that  place,  he 
sought  him  out  and  introduced  himself  to  him,  making  known  his  de 
sire  to  get  a  situation  in  a  store.  Mr.  Clark  remembered  him  with  favor 
able  impressions,  having  seen  him  in  his  brother's  store  at  Vernon 
Centre.  This,  together  with  letters  which  he  bore  from  gentlemen  in 
New-York  and  elsewhere,  at  once  excited  Mr.  Clark's  interest  in  his 
behalf,  and  he  generously  invited  Mr.  Miner  to  make  a  home  in  his 
house  until  he  could  secure  a  clerkship  to  his  mind.  Mr.  Clark  also 
went  around  with  him,  and  introduced  him  to  various  merchants  of  the 
village. 

In  the  course  of  a  week  Mr.  Miner  made  an  arrangement  with  John 
Safford  for  a  clerkship,  at  $12  50  per  month,  with  nothing  definite  as  to 
time,  leaving  it  for  either  to  terminate  the  engagement  at  pleasure.  Mr. 
SafTord  kept  a  cash  store,  and  sold  for  ready  pay,  thus  repudiating  both 
barter  and  credit.  It  was  a  novel  thing  at  that  time  for  a  country  mer 
chant  to  hold  his  goods  for  cash  only ;  and  especially  was  it  so  to  our 
young  friend,  who  had  always  been  taught  the  old-fashioned  practice  of 
giving  six  months'  credit,  the  custom  then  everywhere  prevalent,  and 
supposed  there  was  no  other  way  for  a  merchant  to  get  rid  of  his  goods. 
Mr.  Safford  was  nearly  the  first,  if  not  the  very  first  merchant  in  north 
ern  New- York  who  confined  his  whole  trade  to  cash  pay.  He  kept  an 
excellent  assortment  of  goods,  and  did  a  respectable  amount  of  business. 


torrent  driven  along  rapids,  between  high  and  rocky  banks.  Near  the  village,  Mr. 
Mirier  was  shown  a  point  of  rock  projecting  over  the  rapid  current,  called  "  Mother 
Whittlesey's  Rock,"  of  which  the  following  story  was  told  him  by  the  citizens  of 
the  village,  and,  he  thinks,  by  one  of  the  actors  in  the  scene  : 

"  Sometime  during  the  war  of  1812,  a  man  by  the  name  of  Whittlesey,  then  pay 
master  for  troops  stationed  at  Sacket's  Harbor,  received  a  large  sum  of  money  from 
the  government,  and  on  his  way  to  Watertown,  professed  to  have  been  robbed. 
He  exhibited  wounds,  and  his  saddle-bags  cut,  while  the  money  was  gone.  But 
after  a  time,  strong  suspicions  began  to  be  entertained  that  all  was  not  right  on  his 
part  respecting  the  alleged  robbery.  The  two  gentlemen  who  were  his  bail, 
Messrs.  Fairbanks  and  Keys,  of  Watertown,  at  length  becoming  satisfied  of  the 
truth,  determined  upon  apian  to  make  him  acknowledge  the  fact,  and  disgorge  the 
money.  In  a  neighboring  swamp  a  pit  was  dug  large  enough  to  submerge  a  man. 
Then  the  two  gentlemen,  having  arranged  for  a  physican  to  be  at  hand,  under 
pretence  of  hunting,  persuaded  Whittlesey  to  accompany  them  into  the  swamp. 
Coming  near  the^pit  they  seized  him  and  bade  him  confess  the  truth,  and  tell  where 
the  money  was,  or  they  would  put  him  under  the  mud.  He  resolutely  maintained 
that  he  was  robbed,  and  denied  all  present  knowledge  of  the  money.  They 
thrust  him  in.  But  on  being  withdrawn,  he  still  refused  to  admit  his  guilt.  Under 
the  water  again  he  went.  After  the  operation  had  been  repeated  two  or  three 
times — the  last  proving  almost  fatal — he  yielded,  and  said  they  would  find  most 
of  the  money  quilted  into  his  wife's  under-skirt.  Forthwith  they  repaired  to  his 
house  and  demanded  the  garment,  which  was  then  upon  the  lady's  person.  It 
was  surrendered  with  its  inwrought  treasure.  But  Madam  Whittlesey,  going 
immediately  out,  proceeded  to  the  bank  of  the  river,  and  from  this  rock  threw  her 
self  into  the  furious  stream,  on  which  she  was  seen  to  float  a  little  distance,  and 
then  disappeared  for  ever.  From  that  day  the  spot  has  been  pointed  out  to  visitors 
as  '  Mother  Whittlesey's  Rock.'  " 


HIRAM  J.  MINER,  OF  NEW-YORK.  335 

But  this  selling  goods  for  cash  down  presented  to  Mr.  Miner  a  new  idea 
altogether.  It  opened  before  him  an  entirely  new  path  of  enterprise. 
He  could  now  see  plainly,  as  he  thought,  the  only  safe  course  for  him 
self.  Prior  to  this,  all  had  been  darkness  before  him.  He  felt  little 
confidence  in  the  credit  system,  especially  for  a  young  merchant  without 
capital  or  influential  friends  to  back  him  up.  But  now  all  was  clear  to 
his  mind.  The  cash  plan,  carried  out  with  industry  and  energy,  pro 
mised,  to  his  judgment,  all  success,  while  only  disaster  and  probablede- 
feat  could  be  seen  in  the  credit  system.  The  course  was  at  once  marked 
out,  which  he  firmly  resolved  to  embark  in  as  soon  as  favoring  circum 
stances  would  permit. 

Mr.  Safford  was  a  fair  business-man,  careful  and  honest,  but  not  of 
enlarged  views.  He  marked  his  goods  in  common  figures,  so  that  his 
customers  might  see  the  prices,  and  from  these  he  would  not  deviate. 
He  relied  more  on  the  low  prices  to  sell  his  goods  than  on  any  tact  or 
skill  in  trade.  Mr.  Miner  applied  himself  closely  to  the  business  of  his 
employer,  and  in  a  few  months  made  himself  fully  acquainted  with  it. 
He  thought  the  system  capable  of  being  somewhat  modified  to  advan 
tage.  He  felt  sure  that,  if  Mr.  Safford  would  permit  him,  in  order  to 
secure  a  trade,  sometimes  to  drop  a  little  from  the  marked  price,  he 
could  guarantee  an  increased  amount  of  daily  cash  sales.  Mr.  Safford 
did  riot  enter  into  his  views,  but  insisted  on  a  rigid  adherence  to  the  one- 
price  system.  Sometimes,  however,  the  temptation  to  effect  a  trade 
was  more  than  the  clerk  could  resist,  when,  by  varying  the  price  a  mere 
trifle,  he  could  thereby  make  a  large  bill ;  but  the  unbending  merchant 
would  be  always  displeased,  and  often  express  his  disapprobation  in  no 
pleasant  terms,  whatever  present  pecuniary  profit  might  have  been 
gained  to  him.  In.  these  circumstances,  feeling  himself  controlled  and 
guided  in  all  his  movements,  like  a  machine,  by  these  fixed  prices,  Mr. 
Miner  became  restless.  He  wanted  more  space  to  throw  off  the  pent- 
up  steam  which  was  daily  gathering  force  within  him,  and  which  only 
needed  opportunity  in  order  to  bring  out  the  merchant — the  man  of  bu 
siness.  There  were  many  things  to  attach  him  to  Watertown.  I  ts 
location,  its  advantages  for  trade,  its  beauty,  and  its  good  society,  all 
combined  to  invite  him  to  remain ;  but  personal  activity  in  business — 
his  leading  aim — appeared  to  require  a  change,  and  he  resolved  to  leave. 
During  his  brief  residence  in  Watertown,  he  attended  on  the  ministry  of 
Rev.  George  S.  Boardman,  then  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
that  village,  and  formed  many  agreeable  acquaintances  with  whom  he 
was  loth  to  part;  but  the  time  came  when  he  thought  it  best  to  go,  and 
he  could  not  be  detained. 

About  this  time  he  had  received  an  offer  from  John  H.  Whipple, 
Esq.,  of  Adams,  in  the  same  county,  which  he  felt  inclined  to  accept. 
Mr.  Whipple  was  a  merchant  of  high  repute.  Accordingly,  he  went  to 
Adams,  and  there  made  an  engagement  to  become  the  clerk  of  Mr. 
Whipple,  on  the  same  salary  as  he  was  then  receiving.  He  closed  his 
connection  with  Mr.  Safford,  and  commenced  with  Mr.  Whipple  in  No 
vember,  1828.  This  change  proved  much  to  his  advantage.  He  found 
Mr.  Whipple  all  that  had  been  represented,  and  more — a  mer 
chant  of  the  first  capacity.  He  was  doing  a  heavy  cash  and  credit 


336  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

business,  kept  a  large  and  well-selected  stock  of  goods,  was  always 
on  hand  and  behind  the  counter,  commanded  an  extensive  trade, 
and,  although  in  some  respects  unstable  in  his  views,  was  entitled  to  the 
credit  of  much  sagacity  in  business,  and  was,  in  fact,  a  scientific  and 
practical  merchant.  In  his  store  Mr.  Miner  made  rapid  advances,  and 
now  affirms  that,  during  the  six  months  of  his  being  in  Mr.  Whipple's 
employ,  he  gained  more  valuable  information  and  experience  than  he 
ever  did  before  or  since  in  the  same  length  of  time.  The  example  of 
neatness  and  order,  and  the  perfect  arrangement  of  his  goods,  and  of 
other  things  in  and  about  the  store,  was  especially  pleasing  to  Mr. 
Miner,  and  what  he  ever  after  imitated,  or  tried  to  improve  upon,  in  his 
own  business  pursuits.  Here  he  attended  on  the  ministry  of  Rev.  John 
Sessions,  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  united  with  the  church  in  that 
place  by  certificate  fiom  the  church  in  Vernon  Centre. 

In  the  spring  of  1829  Mr.  Miner  made  an  arrangement  with  a  new 
firm  opening  in  Adams,  Messrs.  Doxtater  &  Burch,  for  one  year,  at  a 
salary  of  $150.  In  this  firm,  although  the  partners  were  men  of  capital, 
neither  of  them  was  acquainted  with  mercantile  operations,  and  they 
therefore  needed  an  experienced  clerk.  This  was  a  grand  opportunity 
for  Mr.  Miner.  He  could  now  move  comparatively  untrammeled. 
After  due  preparation,  he  went  to  New-York,  in  company  with  Mr. 
Burch,  one  of  the  partners,  and  purchased  a  stock  of  goods.  The  usual 
spring  freshets  that  season  had  considerably  damaged  the  canal,  and  de 
layed  transportation.  Large  quantities  of  goods  were  piled  upon  the 
wharves  and  in  the  store-houses  at  Troy,  awaiting  the  opening  of  the 
canal ;  consequently  the  goods  of  many  merchants  were  delayed  several 
weeks  before  they  could  be  got  out.  This  firm  of  Doxtater  &  Burch  being 
a  new  one,  and,  considering  their  competition,  they  felt  it  to  be  especially 
important  to  get  their  goods  in  town  first.  It  was  therefore  decided  that  Mr. 
Miner  should  repair  to  Troy,  and  attend  to  the  re-shipment  and  forward 
ing  of  the  goods.  Accordingly  he  went,  and,  after  all  necessary  inquiry, 
he  could  see  no  prospect  of  getting  them  on  short  of  many  days,  and 
perhaps  weeks.  He  was  advised  by  the  forwarders  to  go  home,  and 
assured  that  th°,  goods  would  go  on  as  soon  as  if  he  remained.  But 
"  No,"  said  he,  "  I  am  going  to  stick  to  you  until  I  see  them  in  the 
canal- boat,  and  going  up  the  canal,  too."  He  then  went  and  engaged 
his  board  by  the  week ;  and  from  early  morning  until  late  at  night  he 
was  on  the  dock  for  nine  days  before  all  the  packages  were  out  of  the 
different  tow-boats.  While  the  goods  of  most  other  merchants  as  they 
were  taken  out  went  into  the  store-houses,  Mr.  Miner  had  those  of  Dox 
tater  &  Burch  piled  on  the  dock,  and  covered  with  an  awning  at  night. 
For  a  few  shillings  put  into  the  hands  of  one  or  two  of  the  dock  men, 
all  his  wishes  were  readily  attended  to.  When  at  last  he  saw  the 
goods  all  safely  lodged  in  a  canal-boat,  he,  too,  stepped  on  board,  and 
accompanied  them  as  far  as  Schenectady,  when  he  took  the  stage  and 
hastened  on  to  Adams.  The  result  was,  Messrs.  Doxtater  &  Burch  re- 
ceivcd  their  goods  from  three  to  Jive  weeks  in  advance  Of  every  other 
merchant  of  that  place  or  its  neighborhood,  although  the  others  had  gone 
to  the  city  ahead  of  them.  That  fact  gave  them  a  start  in  trade,  which 
the  firm  continued  afterwards,  in  a  great  measure,  to  maintain.  This 


HIRAM  J.  MINER,  OF  NEW- YORK.  337 

was  Mr.  Miner's  first  mercantile  exploit  where  he  had  the  direction  of 
his  own  efforts.  The  result  exceeded  the  highest  anticipations  of  his 
employers,  and  they  gave  him  due  credit  for  unusual  perseverance  in 
the  matter. 

In  the  course  of  the  season  competition  became  sharp  between  the 
merchants.  Good  customers  were  watched  for  as  they  came  into  the 
village,  and  goods  were  put  down  to  the  smallest  profit,  and  sometimes 
to  about  cost.  All  this  required  much  activity  and  no  little  skill  to 
keep  the  lead  in  trade,  and  was  well  calculated  to  bring  out  the  hitherto 
unseen  talents  of  the  young  head  clerk,  whose  diminutive  stature  and 
juvenile  aspect  had  always  stood  in  the  way  of  his  proper  appreciation. 

Mr.  Miner's  efforts  in  the  employ  of  Doxtater  &  Burch  placed  him 
several  rounds  higher  up  the  ladder,  and  he  now  began  to  think  serious 
ly  of  acting  more  immediately  for  himself,  by  doing  business  on  his 
own  account.  Consequently,  at  the  close  of  this  year  he  began  to  write 
to  persons  in  various  places,  making  inquiries  in  order  to  fix  upon  a  pro 
per  location.  Among  others,  he  corresponded  with  Rev.  Lewis  H. 
Loss,  then  pastor  of  the  congregational  church  in  Camden,  Oneida 
County.  He  had  formerly  been  acquainted  with  Mr.  Loss  at  Vernon 
Centre,  during  the  great  religious  revival  there  in  1826.  At  that  time, 
while  his  attention  was  thoroughly  awakened  to  the  subject  of  religion, 
Mr.  Loss  held  a  long  conversation  with  him  ;  and,  although  he  was  full 
of  cavil,  the  apparent  solemnity  of  the  Rev.  gentleman,  his  frank  arid 
pungent  remarks,  and  his  obvious  kindness  of  purpose,  disarmed  the 
young  man,  and,  under  the  Divine  Spirit,  did  much  towards  deepening 
those  convictions  for  sin  which  issued  in  his  hopeful  conversion  to  Christ. 

Mr.  Loss  readily  interested  himself  in  the  matter  of 'Mr.  Miner's  com 
munication  ;  and  replied  that,  in  his  opinion,  Camden  was  a  good  point 
— one  where  trade  could  be  secured  for  20  miles  in  nearly  every  direc 
tion.  He  believed  that  a  cash  store  was  just  what  was  needed  to  concen 
trate  the  trade  ;  and  that  if  a  merchant  of  the  right  stamp  were  to  come 
in  and  put  forth  appropriate  efforts,  a  large  and  profitable  business 
might  be  secured.  And,  moreover,  he  believed  Mr.  Miner  was  exactly 
the  right  man  for  such  an  enterprise.  He  stated  further,  that  he  had 
conversed  with  Dea.  Upson,  a  gentleman  who,  in  connection  with  the 
tin  and  sheet-iron  business,  was  selling  a  few  dry  goods ;  and  had  re 
ceived  a  proposition  for  the  rent  of  his  room  and  the  purchase  of  what 
goods  he  had  on  hand,  and  concluded  by  inviting  Mr.  Miner  to  come 
and  look  at  Camden,  and  put  up  at  his  house. 

In  March,  1830,  Mr.  Miner  left  Adams,  taking  letters  of  recommen 
dation  to  New-York  merchants  from  Doxtater  &  Burch ;  and  on  his  way, 
called  for  a  few  days  in  Camden,  stopping  with  his  clerical  friend,  Mr. 
Loss.  While  there,  he  made  an  arrangement  with  Dea.  Upson  for  the  rent 
of  his  shop,  and  the  purchase  of  his  goods,  on  condition  that,  after  visiting 
other  places,  he  should  finally  fix  upon  and  send  his  goods  to  Camden. 
There  were  many  of  the  citizens  who  thought  the  enterprise  a  visionary 
one,  since  the  farmers  were  mostly  poor  and  could  not  trade,  as  was  sup 
posed,  unless  they  could  pay  for  goods  in  rye,  Indian  com  and  lumber, 
which  constituted  the  staple  produce  in  and  around  Camden.  But  Mr. 
Miner  felt  sure  as  to  what  would  be  the  effect  of  low  prices  upon  the  farm 
ing  community,  since  goods  were  sold  by  the  merchants  then  in  business 

22 


SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

at  high  rates,  and  mostly  on  credit,  payable  in  farming  produce  and 
lumber. 

Having  made  this  arrangement  in  Camden,  Mr.  Miner  passed  on 
to  Vernon  Centre.  After  paying  his  addresses  to  the  young  lady  who, 
not  long  afterwards,  became  that  to  him  without  which  man  is  of  little 
worth,  and  consulting  with  his  friends,  particularly  with  Mr.  Clark,  he 
visited  other  places  in  the  southern  part  of  Oneida  County  and  in  Ma 
dison  County,  without  finding  any  location  which  offered  greater  at 
tractions  than  Camden.  He  therefore  finally  fixed  upon  that  as  the 
place  of  beginning.  After  collecting  a  little  money  which  was  due  him 
in  Vernon,  he  found  himself  able  to  command  in  all  $270.  This  was 
nis  entire  capital  with  which  to  commence  mercantile  business  alone, 
and  with  no  one  to  whom  he  could  look  for  help  in  case  of  misfortune. 
Thus  was  he  thrown  emphatically  upon  his  own  resources  ;  which,  so 
far  as  related  to  money,  were  meagre  indeed.  But  the  time  had  ar 
rived.  He  was  now  to  launch  his  little  barque  on  an  uncertain  and 
often  stormy  sea,  where  breakers  threatened  on  every  hand  ;  without 
pilot  or  crew,  but  guided  by  integrity  and  impelled  by  industry.  Mr. 
Clark  gave  him  a  letter  to  Charles  Underbill,  head  clerk  of  "  J agger  & 
Rathbone,"  merchants  in  Maiden  Lane.  Before  leaving  Vernon,  he  called 
on  Messrs.  Hitchcock  &  Stevens,  who  also  gave  him  letters  of  intro 
duction  to  "  Suydam,  Jackson  &  Co.,"  and  "  John  Steward  &  Co.,"  dry 
goods  houses  in  Pearl-street,  and  to  "Smith,  Mills  &  Co.,"  grocers  in 
Front-street.  His  letters  from  Doxtater  and  Burch  were  to  "  Davison 
&  Van  Pelt,"  and  to  "  Tilden  &  Roberts,"  dealers  in  dry  goods. 

Thus  equipped,  on  the  15th  of  April,  1830,  with  a  small  valise  in  hand 
containing  a  few  articles  of  linen,  he  set  out  for  the  city  of  New-York ; 
resolved  that,  in  the  event  of  the  New-Yorkers  refusing  him  credit,  he 
would  lay  out  the  $270  to  the  best  advantage,  and  commence  trade 
with  this  small  stock  rather  than  relinquish  his  purpose  and  again  accept 
a  clerkship.  On  arriving  in  the  city,  he  called  around  on  the  several 
merchants  to  whom  he  had  letters  of  introduction.  After  making  the 
usual  inquiries  as  to  the  amount  of  his  capital,  means  of  payment,  &c., 
and  being  frankly  told  that  his  capital  was  scarcely  $300,  and  that  he 
relied  solely  on  his  cash  sales  to  meet  the  payment  on  any  goods  they 
should  see  fit  to  credit  him  with,  most  of  them  showed  evident  signs  of 
interest  in  his  behalf,  mingled  with  surprise  at  the  boldness  of  his  under 
taking  ;  for,  although  he  was  then  26  years  of  age,  his  appearance  indicated 
a  youth  of  20.  He  was  told  by  all  except  one  house,  viz. :  that  of  Da 
vison  &  Van  Pelt,  that,  although  they  must  decline  to  credit  him  with 
a,  fall  bill  of  goods,  they  were  willing  to  sell  him,  on  six  months' credit, 
to  the  amount  of  two  to  three  hundred  dollars  each.  Messrs.  Smith  & 
Mills  offered  to  credit  him,  at  four  months,  with  one-half  of  the  bill  he 
might  wish  to  buy  of  them.  When  these  matters  were  adjusted,  he 
returned  to  his  room  at  the  hotel,  and  after  figuring  up,  he  found  that 
at  all  the  places  together  he  could  obtain  a  credit  of  about  $1,000. 
This,  with  the  $270  cash  capital,  would  enable  him,  by  a  careful 
selection,  to  secure  a  little  of  the  usual  assortment  kept  in  country 
stores.  Before  leaving  home,  he  had  prepared  a  memorandum  of  what 
he  wished  to  purchase,  provided  he  should  get  the  desired  credit,  noting 
the  probable  cost  of  each  article  and  extending  the  same.  When  footed 


HIRAM  J.  MINER,  OF  NEW- YORK.  339 

up,  it  amounted  to  about  $2,200.  But  he  now  saw  that  to  keep  with 
in  his  limits,  and  at  the  same  time  preserve  his  assortment,  be  must 
buy  just  one-half  the  quantity  of  each  article  indicated  on  the  memo 
randum.  With  this  purpose  he  went  flb  work.  After  looking  over  the 
the  market  two  days,  examining  styles,  prices,  &c.,  and  contracting  for 
the  price  of  shipment  and  freight  of  goods,  he  commenced  going  over 
the  stocks  at  the  three  dry -goods  houses  where  he  was  to  make  his  se 
lections,  viz. :  Jagger  &  Rathbone,  Suydam,  Jackson  &  Co.,  and  Tilden 
&  Roberts.  But  here  another  difficulty  met  him.  In  order  that  he 
might  get  the  assortment  in  so  small  a  quantity  as  to  keep  within  the 
limits  of  his  credit,  goods  would  have  to  be  cut  and  divided,  which  is 
not  always  readily  done,  nor  usually  expected  to  be  done,  in  selling 
goods  at  wholesale.  Therefore,  before  he  ventured  to  select  and  "  lay 
under"  an  article,  he  went  to  the  house  of  Jagger  &  Rathbone,  and  said 
to  Charles  Underbill  that  he  would  commence  the  purchase  with  him, 
provided  he  would  divide  or  cut  each  and  every  article  so  far  as  neces 
sary  to  make  up  the  assortment  which  he  desired  the  bill  to  comprise. 
Mr.  Underhill  promptly  and  characteristically  replied,  "Yes,  sir;  and  I 
will  even  divide  a  row  of  pins  with  you,  if  you  wish,  to  make  the 
assortment  complete."  At  once  Mr.  Miner  commenced  the  purchase 
of  him  ;  and  the  first  article  of  goods  bought  and  "  laid  under,"  or  "  in 
the  pigeon-hole,"  for  the  young  merchant,  was, 

"  %  doz.  white  cotton  hose  at  $4  75  per  doz." 

He  went  on  selecting,  cutting  and  dividing,  until  the  bill  amounted  to 
$353  75.  The  goods  were  then  packed  in  a  box,  and  marked  "  Cam- 
den"  He  also  made  a  bill  with  Suydam,  Jackson  &  Co.  of  $284  35, 
and  one  with  Tilden  &  Roberts  of  $54.  His  grocery  bill  with  Smith, 
Mills  &  Co.  was  $397  87,  on  which  he  paid  $100,  and  was  credited 
the  balance  for  four  months. 

On  receiving  his  bills  at  the  several  houses  he  gave  his  notes,*  except 
in  the  case  of  Jagger  and  Rathbone,  who  told  him,  on  handing  his  bill, 
that  it  was  charged  to  his  account  on  book.  Mr.  Underhill,  observing 


*  These  were  the  first  notes  to  which  Mr.  Miner  had  ever  affixed  his  name.  As 
he  signed  the  note  to  Tilden  and  Roberts,  he  said  to  J.  B.  Hyde,  then  clerk  in  this 
nouse — now  of  the  firm  of  Hill  and  Hyde,  New- York — that  he  did  not  design  to  give 
many  such  notes,  but  hoped  soon  to  be  able  to  pay  down  for  his  goods.  Mr.  Hyde 
replied,  "  Young  man,  if  you  make  money,  yon  will  never  sec  the  day  when  you  are 
tut  of  debt  so  long  as  you  are  a  merchant.'1''  Mr.  Miner  did  not  at  the  time  intend 
.hat  this  remark  should  prove  true,  nor  did  he  entirely  comprehend  its  philosophical 
accuracy.  But  it  did  prove  exactly  true,  and  his  own  experience  taught  him  the 
sagacity  of  Mr.  Hyde's  remark.  During  his  whole  mercantile  career  he  was  never 
for  a  day  out  of  debt,  because  his  financial  prosperity  continually  demanded  such 
^ncumbrance . 

Mr.  Miner  had  no  more  dealing  with  that  house,  or  further  acquaintance  or  com 
munication  with  Mr.  Hyde.  But  some  twenty-two  years  afterwards,  in  a  note  ap 
pended  to  a  business  letter  addressed  to  him  as  a  banker,  Mr.  Hyde  writes  : 

"  J.  B.  Hyde's  respects  to  H.  J.  Miner,  and  asks  whether  that  young  merchant 
ever  got  out  of  debt." 

Mr.  Miner  replied,  "  Never  while  a  merchant,  and  the  remark  of  Mr.  Hyde  was 
always  remembered,  and  operated  as  a  stimulus  in  business." 


340  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

his  excited  expression  of  countenance  caused  by  this  mark  of  confidence, 
placed  his  hand  on  Mr.  Miner's  shoulder  and  said,  "Young  man,  I  will 
guarantee  your  success.  We  will  trust  you  all  you  will  buy  of  us ;  and 
if  at  any  time  you  need,  order  us,  and  we  will  promptly  forward  to  you." 
This  token  of  confidence  attached  Mr.  Miner  to  that  house,  and  he  con 
tinued  to  make  there  his  largest  bills  as  long  as  they  continued  .in  trade. 
Its  effect  on  him  at  the  time  was  to  strengthen  the  principle  which  he 
had  previously  adopted,  viz. :  to  be  firm  and  resolute  in  purpose  and 
faithful  to  promise,  relying  on  the  application  of  industry  and  skill  for 
success. 

His  goods  were  shipped  with  much  care,  he  following  the  carman  to 
the  boat  and  attending  personally  to  their  delivery.  When  he  had 
seen  them  all  safely  on  board,  he  settled  his  bill  at  the  hotel  and  has 
tened  away  to  Camden,  the  theatre  of  his  future  action,  and  where  cen 
tred  his  earthly  hopes.  He  was  not  without  anxiety  about  the  result. 
One  thing  appeared  to  him  certain — that  he  should  either  rise  above  or 
sink  far  below  the  common  standard  of  business  men.  But  the  grand 
resolve  never  for  a  moment  forsook  him,  that  if  he  should  fall,  he  would 
fall,  as  he  expressed  it,  "  in  a  forward  march,  with  the  armor  of  integ 
rity  on."  With  these  thoughts  crowding  his  mind  he  entered  Camden, 
Tuesday,  the  4th  of  May. 

After  perfecting  the  arrangement  with  Dea.  Upson  and  invoicing  the 
few  goods  he  had  on  hand,  Mr.  Miner  next  proceeded  to  prepare  the 
store  for  the  reception  of  his  new  goods,  which  he  daily  expected.  His 
purchases  in  New-York  had  amounted  to  about  $1300,  and  his  debts  to 
about  $1100.  He  now  commenced  his  cash  account  on  the  credit  side 
with  $15.75 — money  which  he  brought  back  from  the  city,  and  which 
he  immediately  sent  to  New-London,  on  the  canal,  to  pay  on  the  freight 
bills.  His  goods  arrived1  in  Camden  on  Wednesday,  the  5th,  and  on 
Thursday  morning,  May  6,  1830,  his  store  was  opened  for  trade. 

The  first  article  he  sold  was  a  copy  of  the  New  Testament  at  twenty- 
five  cents,  which  he  called  a  good  beginning.  The  first  day  his  sales 
amounted  to  about  $12.  The  first  month  they  were  $355,75,  and  the 
first  year  $4,140.  Thus  his  average  daily  sales  for  the  first  year  were 
only  $13  23.  At  first  he  had  no  clerk,  boarded  in  the  family  of  Dea. 
Upson  and  slept  under  the  counter.  His  store  was  the  front  end  of  a 
tin-shop,  about  18  by  22  feet — the  deacon,  meantime,  occupying  the 
rear  for  his  business.  But  the  location  was  a  central  one,  just  suited 
to  his  wants.  He  held  his  goods  for  cash  down  and  offered  them  at 
Utica  prices.  It  was  hard  commencing.  The  country  around  was  new 
and  poor,  and  to  sell  for  cash,  and  no  trust,  was  an  innovation  upon  all 
former  practice  in  that  region.  There  were  three  other  mercantile 
firms  in  the  place— A.  Trobridge  &  Co.,  A.  Hinkley  &  Co.  and  Caverly 
and  Sheldon — all  crediting  and  barter  establishments.  Men  daily  said 
to  him,  "  I  will  trade  with  you  if  you  will  trust."  And  as  often  they 
assured  him,  "You  can't  sell  at  cash  in  this  place.  The  people  have 
nothing  but  lumber  or  produce  to  pay  for  goods."  But  he  held  on  for 
cash  only  under  all  discouragements.  To  credit  his  goods  and  run  the 
risk  of  meeting  his  notes  in  New- York  was  out  of  the  question.  He 
resolved  to  have  either  the  money  or  the  goods  when  his  notes  should 
become  due.  He  kept  a  daily  account  of  his  profits,  and  ascertained 


HIRAM  J.  MINER,  OF  NEW-YORK.  341 

that  he  gained  from  $2  to  $2.50  per  day,  which,  he  thought,  all  things 
considered,  was  not  very  bad; 

The  old  merchants  of  Camden  at  this  time  had  the  reputation  of 
selling  goods  "  dear,"  and  the  people  who  had  means  to  go  and  make  a 
cash  bill,  would  go  to  Rome  or  to  Utica  for  their  supplies,  and  it  re 
quired  much  patience  and  long  and  labored  effort  to  turn  the  tide  of 
trade.  Yet,  with  untiring  industry,  with  energy  unflinching,  he  put 
forth  his  efforts  to  sell  for  cash ;  but  to  one  less  persevering  and  hopeful, 
it  would  have  been  a  disheartening  work.  Frequently  his  sales  fell  to 
one,  two,  or  five  dollars  per  day.  As  often  as  he  got  out  of  an  article 
a  supply  was  immediately  ordered,  and  soon  he  began  to  add  to  his 
little  assortment  articles  not  kept  at  the  other  stores.  Almost  every 
thing  wanted  by  the  people  could  be  had  of  him,  although  kept  in  so 
small  quantities  that  one  good  customer  would  sometimes  break  his 
assortment;  but  then  it  was  immediately  replenished  by  a  fresh  order. 
There  was  no  bank  where  he  could  deposit  his  money  nearer  than 
Utica — thirty-two  miles,  and  the  receipts  for  his  first  five  months'  sales 
he  carried  in  his  pocket  by  day,  and  at  night  placed  under  his  pillow 
in  the  stocking. 

Most  of  the  bread  used  at  that  time  by  the  inhabitants  of  Camden 
was  of  the  coarser  kind — rye  and  Indian  corn.  Mr.  Miner,  after  a 
little  time,  brought  in  wheat  flour,  and  offered  at  retail  by  the  pound  or 
barrel.  Salt  he  had  previously  introduced  soon  after  commencing 
trade.  He  was  the  first  merchant,  and  probably  the  first  man,  to  offer 
flour  by  the  barrel  in  that  town.  His  first  purchase  in  this  article  was 
a  lot  of  three  barrels,  superfine,  from  Utica,  the  cost  of  which,  at  his 
store,  was  $6  per  barrel,  and  which  he  sold  at  $6  25.  The  first  cus 
tomer  who  ventured  on  so  large  a  supply  as  to  take  a  whole  barrel 
was  Reuben  Bettis.  His  first  barrel  of  salt  was  sold  to  a  Mr.  Flanagan, 
of  Amboy. 

Occasionally,  during  the  first  few  months,  when  the  curtain  of  night 
was  dropped,  as  he  lay  alone  in  his  little  bunk  under  the  counter,  a 
feeling  of  sadness  a,nd  discouragement  would  come  over  his  spirit.  The 
prospect  of  success  looked  gloomy,  his  sales  averaging  only  about  $10 
per  day.  The  probability  of  being  able  to  meet  his  notes  seemed 
dubious.  Thoughts  of  failure  at  the  end  of  six  months — of  goods 
seized  and  sold — of  being  "  a  broken  merchant,"  with  notes  dishonored 
and  reputation  lost — would  haunt  his  hours  of  rest,  and  darken  his 
visions  of  the  brilliant  future.  But  on  the  return  of  morning  light,  he 
would  rise  with  renewed  courage,  and  new  determination,  and  fresh 
hope. 

Let  it  be  borne  in  mind  that,  in  all  his  previous  mercantile  exer 
tions  while  a  clerk,  he  had  had  no  training  in  the  arts  of  managing  such 
business  with  limited  means,  for  his  employers  were  men  of  capital ;  nor 
had  any  care  or  responsibility  rested  on  him  other  than  simply  what 
belonged  to  his  position  as  a  clerk ;  and  that  now  his  situation  was 
directly  the  reverse — he  had  no  means;  no  capital  in  trade,  or  next  to 
none;  was  in  a  new  country,  among  strangers,  and  without  influence; 
alone,  having  no  clerk,  because  his  small  business  would  not  warrant 
the  expense  ;  maintaining  an  attitude  opposed  to  all  former  practice  of 
merchants  in  that  region,  in  rejecting  the  credit  system ;  subject  to  the 


342  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

taunts  and  jeers  of  the  trade  pointed  against  a  "cash  store"  with  such 
an  insignificant  stock  of  goods,  cooped  up  in  one  end  of  a  tin-shop,  in  a 
room  eighteen  by  twenty-two  feet ;  let  all  these  things  be  borne  in 
mind,  and  his  slow  progress  at  the  first  is  certainly  not  to  be  wondered 
at.  The  marvel  rather  is,  that  he  did  not  yield  to  these  adverse  cir 
cumstances,  and  give  up  altogether.  That  he  did  not  can  only  be 
ascribed  to  his  inflexible  decision,  to  that  characteristic  firmness  of  pur 
pose  which  nothing  less  than  the  extinguishment  of  life  itself  seemed 
capable  of  breaking  up. 

Perhaps  in  this  connection  it  ought  to  be  said,  that  his  purposes,  so 
fixed,  were  never  rashly  taken.  He  was  cautious  of  unconsidered  acts, 
carefully  estimating  and  balancing  probable  results,  and  especially 
sensitive  to  the  danger  of  dishonor  from  unpaid  debts.  As  an  example 
of  his  cautiousness  and  decision,  let  the  following  incident  be  given : 
Sometime  in  August  of  this  year,  he  was  expecting  a  visit  from  his 
brothers,  John  and  Isaac,  from  Westmoreland,  and  had  sent  to  John  an 
order  for  a  small  bill  of  cotton  goods  and  groceries,  with  a  request 
that  he  would  purchase  the  same  in  Utica,  and  bring  them  up  with  him. 
The  order  specified  the  exact  amount  of  each  article  wanted.  John  went 
to  Utica  to  make  the  purchase,  but,  finding  cotton  goods  cheaper  than  he 
expected,  ventured  to  take  some  four  or  five  pieces  of  sheeting  more 
than  was  ordered,  and,  instead  of  the  prescribed  "  half  bale  of  batting," 
he  took  a  whole  bale. 

The  brothers  went  to  Camden  with  a  one-horse  wagon,  through  the 
deep  sand,  in  the  heat  of  summer,  to  make  Hiram  a  visit,  taking  with 
them  the  goods  to  replenish  his  stock.  The  load  of  goods  and  tho 
sand  of  the  road  made  it  necessary  for,  at  least,  one  of  them  to  walk  a 
large  part  of  the  way.  It  was  an  all-day's  work  for  them  to  get  there. 
Mr.  Miner  was  glad  to  see  his  brothers.  They  were  the  first  of  his 
friends  who  had  ventured  to  visit  him  since  he  became  a  merchant. 
But  on  examining  the  goods,  and  finding  that  John  had  transcended  his 
Order,  he  was  not  a  little  displeased,  and  said  to  his  brother,  that  he 
must  return  the  half  bale  of  batting  and  the  excess  of  sheeting,  in  all 
amounting  to  about  $20.  "  Very  well,"  says  John,  "  I  can  do  it. 
But  it  seems  a  pity,  after  dragging  them  through  the  sand,  besides  foot 
ing  it  most  of  the  way,  that  now  a  part  of  them  should  have  to  be  re 
turned."  Such  considerations,  however,  were  unavailing.  The  laconic 
reply  was,  "  You  should  have  gone  by  my  order,  and  all  would  have 
been  right."  And  so.  after  remaining  a  day  or  two,  John,  on  his  re 
turn,  took  with  him  the  excess  of  goods,  and  restored  them  to  the 
merchant  in  Utica.  It  seemed  that,  from  the  first,  he  had  some  appre 
hension  of  the  result,  for  at  the  time  of  taking  them,  he  had  engaged 
for  the  privilege  of  returning  the  excess,  in  case  they  were  refused. 
With  Mr.  Miner  this  has  ever  been  a  marked  characteristic  from 
early  life,  exacting  strict  and  literal  obedience  to  rightful  authority. 
When  a  rule  of  conduct  or  plan  of  action  is  once  marked  out,  he  will 
suffer  no  deviation  from  it.  The  motto  which,  in  all  his  business,  he 
has  ever  impressed  on  his  clerks,  is,  "  Obey  orders,  if  you  break 
owners"  And  to  this  rigid  exactitude  he  ascribes  much  of  his  success. 

^  Camden  is  situated  eighteen  miles  northwest  from  Rome,  and 
thirteen  miles  from  New-London,  the  nearest  point  on  the  canal. 


HIRAM  J.  MINER,  OF  NEW- YORK.  343 

Merchandise,  therefore,  had  to  be  transported  in  wagons  for  a  con 
siderable  distance,  and  over  a  road  of  deep  sand.  It  was  a  hard  day's 
work  for  a  team  to  go  to  the  canal  and  return  with  a  load  the  same 
day.  Hence  heavy  goods,  when  sold  at  Utica  prices,  afforded  little  or 
no  profit.  He  shortly  learned  that  he  must  make  the  increased  profits 
on  light  articles  compensate  for  the  want  of  profit  on  the  heavier  and 
more  common  goods,  keeping  the  latter  especially  low. 

Adopting  this  system  in  trade,  which,  though  common  now,  had  not 
then  been  much  if  any  introduced,  he  saw  at  length  that  he  began  to 
make  an  impression  among  the  people ;  and  after  a  few  months  his  trade 
began  materially  to  increase.  With  the  increase  of  trade  his  courage 
and  confidence,  of  course,  increased.  It  was  not,  therefore,  strange  that 
then  other  thoughts  should  crowd  upon  him,  and  that,  on  another  topic, 
hope  long  deferred  should  present  her  claim.  He  was  a  man,  with 
the  sentiments  and  affections  of  humanity,  and  he  thought  that  if,  to 
help  smooth  the  rough  sea  of  life,  and  make  his  career  a  more  agree 
able,  if  not  a  more  prosperous  one,  he  should  establish  a  firm,  by 
taking  in  a  perpetual  partner  of  the  gentler  sex,  it  certainly  would  be  no 
crime,  and  might  be  attended  with  many  conveniences  and  delicate 
comforts,  and  he  resolved  to  MARRY. 

Forthwith  he  proceeded  to  make  the  needful  arrangements  for  house 
keeping,  renting  a  small  house  of  his  friend,  Dea.  Upson.  Then,  having 
procured  the  attendance  of  his  brother  John  in  the  store  during  his  ab 
sence,  he  set  off  to  New-York  for  his  fall  supply  of  goods,  taking  Vernon 
Centre  in  his  way.  Here,  in  his  visit  to  Miss  Adaline,  the  prelimina 
ries  of  the  wedding  were  settled,  and  he  passed  on  to  the  city.  He  had 
been  able  to  realize,  from  the  sale  of  goods,  about  $1,213,  which  after 
the  necessary  appropriations  for  other  purposes,  gave  him  nearly  enough 
to  meet  his  notes,  although  they  were  not  yet  due.  Arriving  in  New- 
York,  he  first  took  up  all  his  notes,  paying  as  far  as  his  money  went, 
and  for  the  small  balances  giving  short  bank-notes.  He  found  all  his 
creditors  quite  willing  to  sell  him  goods  on  six  months'  time,  and  from, 
that  day  forward  he  found  no  difficulty  in  obtaining  all  the  goods  he  chose 
to  buy  on  credit.  At  this  time  he  ventured  to  purchase  to  the  amount 
of  a  little  over  $2,000.  His  selections  were  made  with  great  care,  and 
the  goods  shipped  under  his  own  eye.  Having  completed  his  business 
in  the  city,  he  returned  to  Vernon  Centre,  where,  at  eight  o'clock  on  the 
morning  after  his  arrival,  October  19,  1830,  he  was  married,  by  Rev. 
Mr.  Garrison,  to  Miss  Adaline  M.  Hungerford,  second  daughter  of 
widow  Celinda  Hungerford,  then  and  for  many  years  a  resident  of  that 
place. 

Mrs.  Miner's  father  was  Lot  Hungerford,  a  descendant  of  a  Puritan 
family  of  that  name  who  emigrated  from  England  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  and  located  in  East  Haddam,  Connecticut,  and  from  whom 
sprang  most  of  the  Hungerfords  in  this  country.  He  died  in  Vernon 
Centre,  January  8,  1827.* 

Immediately  after  their  marriage  they  set  off  for  Camden,  in  a  one- 


*  Sextus  H.  Hungerford,  Esq.,  the  present  banker  of  Westfield,   Chautauque 
county,  New- York,  is  a  son  of  Lot  Hungerford,  and  brother  of  Mrs.  Miner. 


344  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

horse  wagon,  going  by  the  way  of  Westmoreland,  and  calling  a  short 
time  on  Mr.  Miner's  parents.  They  had  intended  to  go  through  the 
same  day,  but  the  evening  was  stormy  and  dark,  and  they  were  com 
pelled  to  pause  for  the  night  at  a  tavern  some  miles  short.  Next  morn 
ing  they  arrived  in  Camden.  After  taking  board  some  two  weeks  in 
the  family  of  Mr.  Humphrey  Brown,  they  commenced  housekeeping 
"in  their  own  hired  house."* 

Mrs.  Miner  was  well  fitted  for  her  new  station,  and  to  be  the  compa 
nion  of  such  a  man.  She  had  been  brought  up  as  a  farmer's  daughter, 
and  was  skilled  in  all  her  household  duties.  She  was  retiring  and  do 
mestic  in  her  habits,  content  in  her  appropriate  sphere,  and  never  con 
cerning  herself  with  her  husband's  business,  but  relying  with  entire  con 
fidence  on  his  prudence  and  sagacity.  Her  disposition  in  this  respect 
was  especially  suited  to  Mr.  Miner,  who  always  acted  with  independ 
ence  and  decision,  and  would  never  endure  interference  from  any 
quarter  in  his  business  transactions. 

After  the  new  goods  arrived,  and  had  been  properly  marked  and  ar 
ranged  for  sale,  John  returned  to  Westmoreland,  and  Isaac,  then  twenty- 
two  years  old,  came  to  Camden  and  entered  his  brother's  store  as  clerk, 
October  20,  1830.  His  salary  was  at  first  only  $50  a  year,  but  was 
gradually  increased  through  a  period  of  seven  years,  at  the  end  of  which 
he  was  taken  in  as  a  partner.f  Isaac  had  previously  been  accustomed 
from  early  youth  to  hard  labor,  working  in  the  summer  with  his  father 
at  the  trade  of  carpenter  and  joiner,  and  often,  during  the  winter,  chopping 
firewood  at  twenty-five  cents  a  cord.  But  although  he  had  been  totally 
unused  to  business,  except  laboring  at  the  bench  or  in  the  field,  he  soon 
made  himself  decidedly  useful  as  a  clerk.  He  was  active,  quick,  and 
always  on  hand.  His  whole  attention  was  directed  to  selling  goods; 
and  in  a  few  years  his  older  and  more  experienced  brother  was  obliged 
to  yield  the  palm  to  him  in  sales  at  the  counter.  Mr.  Miner  says  of 
him,  "  I  confidently  believe  his  equal  as  a  salesman,  while  in  his  prime, 
could  scarcely  be  met  with  in  country  or  city,  and  I  feel  that  I  owe 
much  of  my  prosperity  to  the  efficient  aid  I  received  at  his  hand."  He 
would  never  practise  deception  to  effect  a  sale,  but  accomplished  his 
end  by  tact  and  skill.  He  read  at  a  glance  the  disposition  of  a  cus 
tomer,  and  then,  by  adopting  his  conversation  to  please,  and  by  the  offer 
of  cheap  articles,  he  managed  to  win  confidence.  That  point  gained, 
he  had  little  else  to  do  but  to  cut  off  and  put  up  the  goods  wanted, 
make  out  the  bill,  and  receive  the  cash.  He  also  had  the  faculty  to 
hold  his  customers.  He  made  himself  a  favorite  with  them,  so  that  if 
they  traded  with  him  once,  they  would  be  quite  sure  to  come  again. 


*  Their  marriage  has  been  subsequently  blessed  with  five  children,  two  sons  and 
three  daughters  ;  but  death  has  been  among  them,  and  only  the  eldest  daughter, 
now  a  young  woman,  remains,  together  with  a  little  son,  adopted  in  1844,  while 
an  infant,  on  whom  Mr.  Miner  has  bestowed  his  own  name,  and  who,  he  intends,  if 
spared,  shall  share  his  property. 

t  The  partnership  continued  something  more  than  three  years,  when  it  was  dis 
solved,  and  Hiram  again  went  on  in  the  business  separately  as  before.  But  Isaac 
has  since,  in  his  own  operations,  secured  a  high  and  honorable  reputation  as  a 
merchant. 


HIRAM  J.  MINER,  OF  NEW- YORK.  345 

After  the  first  year  the  business  of  the  store  rapidly  increased. 
Customers  began  to  come  from  a  greater  distance,  and  the  reputation 
of  Mr.  Miner  for  selling  goods  "cheap"  became  widely  extended,  so 
that  his  cash  sales  for  the  second  year  amounted  to  upwards  of  $10,000. 
Thus  he  continued  to  augment  his  trade  year  by  year,  until  it  reached 
a  large  amount — probably  as  large  as  that  of  any  other  similar  establish 
ment  out  of  the  city. 

In  the  autumn  of  1832  his  business  had  become  so  much  enlarged 
that  he  could  no  longer  be  confined  in  the  little  room  in  which  he  com 
menced,  but  needed  the  whole  building.  The  deacon  not  caring  to  rent 
all  his  shop,  Mr.  Miner  purchased  the  entire  premises,  together  with  a 
small  dwelling-house  adjoining,  for  $1,000.  At  once  he  removed  his 
family  into  the  dwelling-house,  and  proceeded  to  lengthen  his  sales 
room  some  twenty  feet,  and  occupied  the  rear  for  a  store-house.  But 
after  about  two  years  more,  his  business  demanded  a  still  larger  space 
for  the  exhibition  and  sale  of  goods ;  and  accordingly  another  lengthen 
ing  of  the  room  was  made,  by  extending  it  through  the  whole  building, 
some  sixty  feet ;  while  a  store-house  was  erected  in  the  rear.  He  had 
now  a  very  fair  space  for  his  trading  operations. 

Sometime  in  the  second  .year  of  his  business,  Mr.  Miner  had  begun 
to  receive  most  kinds  of  produce  in  exchange  for  goods,  but  still  hold 
ing  on  to  the  ready-pay  principle.  For  nearly  five  years,  his  charged 
accounts  were  very  insignificant.  Now  and  then  he  would  give  credit 
to  a  farmer  of  undoubted  responsibility,  but  always  at  cash  prices. 
Proceeding  in  this  manner,  his  trade  continued  steadily  to  increase  for 
about  ten  years.  He  skilfully  adapted  his  business  to  the  wants  of  the 
community,  keeping  almost  every  article  required  by  the  people,  and 
receiving  all  kinds  of  produce.  Whatever  a  farmer  wanted,  or  what 
ever  product  he  had  to  sell,  either  for  cash  or  in  exchange  for  goods, 
here  was  the  merchant. 

In  the  spring  of  1836,  he  lost  his  two  little  sons — both  in  the  space 
of  about  one  week.  This  was  a  severe  blow,  and  felt  to  be  such.  "  I 
regarded  it,"  says  Mr.  Miner,  "  as  a  deserved  chastisement  of  Divine 
Providence.  1  had  been  wholly  absorbed  in  the  pursuit  of  business ; 
but  here  was  a  stop — a  rest.  I  now  saw  how  uncertain  is  our  hold  on 
earth.  Property,  business,  all — all  receded  for  a  time.  I  paused  and 
reflected.  But  soon  business  called.  Engagements  were  to  be  fulfill 
ed.  I  reluctantly  resumed  my  position  in  the  store,  and  was  shortly 
after  crowding  my  work  with  usual  zeal." 

About  this  time,  or  very  soon  after,  Mr.  Miner  received  into  his  store 
as  clerk  his  youngest  brother,  Heman,  then  sixteen  years  of  age.  He 
was  of  a  different  turn  altogether  from  Isaac,  being  of  few  words,  and 
not  so  much  a  favorite  with  customers.  He  was,  however,  a  fair  sales 
man  ;  correct  and  honorable  in  all  his  deal — ever  acting  openly,  and 
despising  meanness ;  and  withal,  possessed  of  a  marked  talent  for  dis 
patch.  He  has  since  succeeded  well  in  business ;  and,  both  as  a  mer 
chant  and  a  citizen,  occupies  a  very  respectable  position. 

In  the  spring  of  1837,  he  extended  his  business  by  starting  a  store  in 
Westfield,  Chautauque  county,  New-York,  in  connection  with  hi? 
brother-in-law,  S.  H.  Hungerford.  Mr.  Hungerford  had  always  been  a 
farmer,  and  had  accumulated  a  small  property  in  Vernon,  by  agricul 


346  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

ture ;  but  was  now  determined  to  seek  his  fortune  in  the  West.  He 
traveled  as  far  as  Westfield,  where  he  stopped  for  a  few  days;  and, 
being  in  conversation  with  Mr.  Babcock,  then  a  merchant  of  Westfield, 
the  latter  offered  to  sell  his  goods,  and  rent  his  store  for  a  term  of  five 
years.  Mr.  Hungerford  at  once  made  a  conditional  agreement  to  take 
the  goods  and  the  premises,  if  he  should  wish  to  do  so  after  seeing  his 
brother-in-law,  Mr.  Miner,  whom  he  thought  might  probably  be  induced 
to  engage  in  the  enterprise  with  him.  Thereupon  he  left  Westfield,  and 
on  horseback,  over  muddy  roads,  in  the  month  of  March,  hastened  back 
to  Vernon,  and  thence  to  Carnden,  where  he  arrived  late  in  the  evening. 
After  a  brief  conversation,  suited  to  the  occasion,  he  revealed  his  errand 
to  Camden.  Mr.  Miner  had  only  known  him  as  a  farmer  ;  but,  in  that 
character,  as  a  man  of  clear,  sound  judgment,  and  nicely  discriminating 
perceptions.  After  hearing  his  representation,  and  receiving  his  pro 
position — each  to  furnish  $3,000  capital,  Mr.  Miner  promptly  said  to 
him :  "  Do  you  return  to  Westfield,  invoice  the  goods,  make  out  the 
memorandum  for  new  goods,  and  forward  it  to  me  at  New-York,  where 
I  shall  be  about  the  10th  of  April ;  and  if  it  reaches  me  before  1  leave  for 
nome,  I  will  purchase  and  send  on  the  stock."  Early  the  next  morning 
Mr.  Hungerford  was  off;  proceeding  in  the  same  manner — on  horse 
back,  through  mud  and  storms,  to  Westfield  again.  Mr.  Miner  heard 
no  more  of  him  until  he  had  purchased  his  goods  for  Camden,  and  was 
about  to  leave  the  city  for  home,  when  he  received  through  the  mail  a 
communication  from  Mr.  Hungerford,  containing  his  memorandum.  At 
once  he  bought  the  goods,  amounting  to  about  $5,000,  of  which  he  had 
$3,000  charged  to  himself,  and  forwarded  them  to  Westfield. 

Thus  commenced,  they  continued  in  business  together  until  the  end 
of  the  five  years,  when  Mr.  Miner  bought  Mr.  Hungerford's  interest  in 
the  establishment,  and  has  since  continued  it  in  connection  with  the  for 
mer  clerk,  Mr.  Thomas  Knight.  Mr.  Hungerford  subsequently  com 
menced  the  Bank  of  Westfield,  of  which  he  is  now  the  sole  proprietor,  and 
is  doing  a  successful  banking  business.  Mr.  Miner  says :  "  I  visited 
Westfield  only  once  during  the  five  years  in  which  I  was  in  business 
with  Hr.  Hungerford.  I  knew  what  he  must  be  as  a  merchant  and 
financier,  from  my  acquaintance  with  him  as  a  farmer  only ;  nor  had  I 
any  anxiety  as  to  the  result.  His  success  in  mercantile  pursuits,  and 
his  later  operations  in  banking,  indicate  whether  or  not  I  judged  him 
correctly.  Whatever  impetus  he  may  have  gathered  by  his  connection 
with  me,  he  is  emphatically  a  self-made  man." 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  time  when  the  Westfield  enterprise 
commenced,  (1837),  was  one  of  great  commercial  embarrassment  all 
over  the  country.  The  banks  had  stopped  specie  payments,  and  mer 
chants  as  well  as  all  other  business  men  every  where  severely  crippled. 
But  Mr.  Miner  moved  right  on,  as  if  all  were  easy.  He  even  bought 
and  sold  larger  quantities  of  goods  than  usual.  From  1837  to  1839, 
his  stock  in  the  Camden  store  would  invoice  from  twenty-five  to  thirty 
thousand  dollars  ;  and  his  notes  were  all  promptly  met. 

In  1839,  finding  his  business  continually  increasing,  he  determined  to 
build  a  store  suited  to  the  wants  of  his  accumulating  trade.  The  size 
decided  upon  was  22  by  90  feet  on  the  ground,  and  three  stories  high, 
except  20  feet  of  the  rear,  which  was  to  be  two  stories  high.  Having 


HIRAM  J.  MINER  OF  NEW-YORK.  347 

completed  his  design,  the  little  dwelling-house  was  removed,  and  the 
new  store  erected  on  its  site.  The  whole  was  so  constructed  as  conve 
niently  to  meet  the  wants  of  business,  and  at  the  same  time  preserve 
neatness  and  taste  in  the  arrangements.  Its  cost  was  about  $4,000  ; 
and  for  commodiousness,  elegance,  and  substantial  work,  there  are  few 
if  any  wood  buildings  of  the  kind  in  country  towns  which  surpass  it  even 
at  the  present  time.  It  was  commenced  in  April,  1829,  and  completed 
and  filled  with  goods  in  September  following — five  months. 

Being  now  in  possession  of  a  store  of  sufficient  size,  Mr.  Miner  was 
able  to  enlarge  his  assortment  so  as  to  meet  the  demands  of  trade.  He 
entered  more  extensively  into  the  purchase  of  produce,  such  as  grain, 
pork,  and  the  various  kinds  of  lumber.  He  was  also  more  liberal  in 
extending  credit  to  such  as  desired  it.  But  still  he  held  out  the  cash  and 
ready-pay  principle  as  the  basis  of  his  trade;  and  his  credit  business 
was  comparatively  small.  Although,  at  this  time  and  afterwards,  he 
had  the  farmers  in  debt  to  him  to  an  amount  ranging  generally  from 
ten  to  twenty  thousand  dollars,  this  was  never  relied  upon  in  his  calcu 
lations  to  meet  a  debt  for  goods  in  New- York  or  elsewhere.  For  such 
purposes  he  relied  upon  cash  sales  solely.  He  scarcely  ever  dunned  a 
good  customer  on  going  to  the  city.  While  he  was  himself  never  sued, 
in  not  more  than  two  or  three  instances  did  he  serve  a  legal  process, 
and  never  sold  property  to  collect  a  debt.  And  although  he  continued 
his  trade  in  that  town  about  twenty  years,  one  thousand  dollars  would 
cover  the  entire  losses  of  his  mercantile  business  in  Camden.  In  his  pur 
chase  and  transportation  of  goods  from  New-York  he  was  equally  suc 
cessful,  because  equally  careful.  He  never  met  with  accidents,  as 
others  do,  growing  out  of  ill-advised  proceedings,  or  from  trusting 
to  others  what  should  be  done  by  himself;  and  therefore  had  no  claims 
to  be  adjusted  with  transportation  companies  in  courts  of  justice.  The 
same  watchfulness,  and  close  personal  attention  to  his  business  with 
which  he  began,  he  continued  to  maintain,  acting  ever  the  maxim  of 
Doctor  Franklin,  which  in  early  life  he  adopted  as  his  own,  viz. :  "  If 
you  want  a  thing  done,  do  it  yourself;  if  not,  send  some  one." 

During  his  first  ten  years  in  Camden,  Mr.  Miner  enjoyed  almost  un 
interrupted  good  health,  and  was  able  to  endure  much  fatigue.  When 
occasion  seemed  to  require  it,  he  would  be  out  at  mid-day  or  midnight, 
regardless  of  weather.  If  attending  to  engagements,  nothing  could  de 
ter  him : — they  must  be  fulfilled  at  any  hazard.  When  abroad,  if  other 
conveyance  could  not  readily  be  had,  he  would  take  to  his  feet  rather 
than  be  detained  an  hour  after  his  business  was  accomplished.  The 
following  fact  will  illustrate  his  manner  of  attending  to  business,  and 
driving  it  forward  in  the  face  of  difficulties  :  "  It  was  usual  for  him  to 
delay  the  purchase  of  flour  and  salt  until  the  last  of  boating,  late  in  the 
fall.  *  On  one  occasion  it  was  delayed  until  the  latter  part  of  Novem 
ber.  The  ice  began  to  make  in  the  canal ;  and  there  was  danger  that 
if  a  boat-load  were  ordered  from  Syracuse,  whence  he  was  accustomed 
to  procure  it,  it  would  get  froze  in  before  reaching  New-London.  To 
prevent  such  a  result,  and  get  it  through  if  possible,  he  determined  to 
superintend  the  matter  in  person.  Accordingly  he  repaired  to  New- 
London,  hired  a  boat  and  crew  of  J.  I.  Carlcy,  and  proceeded  to  Syra 
cuse — about  forty-five  miles.  The  weather  was  freezing  cold,  and  ice 


348  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

was  rapidly  accumulating  in  the  canal ;  but  he  loaded  his  boat  with  flour 
and  salt,  and  commenced  the  return  trip.  The  old  man,  who  filled  the 
double  office  of  captain  and  helmsman  of  the  boat,  indulged  rather  free 
ly  in  his  cups,  *  to  keep  off  the  cold ;'  and  was  thus,  in  a  great  measure 
disqualified  for  his  business.  At  nearly  every  bend  of  the  canal  he 
would  '  bank  the  boat,'  at  the  imminent  risk  of  sinking  the  load.  After 
remonstrating  with  him  to  no  purpose,  Mr.  Miner  at  length,  taking  ad 
vantage  of  a  favorable  position  of  the  captain,  seized  and  shoved  him 
into  the  stern  cabin,  and  fastened  him  in.  Then  taking  the  helm  him 
self,  he  ordered  the  driver  to  go  on  ;  while,  with  no  previous  experi 
ence,  he  steered  the  boat  safely  through  ice  and  snow,  and  around 
bends,  from  near  Syracuse  to  New- London.  On  his  arrival,  Mr.  Carley 
remarked  that  he  was  very  sorry  to  see  him  in  that  position — helmsman 
for  his  boat.  Mr.  Miner  assured  him  that,  to  prevent  sinking  the  load 
he  had  headed  a  mutiny,  and  put  the  captain  in  the  hold ;  and  that  now 
he  would  resign  his  usurped  authority  into  Mr.  Carley's  hands."  After 
seeing  the  boat  safely  moored  at  the  dock,  Mr.  Miner  returned  to  Cam- 
den  ;  and  in  a  few  days  the  canal  closed  for  the  season. 

In  February,  1841,  he  was  appointed  postmaster  for  Camden,  and 
resigned  the  office  in  February,  1847.  This  was  the  only  official  public 
trust  ever  conferred  on  him.  Confining  himself  closely  to  his  private 
business,  he  has  never  sought  office  of  any  kind,  nor  desired  the  burden 
and  perplexity  attending  it. 

The  same  year  with  his  receiving  the  appointment  of  postmaster  he 
increased  the  number  of  his  clerks  by  the  addition  of  his  brother  John; 
who,  a  little  before  had  sold  out  his  own  goods  at  Lairdsville,  and 
moved  his  family  into  Camden.  Mr.  Miner  had  now  a  pretty  strong 
corps  for  a  country  merchant,  consisting  of  his  three  brothers,  and  two 
others,  besides  himself — six  in  all.  Nor  did  his  business  admit  of  any 
idleness  among  them.  On  the  contrary,  they  were  crowded  continually. 

Soon  after  this  Mr.  Miner  had  another  narrow  escape  from  instant 
death  by  a  fall.  He  was  in  the  habit  of  taking  home  at  night,  in 
nis  hand,  a  heavy  tin  trunk,  containing  books,  papers,  &c.,  and  going 
out  at  the  back  door.  Nearly  under  this  door,  on  the  outside,  was  a 
natchway  leading  to  the  cellar.  On  one  occasion,  some  person  had  care 
lessly  left  the  hatch-door  open;  and  as  Mr.  Miner  was  going  out  with 
trunk  in  hand,  the  evening  being  dark,  one  of  the  clerks  held  a  light  be 
fore  him,  the  glare  of  which  so  blinded  his  eyes  that  he  did  not  see  the 
open  hatchway  ;  and  stepping  from  the  door-sill  he  was  instantly  pre 
cipitated  to  the  bottom — a  distance  of  ten  feet.  He  held  fast  the  trunk, 
the  weight  of  which  brought  him  down  head  foremost,  and  he  struck 
upon  his  shoulders.  In  his  descent  he  just  grazed  the  stone  wall,  which 
tore  the  coat  from  his  back.  A  slight  variation  might  have  dashed  his 
head  against  the  wall.  As  it  was,  he  was  severely  stunned,  and  did  not 
fully  recover  from  its  effects  for  nearly  a  year. 

In  the  fall  of  1844,  Mr.  Miner,  in  company  with  his  brothers,  John 
and  Isaac,  made  a  visit  to  Sheldon  and  Attica  for  the  first  time  since 
their  father's  removal  from  Genesee  county.  It  was,  of  course,  an 
occasion  of  peculiar  interest  to  them.  On  reaching  the  home  of  their 
childhood  in  Sheldon,  they  were  deeply  impressed  with  what  they  saw. 
But  twenty-seven  years  had  passed,  yet  how  wonderful  the  changes 


HIRAM  J.  MINER,  OF  NEW-YORK.  349 

"both  real  and  apparent !  Instead  of  forests  and  half-cleared  lands,  clean 
and  well- fenced  farms  with  broad  fields  of  grain  appeared.  The  great 
hills  seemed  to  have  fallen  from  half  their  height.  The  deep  gulf  was 
now  only  a  small  ravine.  The  stream  in  which  was  once  their  swimming 
holes  and  fishing  places  had  dwindled  to  a  small  rill.  That  little  wil 
low,  planted  next  the  fence  in  front  of  the  log-cabin  by  the  hand  of 
their  dear  departed  mother,  was  grown  to  be  a  large  tree.  In  the  shade 
of  its  wide-spreading  branches  Hiram  stood,  and  gazed,  and  thought. 
He  walked  a  few  steps  aside,  then  turned  and  gazed  again  upon  the 
willow.  He  remembered  the  hand  that  planted  it.  He  thought  of  that 
mother's  cares,  her  sad  trials,  and  the  many  affecting  scenes  enacted 
upon  this  very  spot.  The  log-cabin  was  no  more;  but  before  his 
quickened  imagination  it  rose,  and  stood  in  its  rustic  simplicity.  He 
could  see  its  rude  door — the  latch — the  string — the  wooden  pin  hanging 
on  the  inside  to  fasten  the  door  with  at  night — the  open  gable  end — his 
mother  just  coming  around  the  corner  of  the  house  with  her  pail  of 
water  dipped  up  from  the  little  brook  in  the  rear — the  tea-kettle  hang 
ing  on  the  trammel  suspended  from  a  horizontal  pole  above  the  fire — 
the  humble  meal  in  preparation — and  the  children  in  all  their  glee. 
Another  look  was  cast  upon  the  willow.  Its  very  leaves  seemed 
sacred,  it  brought  so  freshly  to  mind  his  mother — all  her  features, 
her  looks,  and  her  oft-repeated  counsel  and  encouragement,  "  Do  right, 
and  all  will  be  well."  He  raised  his  hand  and  plucked  carefully  a  small 
branch,  and  walked  sadly  away.  Then  they  looked  on  the  grave  of 
their  sister.  A  stone  marked  the  spot  where  she  was  laid.  They  thought 
and  talked  of  how  young  she  was  when  taken  from  them,  and  how  old 
she  now  had  been,  if  living.  The  elder  brother,  especially,  felt  re 
proached  by  the  reflection  that  twenty-eight  years  had  rolled  by  since 
the  remains  of  that  little  sister  had  rested  in  this  lone  spot ;  and  yet, 
after  the  first  year  when  the  family  removed,  he  had  not  visited  it. 
Then,  with  sad  emotions  and  serious  thoughts,  they  bid  adieu  to 
the  hallowed  place. 

After  going  over  the  neighborhood  and  introducing  themselves  to 
some  old  acquaintances,  who  had  known  them  among  the  pioneers  of 
the  town  as  poor,  destitute,  half-starved  lads,  and  talking  over  with  them 
the  scenes  of  by -gone  days,  they  directed  their  course  to  Attica.  Here 
they  spent  a  day  or  two  in  visiting  the  spots  and  wandering  over 
the  grounds  of  their  youthful  sports  and  toils.  From  the  interesting 
reminiscences  thus  awakened  they  at  last  turned  thoughtfully  away,  to 
renew  again  the  conflicts  of  life. 

Mr.  Miner's  mercantile  career  in  Camden  seemed,  in  1844,  to  have 
reached  the  maximum  of  enterprise  and  prosperity  which  the  location 
admitted  of.  He  had  begun  in  1830  at  the  very  lowest  point,  and  risen 
rapidly  until  he  had  reached  the  present  elevation ;  but  from  this  stand 
he  was  unable  to  make  any  perceptible  progress.  But  he  was  now  a 
merchant  of  the  highest  character.  The  strictest  order  and  regularity 
was  maintained  through  all  his  operations.  Each  clerk  knew  exactly 
his  place  and  his  duties.  His  customers  were  always  furnished  with  a  bill 
of  the  goods  purchased,  which  had  been  previously  examined  and  called 
back  by  a  second  clerk.  By  a  careful  attention  to  the  convenience  and 
interest  of  his  customers  he  knew  he  promoted  his  own.  All  alike 


350  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

were  noticed  who  entered  his  store,  whether  the  poor  with  their  pennies, 
or  the  rich  with  their  dollars.  Children  sent  to  his  store  by  their 
parents  or  guardians  were  attended  to  with  special  promptness  and  care. 
Regard  was  had,  not  merely  to  what  could  be  made  on  one  bill  sold  to 
a  person,  but  to  what  might  be  made  in  the  long  run,  b}'  such  treat 
ment  as  should  secure  him  for  a  permanent  customer.  In  this  way,  from 
the  smallest  beginnings  he  had  gathered  a  large  trade.  He  had  erected 
a  store*  after  his  own  ideas  of  convenience,  neatness,  elegance,  and 
space.  He  had  connected  with  it  every  available  branch  of  trade  belong 
ing  to,  or  which  could  be  advantageously  managed  in,  a  mercantile 
establishment.  He  had  combined  in  his  assortment  almost  every 
variety  of  dry  goods,  groceries,  hardware,  and  drugs.  He  had  divised  a 
new  plan  for  keeping  accounts  without  books.  He  had,  in  a  great 
measure,  overturned  the  old  method  of  doing  business,  and  introduced 
another  to  the  saving  of  much  time  and  treasure.  He  had  repudiated, 
for  the  most  part,  the  credit  system,  and  established  the  principle  of 
selling  goods  for  ready  cash.  He  had  broken  in  upon  high  prices,  and 
demonstrated  that  more  money  could  be  made  by  selling  at  small  pro 
fits  than  high.  He  had  made  Camden,  in  no  small  degree,  the  mart  for 
its  own  productions,  and  given  it  a  wide  reputation  as  the  place  where 
goods  were  to  be  bought  "cheap." 

In  his  own  store  he  had  laid  it  down  as  a  principle,  to  sell  goods  at 
least  a  little  cheaper  than  any  other  merchant  in  the  place.  And  when 
ever  a  neighboring  merchant  ventured  to  challenge  this  principle  by  a 
practical  test,  the  demonstration  was  given  without  any  flinching.  At 
one  time  the  trial  was  made  on  a  paper  of  tobacco,  worth  one  shilling. 
The  run  was  commenced  by  a  merchant  across  the  street,  who  offered 
it  to  a  customer  for  a  penny  less.  The  man  reported  the  oiler  at  Mi 
ner's  store,  when  instantly  it  was  put  a  penny  below  the  opposite  offer. 
Back  the  customer  went,  and  was  offered  it  a  penny  lower  still ;  then 
returned  to  Miner's,  where  another  penny  was  underbid.  Thus  the 
sport  went  on — the  countryman  trotting  back  and  forth  across  the 
street  until  he  grew  tired,  when  he  took  his  stand  in  the  middle  of 
the  road,  while  a  clerk  stood  in  each  door  echoing  his  principal  within. 
The  strife  went  on,  each  side  alternately  offering  a  penny  below  the 
jther,  until  the  0  was  reached,  when  the  reverse  order  commenced,  at  a 
penny  a  time,  to  pay  the  man  for  taking  it.  Higher  and  higher  the  bids 
rose,  first  on  one  side,  then  on  the  other — the  countryman  standing  in 
ecstasy  between — until  at  length  Miner  bid  a  shilling,  when  the  other 
merchant,  beginning  to  fear  the  result,  held  up,  and  the  man  took  his 
tobacco  of  Miner,  with  a  shilling  to  boot.  Insignificant  as  this  incident 
was  in  itself,  it  was  widely  reported,  and  had  an  essential  influence  in 
establishing  the  impression  that  Miner  would  sell  goods  cheaper  than  any 
other  man.  At  another  time,  a  run  was  made  on  a  barrel  of  salt,  the 

regular  price  of  which  was  $2.     Mr.  IT W ,  one  of  Mr.  Miner's 

customers,  came  for  a  barrel,  and  was  told  sixpence  less  by  a  merchant 
over  the  way.     Miner  replied,  "  We  will  sell  for  sixpence  less  than  you 


*  Besides  this,  he  erected  numerous  other  buildings  in  Camden,  which  contribu 
ted  much  to  improve  the  place. 


HIRAM  J.  MINER,  OF  NEW-YORK.  351 

can  buy  it  elsewhere."  "  Well,"  said  the  customer,  "  I  will  buy  where 
I  can  get  it  the  cheapest,"  and  he  drove  his  team  back  and  forth,  from 
one  store  to  the  other,  each  falling  sixpence  below  the  other  every  time, 
until  it  was  run  down  to  a  mere  trifle,  when  the  other  merchant  yielded, 
and  Miner  sold  the  salt.  A  few  incidents  of  this  kind  fixed  Mr.  Miner 
in  the  public  mind  as  the  merchant  who  would  not  be  undersold. 
Whatever  the  price  of  an  article  might  be  elsewhere,  the  general  con 
viction  was,  "  At  Miner's  it  is  cheaper."  An  amusing  story  is  told  by 
Mr.  George  S.  Ferris,  formerly  postmaster  in  Camden.  A  lad  came 
into  the  post-office,  and  inquired  for  a  letter  for  his  family.  He  was 
told  there  was  one.  He  asked  the  price  of  it,  and  was  answered,  "  One 
and  six-pence."*  He  pertly  replied,  "  I  will  not  take  it  at  that  price ; 
I  can  buy  one  at  Miner's  for  a  shilling" 

Mr.  Miner  believed  that  generosity  was  an  essential  element  in  the 
basis  of  real  prosperity.  And  however  much  or  little  of  this  principle 
might  characterize  his  constitutional  tendencies,  he  judged  it  to  be  of 
great  importance  to  the  business  man,  and  especially  to  the  merchant. 
His  doctrine  was,  "  There  is  a  natural  affinity  between  the  liberal  man 
and  the  popular  masses.  A  contracted,  stingy  dealer  cannot  extend  his 
business,  or  gain  an  influence  much  beyond  the  eaves  of  his  store."  Hence 
he  was  always  among  the  first  in  all  matters  of  village  improvement. 
He  gave  freely  to  all  the  religious  societies  in  town.  Although  a 
Presbyterian  himself,  he  liberally  assisted  both  the  other  societies — 
Methodist  and  Episcopal — in  erecting  and  repairing  houses  of  worship, 
and  generally  paid  more  or  less  to  each  for  the  support  of  their  min 
istry. 

He  had  now  accumulated  a  large  capital,  and  acquired  an  influence 
which  was  strongly  felt  in  all  that  region,  and  especially  throughout  the 
range  of  his  extensive  trade.  His  yearly  profits  were  satisfactory — he 
could  make  money  enough  out  of  the  business  he  was  now  doing.  But 
that  did  not  prevent  the  feeling  of  uneasiness  which  he  began  to  realize 
because  he  could  see  no  further  progress,  or  prospect  of  extension  or 
improvement  of  his  business  in  the  little  town  of  Camden.  He  wanted 
more  room — larger  business-space  to  operate  in;  and  he  began  to 
think  of  the  city.  Camden  was  then  an  isolated  town,  shut  away 
from  the  great  thoroughfares  of  business  and  travel,  and  approached 
only^  by  heavy  sand  roads.  With  these  thought  sand  feelings,  he  was 
meditating  a  change,  when,  in  1845-6,  the  project  of  the  "  Rome  and 
Watertown  Rail-road"  began  to  be  gravely  agitated.  This  was  a  capi 
tal  idea  for  Mr.  Miner.  He  wanted  some  new  project  for  improvement 
— something  that  would  promise  enlargement  of  business.  Hence 
the  projected  rail-road  through  Camden  awakened  new  hopes,  inspired 
fresh  zeal,  and  his  ambition  was  enlisted  to  help  it  forward.  He  be 
lieved  it  would  open  new  avenues  of  trade  ;  develop  the  hitherto  hid 
den  resources  of  that  section,  and  not  only  open  a  market  for  the  farm 
ing  productions  of  the  country  farther  north,  but  also  bring  into  market 
the  vast  lumber  region  in  and  around  Camden.  He  had  also  confidence 
that  the  stock  of  the  road  would  pay  well,  and  he  gave  the  project  his 


Under  the  old  law. 


052  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

hearty  co-operation.  Numerous  meetings  in  regard  to  it  were  held, 
and  not  a  little  enthusiasm  was  enkindled.  Camden  had  heretofore 
-  been  so  excluded  from  the  great  improvements  of  the  day,  that  any 
thing  which  promised  good,  like  the  present  enterprise,  was  seized  on 
with  avidity.  Mr.  Miner  at  first  subscribed  to  the  stock  $5,000.  At 
a  subsequent  meeting  he  increased  his  subscription  to  $10,000,  on  con 
dition  that  other  citizens  of  Camden  and  vicinity  should  raise  the  sum 
to  $50,000.  A  committee  was  appointed  to  urge  on  the  subscription, 
which  went  up  to  $47.500.  Mr.  Miner  then  offered  to  take  one  quarter 
of  the  balance,  but  through  the  remissness  of  some,  and  on  account  of 
the  discouragements  occasioned  by  a  stringent  money-market,  the  sub 
scription  was  then  allowed  to  linger ;  and  finally  failed  altogether,  for 
want  of  the  stipulated  amount  necessary  to  make  it  binding. 

The  uncertainty  which  seemed  to  hang  over  the  prospects  of  this  en 
terprise  in  1846  and  '47  contributed  to  Mr.  Miner's  restlessness,  and  in 
June  of  '47  he  removed  his  family  to  the  city  of  Utica.  as  the  first  step 
towards  an  ultimate  change  of  business.  Another  and  perhaps  no  less 
efficient  cause  of  his  removal  at  that  time  was  a  desire  to  educate  his 
three  daughters,  then  approaching  the  age  which  required  all  the  ad 
vantages  that  parental  affection  could  afford  to  qualify  them  properly 
for  the  duties  of  subsequent  life. 

After  his  removal  to  Utica,  some  time  in  1848,  the  Eome  and  Water- 
town  Rail-road  was  undertaken  anew,  when  Mr.  Miner  took  $3000  of 
the  stock,  which  he  still  holds.  The  road  was  commenced  and  com 
pleted  in  1819-1851,  and  is  now  reckoned  among  the  best  paying  rail 
roads  in  the  country. 

While  his  family  were  residing  in  Utica,  Mr.  Miner  still  continued 
his  business  in  Camden  and  prosecuted  it  with  unabated  vigor  for  three 
years.  He  usually  went  to  the  city  on  Saturday  afternoon,  and  re 
turned  to  Camden  on  Monday  morning.  Commonly  he  went  from 
Camden  to  Rome  in  private  conveyance,  and  thence  to  Utica  by  rail 
road,  after  arriving  in  the  city  at  midnight,  and  again  leaving  at  the 
same  hour  in  the  night  following.  On  many  a  cold  winter's  night,  be 
tween  1  o'clock  and  early  dawn,  did  he  perform  the  trip  from  Rome  to 
Camden,  wrapped  up  in  his  cloak,  and  perched  upon  boxes  or  bales  of 
goods,  making  no  stop,  however  cold  or  stormy  it  might  be.  Nothing 
could  deter  him  from  attending  to  engagements  at  the  appointed  time. 
Neither  his  family  in  Utica  nor  his  business  in  Camden  could  be  ne 
glected.  All  were  cared  for,  and  none  but  himself  was  permitted  to 
feel  the  inconvenience  of  his  situation.  But  it  was  a  draft  upon  his 
strong  constitution  which  could  not  fail  of  its  effect — it  sensibly  impaired 
his  health. 

Early  in  the  autumn  of  1847,  the  "Fort  Stanwix  Bank"  at  Rome 
was  commenced  with  a  capital  of  $100,000.  Mr.  Miner  took  $5,000 
of  its  stock,  assisted  in  its  organization,  and  was  chosen  one  of  its  first 
directors.  This  was  his  introduction  to  the  business  of  banking.  Very 
soon  after  this  the  subject  of  a  Camden  bank  began  to  be  agitated. 
Judging  from  the  position  and  resources  of  Camden,  encompassed  by 
poor  farming  lands  and  rather  light  farmers,  having  few  capitalists  and 
comparatively  little  commercial  business,  Mr.  Miner  did  not  think  fa 
vorably  of  the  project  and  at  first  gave  it  no  encouragement.  But 


HIRAM  J.  MINER,  OP  NEW- YORK.  353 

others  viewed  the  matter  differently — were  sanguine  in  the  belief  that 
Camden  was  a  favorable  location  for  such  an  institution,  and  set  about 
its  establishment  by  getting  subscriptions  to  its  stock.  When  much 
effort  had  been  expended  in  raising  the  subscription,  Mr.  Miner,  from 
the  urgent  solicitation  of  its  friends,  at  length  took  stock  in  the  concern, 
and  at  its  organization  in  the  following  winter  was  unanimously  elected 
president.  He  had,  however,  from  the  first,  serious  doubts  about  the 
policy  of  connecting  himself  with  the  institution,  and  especially  as  one 
of  its  officers.  But  moved  solely  by  respect  to  the  feelings  of  his  fel 
low-townsmen,  he  accepted  the  distinguished  mark  of  confidence,  and 
entered  on  the  responsible  duties  of  president  of  the  bank.  The  next 
few  months  were  occupied  in  perfecting  its  arrangements,  and  in  May, 
1848,  "the  Camden  Bank"  commenced  business. 

The  beginning  of  this  year  was  made  memorable  to  Mr.  Miner  and- 
his  family,  as  a  period  of  deep  affliction.  Death  entered  again  the  little 
circle  of  children  and  wrested  two  more  from  the  arms  of  the  agonized 
parents.  On  his  accustomed  resort  to  Camden,  Mr.  Miner  had  left  his 
family  in  their  usual  health.  But  a  hurried  messenger  came  informing 
nim  that  Gertrude,  his  second  daughter,  was  sick.  He  hastened  home 
with  all  speed,  and  arrived  about  two  o'clock  in  the  night.  On  enter 
ing  the -door  he  was  told  that  the  doctor  had  given  her  up  as  past  re 
covery.  The  words  were  arrows  in  his  heart.  He  approached  her  bed 
and  impressed  a  kiss  upon  her  lips.  "  Now,"  said  she,'"  I  am  willing  to 
die — 1  have  seen  father  again."*  She  lingered  until  about  two  o'clock 
the  following  day,  when  with  calmness  and  perfect  clearness  of  mind 
she  expired. f 

This  stroke  of  Providence  was  severely  felt  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Miner, 
and  yet  they  had  hardly  recovered  from  the  first  shock  before  it  was 
repeated.  In  just  one  month  from  the  death  of  Gertrude,  Adeline,  the 
youngest  daughter,  was  attacked  with  the  same  disease  (ulcerated  sore 
throat)  and  died.  On  receiving  the  intelligence  of  her  sickness,  by 
messenger,  as  before,  Mr.  Miner  again  hastened  home,  and  the  next 
day  she  expired. J 


*  Previous  to  Mr.  Miner's  arrival,  her  mother  had  asked  her  if  she  was  willing  to 
die,  when  she  replied  "  Yes,  mother,  but  I  would  like  to  see  father  first,"  and  re 
quested  his  likeness  to  be  brought  to  her. 

t  About  an  hour  before  her  end  a  neighbor  was  conversing  with  her  about  death, 
when  she  requested  him  to  read  from  the  Sunday-school  book — "  Memoir  of  Nathan 
W.  Dickerman,"  by  Rev.  G.  D.  Abbctt.  He  inquired  what  part  she  would  have 
him  read.  She  said,  "  The  little  verses."  After  he  had  read  in  several  places,  she 
said,  "  That  is  not  it ;  let  me  find  it."  She  took  the  book  and  pointed  out  the  fol 
lowing  verse  to  be  read  : 

"Begone,  unbelief! 

My  Saviour  is  near ; 
And  for  my  relief, 

Will  surely  appear." 

In  less  than  an  hour  more  her  spirit  had  taken  its  happy  flight.    Her  remains  were 
conveyed  to  Camden  and  interred  beside  those  of  her  little  brothers. 

J  She  was  emphatically  her  mother's  child,  and  the  last  words  she  uttered  were 
to  inquire  after  her  mother.  When  she  was  past  seeing,  Mr.  Miner  said  to  her,  aa 
her  mother  entered  the  room,  "  Adeline,  mother  is  come."  Raising  her  little  hand 
as  if  to  feel,  she  replied,  "  Mother  !  is  she?  Where  is  she"?"  She  spoke  no  more. 
Her  remains  were  interred  by  the  side  of  the  other  three,  in  Camden  cemetery. 

23 


354  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

The  feelings  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Miner  on  this  trying  occasion  cannot 
oe  described.  Their  little  domestic  circle  was  dreadfully  broken. 
They  were  prostrate  in  the  dust.  This  was  enough.  They  saw  that 
they  had  greviously  departed  from  their  duty  as  Christians,  and  be 
lieved  they  saw  why  they  were  chastened.  They  felt  deeply  hum 
bled  under  the  hand  of  God,  and  were  brought  to  realize  in  an 
unusual  degree  how  uncertain  is  the  tenure  by  which  life  is  held,  and 
how  important  it  is  to  be  in  constant  readiness  for  the  last  account. 
They  justified  the  Lord  in  view  of  the  earthliness  of  their  affections, 
and  endeavored  to  secure  a  sanctified  improvement  of  what  he  had 
done.  Known  duties,  long  neglected,  were  now  resumed,  and  their 
thoughts  were  more  of  death  and  heaven,  as  they  saw  more  clearly  the 
vanity  of  a  life  spent  in  the  pursuit  of  baubles.  Mr.  Miner  then  re 
solved,  in  reliance  on  divine  grace,  that  he  would  never  go  back  into  the 
world  again  as  he  had  done;  and  that  he  would  give  more  and  do  more 
for  the  cause  of  religion  than  hitherto.  During  his  residence  in  Cam- 
den  he  had  never  removed  his  church  relation  from  Adams ;  but  now, 
as  soon  as  circumstances  would  permit,  he  procured  a  certificate  from 
the  church  in  Adams,  and  united  with  the  first  Presbyterian  church  in 
Utica.  And  from  that  time  forward,  he  affirms  to  the  writer,  property- 
has  had  little  or  no  attraction  for  him  other  than  as  the  means  of  ac 
complishing  honorable  business  purposes  and  doing  good. 

The  summer  of  1848  Mr.  Miner  devoted  chiefly  to  his  mercantile 
business  at  Camden,  appropriating,  however,  a  portion  of  his  time  to 
the  affairs  of  "  Camden  Bank."  He  met  with  the  board  of  directors 
weekly,  when  the  ordinary  business  was  usually  disposed  of.  But,  in 
presiding  over  a  board  of  fifteen  bank  directors,  he  soon  realized  the  re 
sponsibility  of  his  position,  and  thought  he  had  good  reason  for  wishing 
to  retire ;  yet,  for  the  time,  he  was  induced  to  remain  in  his  place  by 
the  apparently  urgent  solicitations  of  a  large  majority  of  the  board  and 
other  friends  of  the  bank,  who  assured  him  of  their  entire  confidence  in 
the  policy  he  proposed  to  pursue  in  its  affairs. 

But  during  the  winter  of  1848-9,  he  became  thoroughly  convinced  of 
the  folly  of  his  continuing  longer  in  the  board  without  a  radical  change, 
and  particularly  a  change  of  certain  of  its  officers.  Anything  aside  from 
the  perpendicular  in  matters  of  business  he  was  unwilling  to  counte 
nance  ;  and  where  his  confidence  in  character  had  been  once  destroyed 
it  could  not  again  be  restored,  nor  could  anything  less  than  entire  dis 
connection  in  business  with  a  distrusted  person  afford  him  a  feeling  of 
safety.  He  felt  that  both  his  pecuniary  interest  and  his  honor  in  busi 
ness  demanded  one  of  two  things,  viz.,  the  change  which  he  sought,  and 
which  he  believed  the  welfare  of  the  bank  required,  or  his  own  resigna 
tion  as  president,  and  total  separation  from  the  concern.  After  a  fair 
and  full  discussion  on  the  whole  subject,  there  was  one  vote  wanting  in 
the  board  to  sustain  Mr.  Miner's  position.  In  order,  therefore,  to  be 
self-consistent,  maintain  self  respect,  and  secure  his  own  safety  as  a  busi 
ness-man,  he  sold  his  stock  in  the  bank — $10,000 — at  ninety-five  cents 
on  the  dollar,  and  resigned  his  office. 

He  had  now  no  object  to  detain  him  longer  in  Camden,  except  to  ar 
range  his  mercantile  business,  so  that  he  could  leave  it.  He  therefore 
received  into  partnership  his  two  brothers,  Isaac  and  Heman,  the  former 


HIRAM  J.  MINER,  OF  NEW-YORK.  355 

of  whom  had  been  trading  in  Rome,  but  now  removed  his  goods  to 
•  Camden,  and  joined  the  firm.  This  left  Mr.  Miner  at  liberty,  and  at  once 
he  resolved  to  commence  an  individual  bank,  depending,  under  Provi 
dence,  upon  his  own  resources  and  skill  for  success.  But  his  retiring 
from  Camden  cost  him  the  sacrifice  of  much  feeling,  and  the  sundering 
of  many  ties.  He  had  been  long  engaged  in  business  there,  made  all 
his  property  there,  and  formed  many  strong  attachments  there.  The 
community  had  become  endeared  to  him  by  unnumbered  associations ; 
they  had  ever  treated  him  and  his  family  with  great  kindness  and  con 
sideration,  and  he  could  not  leave  them  but  with  many  regrets  ;  but  his 
judgment  taught  him  that  he  had  better  go,  and  he  bade  Camden  an  af 
fectionate  adieu. 

Immediately  he  began  his  arrangements  for  a  bank  on  his  own  re 
sponsibility.  His  resources  were  collected  and  prepared  during  the 
summer  and  autumn.  In  the  course  of  the  following  winter  his  stock 
was  purchased,  and  all  his  arrangements  completed,  and  in  March,  1850, 
he  commenced  the  business  of  banking  in  Utica. 

Utica  was  an  unfavorable  point  for  an  individual  bank.  He  had 
there  to  compete  with  numerous  and  well-regulated  banks  of  large  capi 
tal  and  long  standing.  He  soon  saw  that,  to  make  it  profitable,  he  must 
either  go  into  an  association  and  increase  the  capital,  or  he  must  seek  a 
new  and  unoccupied  location.  Many  strong  considerations  urged  him  to 
the  former  course.  He  had  spent  about  thirty  years  of  his  life  in 
Oneida  county.  Here  were  the  birthplace  and  the  graves  of  his  chil 
dren — here,  also,  the  graves  of  his  parents  and  other  friends,  and  long 
had  he  cherished  the  hope  that  here  he  might  spend  the  residue  of  his 
life,  and  be  laid  at  last  by  the  side  of  those  whom  he  loved.  But  to  re 
main  in  Utica,  and  form  an  associated  institution,  would  be  to  abandon 
the  governing  principle  of  his  whole  business-life,  viz.,  to  act  for  himself 
untrammeled,  and  guided  by  his  own  views  and  judgment,  irrespective 
of,  and,  if  occasion  required,  in  opposition  to,  the  views  and  opinions  of 
others.  He  could  not  entertain  the  thought  of  such  a  change.  Every 
other  consideration  must  yield  to  his  fixed  purpose  of  individual  bank 
ing.  Accordingly,  after  examining  other  parts  of  the  state,  he  directed 
his  way  to  Chautauque  county,  and  visited  Fredonia.  Here  he  was  in 
terested.  Its  central  position  in  the  lake  border  of  the  county — its 
proximity  to  Dunkirk,*  the  terminus  of  the  New- York  and  Erie  Rail 
road — its  rich  farming  lands,  equal  to  any  in  the  state — its  merchants  of 
the  best  class — its  enterprise  and  stability  apparent  at  a  glance,  toge 
ther  with  its  salubrity  and  exceeding  beauty — all  marked  Fredonia  as  a 
desirable  place  for  an  individual  bank,  and  Mr.  Miner  fixed  upon  it. 

Having  now  chosen  his  location,  he  returned  to  Utica,  and  informed 
his  family  of  the  place  selected  for  their  new  home.  Immediately  the 
trunks  were  packed  and  the  baggage  made  ready,  and  the  next  day  his 
house  was  closed,  with  the  furniture  all  in  its  place,  when,  with  his  family, 
he  stepped  on  board  the  cars,  and  was  off  for  the  West.  They  arrived 
in  Fredonia,  June  25,  and  took  rooms  at  the  "  Johnson  House"  for  some 
three  months,  until  their  furniture  could  be  got  up  from  Utica,  and  pre- 


Three  miles. 


356  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

parations  be  made  for  keeping  house.  After  a  few  days  of  necessary 
delay,  "  H.  J.  Miner's  Bank  of  Utica"  was  opened  for  business  in  Fre-' 
donia,  July  4,  1850. 

Mr.  Miner  commenced  his  banking  operations  in  Fredonia  without 
an  acting  cashier ;  but,  to  supply  the  deficiency,  he  requested  the  busi 
ness-men  of  the  place  to  make  choice  of  some  respectable  gentleman  to 
sign  his  bills  as  cashier,  when  an  election  took  place,  and  the  choice  fell 
on  Hon.  John  Crane,  who  signed  the  new  bills  up  to  January,  1852. 
At  this  time,  Mr.  James  H.  Madison,  four  years  teller  in  the  "  Bank  of 
Silver  Creek,"  was  employed,  and  entered  on  the  duties  of  acting  cashier. 

When  he  commenced  at  Fredonia,  Mr.  Miner  knew  but  little  of  the 
internal  business  of  a  bank,  its  correspondence,  and  especially  the  modes 
of  keeping  books.  He  was  also  an  entire  stranger  in  the  town,  and  but 
very  little  known  in  the  county.  But  he  knew  how  to  work.  He  had 
been  accustomed  to  act  long  and  untiringly  in  a  straightforward  mercan 
tile  course,  and  he  believed  that  all  which  was  necessary  was  to  apply 
the  same  common-sense  practical  talent  to  the  banking  business,  and 
success  must  crown  the  effort. 

During  the  first  year  and  a  half  in  this  place  he  employed  very  little 
help,  preferring  to  attend  personally  to  the  various  duties  of  the  bank, 
so  as  to  learn  exactly  its  wants,  and  familiarize  himself  with  its  detail 
processes ;  in  a  word,  he  determined  to  understand  his  business,  and 
therefore  compelled  himself  to  perform  it  in  person.  But  it  required  a 
prodigious  amount  of  effort.  He  was  obliged  to  apply  himself  closely 
to  labor  not  less  than  sixteen  hours  on  a  daily  average  in  order  to  keep 
up.  None  but  an  iron-like  constitution  could  have  sustained  such  a 
draft  upon  body  and  mind  for  so  long  a  time  ;  but  he  went  on  without 
giving  much,  if  any,  outward  manifestation  of  unusual  toil. 

His  commencement  of  banking  in  some  respects  differed  from,  and 
in  others  much  resembled,  his  commencement  in  merchandise.  In  respect 
to  preparatory  training  it  differed  totally.  His  mercantile  career  was 
introduced  by  a  long  clerkship.  In  his  banking  he  stepped  directly  from 
behind  the  merchant's  counter  to  the  cashier's  desk,  having  no  other  ac 
quaintance  with  the  duties  required  than  any  bank  director  may  acquire, 
which,  for  practical  purposes,  is  really  nothing  at  all ;  but  in  other  re 
spects  there  is  a  striking  analogy.  As  in  merchandise  he  took  his  stand 
among  strangers,  so  in  banking.  His  first  mercantile  operations  were 
light,  and  conducted  with  much  caution.  The  same  was  true  in  his 
banking.  In  the  former  case  he  commenced  without  a  clerk,  so  in  the 
latter.  His  mercantile  business  steadily  advanced  until  it  comprised 
an  extensive  trade  :  the  same  is  true  in  the  commencement,  and  is  likely 
to  be  true  in  the  issue,  of  his  banking.  His  progress  was  at  first  gra 
dual,  but  he  advanced,  step  by  step,  with  an  increase  of  business 
almost  daily  perceptible,  until  now,  after  the  short  period  of  less 
than  two  and  a  half  years,  his  business  extends  across  the  Atlantic,  and 
equals  in  discounts  and  deposits  that  of  most  of  the  associated  banks  of 
$100,000  capital.  As  in  his  mercantile  career  he  laid  aside  antiquated  and 
cumbrous  forms,  and  led  off  in  an  unbeaten  track,  so  in  his  banking. 
Having  no  previous  acquaintance  with  the  modus  operandi  of  the  busi 
ness,  but  guided  by  his  practical  common  sense,  he  arranges  his  books 
and  accounts  in  the  simplest  manner,  and  aims  to  arrive  at  his  point  in 


HIRAM  J.  MINER,  OF  NEW-YORK.  357 

the  shortest  possible  way.  Thus  he  studies  the  convenience  of  both 
himself  and  his  customer,  regardless  of  old  forms,  which  serve  only  to 
embarrass  action,  multiply  clerks,  mistify  outsiders,  and  hinder  pro 
gress, 

Mr.  Miner  has  entered  on  his  banking  career  with  an  apparent  deter 
mination  to  strip  the  business,  as  far  as  possible,  of  all  mystery  in  the 
eyes  of  the  people,  to  resist  and  subdue,  at  least  in  himself,  its  aristo 
cratic  tendencies,  and  make  it  as  unembarrassing  for  the  most  simple 
and  rustic  person  to  approach  the  cashier's  counter  for  business  as  the 
counter  of  a  country  merchant.  That  crabbed  taciturnity  which  is  some 
times  met  with  in  other  banks,  and  which  is  always  so  disgusting  to  men 
of  sense,  finds  no  place  in  the  institution  of  Mr.  Miner.  He  is  always 
kind  and  complaisant,  whether  he  is  able  to  accommodate  you  or  not, 
and  seems  to  feel,  when  called  on  for  business,  that  he  is  rather  the 
obliged  than  the  obliging  party.  His  property  does  not  appear  to  have 
inflated  him  at  all,  but  he  seems  the  same  modest  and  accessible  person 
as  when,  on  the  6th  of  May,  1830,  he  opened  his  little  store  in  the  end 
of  good  Dea.  Upson's  tin-shop,  with  a  capital  of  $270,  all  told ;  and 
when  he  discounts  your  note  it  is  with  the  same  affable  grace  as  when 
he  pocketed  the  net  profit  of  eight  cents  on  the  first  article  purchased 
from  his  store — a  copy  of  the  New  Testament — sold  for  twenty-five 
cents,  cash  in  hand.  In  keeping  with  this  characteristic  complaisance, 
he  has  especially  desired  the  writer  to  speak  of  his  sense  of  obligation  to 
the  citizens  of  Fredonia,  and  especially  to  the  merchants  and  other  busi 
ness-men,  for  their  early  confidence,  manifested  by  deposits  and  other 
wise.  And  not  only  in  the  bank,  but  every  where  in  social  life,  his  bland 
and  gentlemanly  bearing  has  won  for  him  the  respect  and  esteem  of  this 
community;  while  the  writer,  as  his  pastor,  takes  pleasure  in  attesting 
the  high  regard  in  which  he  is  held  by  the  religious  society  and  church 
of  which  he  is  here  a  member. 

In  conclusion,  it  may  be  instructive  to  inquire,  What  are  the  elements 
in  Mr.  Miner's  character  to  which,  under  Providence,  must  be  attributed  his 
eminent  success  as  a  business  man?  The  writer  has  held  extensive  cor 
respondence  with  persons  who  have  known  him  long  and  intimately ; 
and  from  their  letters  may  readily  be  gathered  a  satisfactory  answer  to 
this  inquiry. 

Starr  Clark,  Esq.,  with  whom  his  longest  clerkship  was  served,  says 
of  him :  "  As  a  clerk  in  my  store,  his  moral  character,  so  far  as  I  knew, 
was  good.  He  was  an  attentive  and  good  clerk,  honest  and  upright; 
and  one  who  attended  to  his  own  business." 

Mr.  William  Doxtater,  of  the*former  firm  of  "  Doxtater  and  Burch," 
speaks  as  follows :  "  I  always  esteemed  him  an  honest,  faithful  young 
man,  and  remarkably  trustworthy.  He  was  likewise  uncommonly 
active,  mild,  ambitious,  and  persevering  as  a  salesman  ;  and  seemed  as 
anxious  to  promote  the  interest  of  his  employer  as  his  own,  which  I  con 
sider  one  of  the  most  prominent  traits  in  his  character."  Mr.  Thomas 
Burch,  the  other  partner,  writes  in  a  corresponding  strain. 

Dr.  Horatio  G.  Tarbert,  of  Camden,  says:  "  Mr.  Miner  commenced 
business  something  more  than  twenty  years  ago  in  this  place,  and  was, 
I  believe,  a  poor  boy.  His  motto  was,  '  ready  pay;'  and  by  his  un 
tiring  industry  and  indomitable  perseverance,  soon  established  the 


358  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

character  of  a  successful  merchant,  and  monopolized  the  trade.  He  was 
always  very  active,  esteemed  a  useful  citizen,  and  wielded  an  extensive 
influence." 

Mr.  II.  Brown,  of  Camden,  writes  as  follows :  "  When  Mr.  Miner 
commenced  business  here,  in  the  spring  of  1830,  there  were  but  two  or 
three  merchants  in  the  place,  which  was  then  quite  new;  and  they  were 
selling  goods  very  high.  Mr.  Miner  put  them  down  to  Utica  prices, 
and  soon  drew  the  largest  part  of  the  trade.  I  never  heard  any  one  say 
but  that  he  dealt  fairly  and  honestly.  I  have  dealt  with  him,  I  think  I 
may  say,  thousands  of  dollars,  and  I  never  thought  he  was  dishonest 
with  me.  He  was  quite  a  public  spirited  man,  did  much  in  building 
up  this  place,  and  was  very  liberal  with  the  religious  societies." 

Mr.  E.  S.  Dunbar,  of  Camden,  says :  "  Mr.  Miner  was,  we  may 
say,  almost  the  founder  of  our  now  flourishing  village  ; — a  man  of  strict 
integrity — honest  and  upright  in  all  his  deal ;  and  for  energy  and  enter 
prise  not  often  equaled.  He  was  possessed  of  uncommon  business  tal 
ent  ;  a  financier ;  and  a  benevolent  and  much  respected  citizen.  His 
departure  from  Camden  was  much  regretted  at  the  time,  and  has  been 
more  deeply  felt  since." 

Mr.  E.  'Rockwell,  one  of  the  directors  of  "  The  Camden  Bank," 
writes :  "  Mr.  Miner  was  a  merchant  of  this  village  about  twenty 
years,  commencing  without  much  capital  or  the  aid  of  wealthy  friends. 
But,  by  his  own  energy,  stability,  and  close  application  to  business,  he 
succeeded  in  every  undertaking ;  and  at  the  same  time  while  he 
was  making  a  fortune,  he  was  gaining  a  character  for  strict  integrity. 
Although  a  rapid  advance  of  fortune  sometimes  creates  envy,  his  integ 
rity  was  admitted  by  all.  Nor  was  he  destitute  of  public  spirit.  To 
all  improvements  of  the  place  which  he  approved,  he  gave  liberally.  I 
have  often  heard  him  referred  to,  to  prove  that  it  is  no  great  misfortune 
to  begin  the  world  poor." 

Judge  T.  D.  Penfield,  of  Camden,  says :  "  As  far  as  I  am  acquaint 
ed,  his  habits  and  moral  character  were  good ;  and  his  charities  and  con 
tributions  to  benevolent  institutions  and  the  poor  were  quite  abundant. 
But  he  was  more  particularly  noted  for  his  business  and  financial  traits 
of  character.  Few  men  apply  themselves  with  greater  diligence  and 
perseverance  than  did  Mr.  Miner,  and  few  are  rewarded  with  more 
abundant  success." 

Hon.  Israel  Stoddard,  of  Camden,  says:  "I  have  known  Hiram  J. 
Miner  over  twenty  years.  He  is  a  self-made  man.  He  came  to  this 
place  about  twenty-two  years  ago  poor,  and  commenced  a  cash  store. 
It  was  looked  upon  as  'no  go  ;'  since  a  store  of  that  kind  was  unheard 
of  in  this  region.  But  his  energy  and  decision  of  character  overcame 
every  obstacle.  Go-ahead-ativeness  seemed  stamped  on  all  his  under 
takings.  He  was  sure  to  succeed.  His  business  was  never  neglected. 
He  was  prompt  in  all  his  engagements ;  of  quick  decision,  and  great 
firmness.  I  have  done  much  business  with  him,  and  his  honesty  in  deal 
was  unquestionable.  I  consider  him  a  man  who  feels  for  the  poor.  He 
has  done  much  to  build  up  this  place ;  yes,  I  may  say,  as  much  as  all 
others  combined.  We  feel  his  loss,  and  it  is  a  great  one ;  but  what  is 
our  loss  is  Fredonia's  gain.  Yes,  I  know  him  well.  His  untiring  in 
dustry,  kind  words,  and  marked  attention  to  customers,  would  attract 


HIRAM  J.  MINER,  OF  NEW-YORK.  359 

your  notice  at  once,  and  interest  you  in  his  favor.  He  has  left  in  this 
place  many  warm  friends  who  regret  his  departure  from  his  old  home 
and  birthplace  of  business." 

Mr.  James  Dutton,  at  present,  and  for  many  years,  a  very  respect 
able  merchant  of  Utica,  writes  as  follows :  "  Yours  of  the  30th  ultimo, 
requesting  my  views  and  opinion  respecting  the  character  of  Hiram  J. 
Miner,  1  have  but  just  received.  Although  it  is  some  eighteen  or  twenty 
years  since  1  first  became  acquainted  with  Mr.  Miner,  still  I  must  say 
that  I  have  known  him  only  as  a  business  man.  In  all  my  commercial 
transactions  with  him,  which  in  former  years  have  been  of  no  inconsider 
able  amount,  he  has  ever  seemed  to  be  governed  by  the  rules  of  strict 
honor  and  the  most  rigid  integrity.  From  what  I  know  of  his  habits,  I 
should  not  attribute  his  success  in  business  to  what  is  usually  termed 
Muck;'  but  rather  to  his  great  energy,  and  untiring  perseverance.  His 
mental  constitution  is  of  a  turn  essentially  utilitarian.  Hence  his  con 
versation  and  inquiries,  when  allowed  to  take  their  natural  or  habitual 
direction,  were  uniformly  on  topics  immediately  connected  with  busi 
ness.  Possessing  a  brain-power  apparently  nowise  superior  to  that  of 
others  less  distinguished  in  business,  he  seems  to  have  been  able,  by  a 
concentration  of  that  power,  to  render  his  will  almost  omnipotent;  and 
to  have  been  able  to  bring  to  bear  upon  a  single  point,  with  effect,  only 
such  an  amount  of  power  as  is  often  expended  by  others  without  effect, 
when  applied  to  a  number  of  objects.  To  will  with  him  was  synony 
mous  with  to  do.  Convinced,  in  the  management  of  his  store,  of  the 
propriety  of  keeping  an  unbroken  assortment  of  merchandise,  his  list  was 
almost  always  kept  full.  When  goods  were  wanted,  and  could  be  ob 
tained,  they  were  had,  whether  they  could,  at  that  particular  time,  be 
obtained  at  remunerating  prices  or  not." 

We  will  detain  the  reader  with  but  one  more  communication,  which 
is  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  A.  W.  Ransom,  a  retired  merchant,  now  of  Cam- 
den.  Mr.  Ransom  says:  "Your  favor  of  the  30th  ultimo,  asking  rny 
views  of  the  character  of  our  old  and  respected  townsman,  Hiram  3. 
Miner,,  has  been  received.  He  has  been  connected  closely  with  the  rise 
and  progress  of  our  village,  and  his  energy  and  thrift  constitute  one  of 
its  prominent  landmarks.  To  one  gifted  in  the  analysis  of  character, 
his  would  form  a  fruitful  and  interesting  theme.  His  career  with  us 
marked  from  the  commencement  an  original  and  self-reliant  mind  He 
first  became  known  to  the  inhabitants  of  Camden  as  '  the  cash  trader  in 
the  little  yellow  store.'  He  started  as  the  enemy  of  the  book -credit 
system,  which  was  encouraged  among  the  merchants  of  this  then  out 
post  of  civilization.  He  found  the  small  traders  here  selling  goods  on 
a  scale  of  profits  that  would  astonish  the  importer ;  and  readily  saw 
that,  by  selling  at  a  fair  price,  people  would  purchase  of  him  for  cash;, 
and  while  he  was  counting  his  gain  in  hard  coin,  his  neighbors  had  only 
the  pleasure  of  inventorying  their  notes  and  accounts.  His  capital  soon 
grew  from  a  few  hundreds  to  as  many  thousands  ;  and  customers  and 
cash  seemed  to  roll  in  upon  him  to  his  heart's  content.  He  was  able, 
like  all  successful  business  men,  to  read  a  customer — his  wants,  capaci 
ties,  arid  idiosyncracies — at  the  first  glance.  Consequently,  he  had  pre 
cisely  what  a  customer  wanted,  and  at  just  the  price  desired.  The  word 
'can't'  was  not  retained  in  his  vocabulary.  Nothing  was  impossible 


360  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

within  the  reach  of  human  effort.  His  plans  were  to  be  executed,  any 
body's  opinion  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding.  He  was  public- 
spirited  and  liberal  in  all  schemes  for  the  improvement  of  the  village; 
yet  he  often  disregarded  others,  and  set  public  opinion  at  defiance. 
The  energy  with  which  he  pursued  an  object  commonly  resulted  in  dis 
couraging  all  opposition,  and  he  was  left  master  of  the  field.  This 
remarkable  energy  and  positiveness  of  character,  together  with  his 
master  policy,  was  the  secret  of  his  success.  No  one  doubted  that  a 
man  who  had  shown  himself  so  admirable  a  financier  as  a  merchant 
must  be  successful  as  a  banker.  This  latter  career  he  has  but  just  entered 
upon  ;  and  his  friends  have  the  fullest  confidence  that  his  success  in  this 
will  be  no  less  marked  and  decided." 

The  above  are  but  a  few  of  the  many  communications  of  a  similar 
character  which  have  been  received  from  Camden  and  other  places. 
But  these  are  sufficient  for  our  purpose;  and  will  throw  important 
light  upon  the  minds  of  young  men,  respecting  the  elements  of  charac 
ter  and  principles  of  action  which  have  formed  the  basis  and  support  of 
Mr.  Miner's  brilliant  business  career. 

In  view  of  these  testimonials  and  of  the  facts  presented  in  the  preced 
ing  narrative,  the  following  characteristics  are  deemed  especially  worthy 
of  being  commended  to  the  consideration  of  youth. 

1.  Decided  purpose.     Mr.  Miner  has  always  had  an  object  in  view, 
and  a  decided  purpose  to  attain  it.     There  are  those  who  seem  to  have 
no  very  definite  aim  or  purpose  in  regard  to  any  thing.     They  just 
give  themselves  up  to  the  influence  of  circumstances  as  they  may  chance 
to  arise,  without  any  decided  attempt  to  control  and  order  circum 
stances.     Such  persons  never  became  truly  MEN.     Mr.  Miner,  when 
eight  years  old,  said,  "  1  will  be  a  merchant."     Here  was  a  decided 
purpose  ;  and  all  his  after-life  has  been  regulated  by  definite  design. 

2.  Steadiness  of  purpose.     He  never  could   have  attained  his  pre 
sent  position  with  shitting  aims.      Stability  of  design — adherence  to 
settled  plans — has  marked  all  his  career,  and  constituted  an  important 
element  in  the  foundation  of  his  prosperity. 

3.  Industry.     From  his  earliest  youth  he  has  always  been  active ; 
and  when  he  could  not  obtain  the  employment  he  desired,  he  would  en 
gage  in  the  best  he  could  get.     He  would  not  be  idle.     Idleness  is  fatal  to 
eminence  in  every  thing  honorable  and  good.     This  is  the  experience 
of  the  whole  world.     He  who  hopes  to  acquire  wealth  or  honorable  dis 
tinction  among  men,  without  unabating  industry,  had  better  emigrate 
to  the  land  of  dreams. 

4.  Patience.     Mr.  Miner  would  not  be  discouraged  where  there  was 
a  possible  ground  for  hope.     How  long  was  he  delayed  in  obtaining  a 
clerkship !     How  slow  his  progress  to  the  head  of  a  mercantile  estab 
lishment  !     In  what  unpromising  circumstances  did  he  commence  his 
independent  business  operations  !     But  in  all  the  tedious  path  his  hope 
never  forsook  him.     He  pressed  on,  and  would  not  be  disheartened. 
Nor  did  he  allow  himself  to  fret  and  complain  because  his  ends  were 
not  more  speedily  attained.     Calmly,  patiently,  he  applied  his  industry, 
until  Providence  was  pleased  to  grant  his  desire. 

5.  Energy  and  perseverance.     One  of  the  main-springs  of  his  prosper 
ity  is  found  in  his  unconquerable  energy — his  determination  to  succeed 


HIRAM  J.  MINER,  OF  NEW-YORK.  361 

in  all  he  undertakes.  He  says  of  himself,  "  The  expression  '  Can't  do 
it'  I  never  could  find  use  for.  To  do  it  is  all  I  know;  and  until  it  is  ac 
complished,  I  cease  not  to  strive." 

6.  Carefulness.     Multitudes  fail  of  success  because  they  will  not  give 
themselves  the  trouble  to  maintain  a  watchful  attention  to  their  own 
affairs,  or  to  the  affairs  of  others  with  which  they  may  be  charged. 
They  are  heedless  of  consequences  liable  to  result  from  inattention  to 
little  things ;  and  hence  they  are  continually  met  by  unlooked-for  losses, 
perplexities  and  disasters.     Mr.  Miner,  though  quick  in  decision,  and 
energetic  and  persevering  in  action,  is  never  unmindful  of  little  facts 
and  circumstances — little  interests  and  dangers  which,  as  in  the  case  of 
every  one,  continually  surround   him,  and  lie  strewed  along  his  path. 
To  all  these  he  is  wakeful  and  attentive.     Hence  he  seldom  suffers  any 
thing  from  oversight,  or  is  baffled  by  mishaps  and  vexations  which 
worry  and  defeat  the  careless. 

7.  Neatness  and  order.     Both  in  his  clerkship,  and  in  the  manage- 
ment  of  his  own  store,  he  would  suffer  no  needless  filth  or  rubbish  to 
defile  or  encumber  the  area  of  his  charge.     Everything  must  wear  a 
look  of  cleanliness,  convenience  and  comfort.     He  would  have  "  a  place 
for  everything,"  and  "  everything  [must  be]  in  its  place."     Thus  were 
his  premises  made  attractive  to  customers,  and  facile  for  his  own  pro 
ceedings. 

8.  Faithfulness.      In  his  youth  his  employers  found  him  reliable, 
and  learned  to  confide  in  him.     The  remark  of  Mr.  Doxtater  is  in  point, 
"He  seemed  as  anxious  to  promote  the  interest  of  his  employer  as  his 
own."     In  all  his  coarse,  when  an  engagement  had  been  made  it  must 
be  met,  and  at  the  appointed  time.     No  regard  to  his  own  ease  or  con 
venience  must  be  allowed  to  prevent.     Promptness  and  punctuality — 
faithfulness  to  trust,  have  inspired  public  confidence,  and  thus  given  him 
advantage. 

9.  Honesty  and  integrity.     The  tricks  of  trade  by  which  the  sim 
ple  are  overreached,   and  the  ignorant  defrauded,  he  has  religiously 
abjured  from  the  first.     Frankness,  openness  and  honesty  have  been 
among  the  most  strongly-marked  traits  in  his  character.     His  word 
could  be  relied  on ;  and  customers  soon  learned  that  they  could  deal 
with  him  in  any  circumstances  without  danger  of  being  cheated. 

10.  Zeal  for  knowledge,  and  especially  practical  knowledge.     See  it 
in  all  his  course,  from  the  moment  when,  at  six  years  of  age,  standing 
Before  his  provoked  and  reproving  school-mistress,  he  said  to  himself,  "I 
will  do  better."    See  it  in  his  eager  desire  for  schooling  when  a  lad  in  his 
teens.     See  it  in  his  clerkship — the  chief  object  sought  in  nearly  or 
quite  every  change  of  employers.     See  it  in  the  commencement  of  his 
banking  operations.     Useful  knowledge — knowledge  capable  of  being 
turned  to  practical  account — he  has  been  continually  reaching  after.     In 
this  way  he  becomes  master  of  his  business,  and  is  enabled  to  succeed 
where  other  men  would  fail. 

11.  Modesty.      He  never  disgusts  you  with  egotism  or  boasting. 
He  never  takes  on  airs  of  pomp  or  magisterial  dignity.     He  never 
offends  by  officiously  obtruding  his  counsel  or  service,  nor  by  thrust- 
ing  himself  forward  where   he  does  not  belong.     His  simplicity  and 
modesty  have  done  much  to  win  for  him  favor  and  success.  . 


362  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

12.  Kindness  and  generosity.      In  the  language  of  Mr.  Stoddard, 
"His  kind  words  and  marked  attention  to  customers  would  attract 
your  notice  at  once,  and  interest  you  in  his  favor."     His  sympathy  for 
the  poor  has  made  him  many  friends.     His  considerate  regard  to  their 
feelings  and  their  welfare  has  embalmed  his  memory  in  many  hearts. 
Whatever  may  be  his  zeal  to  acquire  or  retain  wealth,  he  will  not  be 
mean  for  the  sake  of  money.     Service  rendered  him  is  sure  to  meet 
a  liberal  reward.     And  public  interests  do  not  appeal  to  him  in  vain,  as 
the  numerous  testimonials  from  Camden  show.     All  this  reacts  upon 
liis  own  interests  in  a  thousand  favorable  forms,  and  becomes  to  him  an 
important  source  of  prosperity. 

13.  Catholicity  in  religion.     He  is  an  honest  and  decided  Presbyte 
rian,  but  lays  no  claim  to  infallibility  in  faith  or  practice.     The  rights 
of  conscience  he  freely  accords  to  every  man  ;  and  finds  no  difficulty  in 
discovering  much  of  good  in  religious  communities  differing  in  some 
important  respects  from  his  own.     Hence,  religious  or  sectarian  preju 
dices  which  might  otherwise  be  arrayed  against  him  are  happily  avoided, 
or  enlisted  in  his  favor. 

14.  Mildness  in  politics.     His  democratic  principles  are,  and  have 
always  been,  unwavering.     But  the  same  spirit  of  gentleness  and  tole 
ration  towards  those  who  differ  with  him  which  marks  his  religious  ac 
tion  also  characterizes  his  politics.     Among  his  warmest  personal  friends 
are  not  a  few  of  opposite  political  views  from  himself. 

15.  Freedom  from  office-seeking .     His  own  words  are,  '  I  could  never 
discover  any  charm  in  office-seeking  or  office-holding.     In  the  station  of 
a  private  citizen  I  could  see  freedom  of  thought  and  opinion ;   but  in 
office-seeking    and   office-holding   only  double-dealing,  deception,  bit 
terness,  anxiety,  defeat,  and  at  last  poverty,  and  perhaps  dishonor" 

16.  Independence.     Mr.  Miner  has  always  been  accustomed  to  think 
for  himself;  and,  since  his  majority,  to  act  for  himself.     Though  he 
listens  respectfully  to  the  opinions,  and  notes  carefully  the  practices  of 
others,  yet  he  fearlessly  thinks,  speaks  and  acts  agreeably  to  his  own 
convictions,  whoever  may  object,  or  whatever  may  oppose.     In  making 
up  his  mind  on  a  given  subject,  he  never  waits  to  learn  first  what  others 
think,  or  how  others  will  act ;  but,  from  his  own  stand  point,  views  the 
matter  in  the  clearest  light  he  can  get,  and  then  decides,  without  regard 
to  anybody  else. 

17.  Humility,  or  freedom  from  an  aristocratic  spirit.      He  never 
solicits  especially  the  favor  of  the  rich,  nor  despises  the  condition  of  the 
poor.     The  acquisition  of  wealth  does  not  appear  to  have  changed  his 
sympathies  or  affinities  at  all.     He  seems  to  meet  the  poorest  laborer 
as  on  a  level ;  while,  in  the  presence  of  the  wealthy  and  the  great,  he 
acknowledges  frequent  embarrassment.     This  accessibleness,  or  dispo 
sition  to  fraternize  with  the  mass  of  the  people,  procures  him  general 
favor,  and  makes  him  a  peculiarly  popular  business-man.     Of  course  it 
multiplies  his  business  and  increases  his  prosperity. 

18.  Aspiring  after  progress.     It  does  not  seem  to  be  so  much  a 
reaching  after  some  definite  point  or  object  which  he  sees  above  or  be 
yond  him,  and  which,  for  the  time  being,  is  the  ultimatum  of  his  desire, 
but  when  attained,  is  succeeded  by  another  equally  attractive — it  does 
not  seem  to  be  with  him  so  much  this  common  characteristic  of  human 


HORACE  P.  BIDDLE,  OF  INDIANA.  363 

nature,  as  an  insatiable  desire  to  progress  for  the  sake  of  progression. 
He  strives  to  advance  because  he  craves  advancement.  His  motto  em 
phatically  is  "  Excelsior."  It  matters  not  what  eminence  he  may  reach 
in  any  respect,  he  struggles  continually  to  go  higher.  This  undying 
zeal  to  improve,  ascend,  progress,  combined  with  his  other  characteris 
tics,  as  developed  above,  has  raised  him  from  the  lowest  point  of  pov 
erty  and  obscurity  to  the  honorable  and  affluent  position  \vhich  he  now 
occupies,  and  bids  fair  to  advance  him  onward  and  upward  while  his 
faculties  remain. 


HON.  HORACE  P.  BIDDLE, 

OF  LOGANSPORT,  INDIANA, 

Is  the  youngest  of  nine  children,  whose  father  removed  to  Marietta,  in 
1789,  under  the  auspices  of  General  Putnam.  He  resided  on  the  Mus- 
kingum  River,  sharing  the  hardships  and  vicissitudes  incident  to  a  new 
country  and  Indian  warfare,  until  1802,  when  he  moved  to  the  valley 
of  the  Hockhocking,  in  Fail-field  county.  Our  subject,  after  reading  law 
with  H.  H.  Hunter,  Esq.,  of  Lancaster,  was  admitted  to  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Ohio,  at  Cincinnati,  in  April,  1839,  and  spent  the  summer  of 
that  year  on  the  circuit  of  Fail-field,  Pickaway,  Perry,  Licking  and 
Franklin  counties.  In  October  of  the  same  year  he  settled  in  Logans- 
port.  Indiana,  where  he  has  ever  since  resided. 

In  1844,  he  was  placed  as  a  candidate  on  the  electoral  ticket,  and 
advocated  the  election  of  Henry  Clay  to  the  presidency.  The  canvass 
was  a  heated  and  severe  one,  and  resulted,  in  the  district,  in  a  majority 
of  two  hundred  and  sixty-three  for  Mr.  Clay,  since  which  time  it  has 
always  been  carried  by  the  other  party. 

In  1845,  he  stood  a  poll  for  representative  to  the  legislature,  and  was 
beaten.  His  opponent  was  an  old  citizen  and  a  very  wealthy  man. 
His  wealth  gave  him  the  "sinews  of  war,"  which  Mr.  Biddle  could  not 
command.  The  canvass  has  ever  since  been,  and  was  then  called  the 
"conflict  of  talent  and  wealth." 

In  December,  1846,  Mr.  Biddle  was  elected  president  judge  of  the 
eighth  judicial  circuit  over  a  powerful  opposition.  The  patronage  of 
nominating  the  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  held  then  by  the  governor, 
(the  late  James  Whitcomb,)  was  brought  to  bear  directly  on  his  elec 
tion.  It  was  understood  that  if  Mr.  Biddle's  opponent  succeeded,  the 
governor  would  nominate  Judge  Dewey  on  the  Supreme  Bench,  one  of 
the  ablest  men  in  the  state,  whom  many  desired  to  be  the  judge;  but 
if  Mr.  Biddle  succeeded,  that  he  would  nominate  one  of  his  own  parti 
sans.  This  of  course  arrayed  Judge  Dewey  and  his  friends  against  Mr. 
Biddle's  election.  The  parties  stood  a  tie  on  joint  ballot,  the  method 
then  of  electing  president  judges. 


364  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

He  has  now  presided  over  the  largest  circuit  in  the  state  nearly  six 
years,  and  but  three  of  his  opinions  have  been  reversed  by  the  Supreme 
Court. 

In  the  spring  of  1850,  he  was  solicited  to  become  the  senatorial  can 
didate  for  the  convention  to  revise  and  amend  the  constitution  of  Indi 
ana  :  very  reluctantly  he  consented  and  was  elected  by  over  two  hun 
dred  majority,  although  the  politics  of  the  district  were  decidedly  against 
him.  His  course  in  that  body  may  be  found  in  the  published  journals 
and  debates. 

Mr.  Biddle  is  not  unknown  to  the  literary  world  as  an  author  and 
poet  of  considerable  talent. 


HON.   ZENON    LABAUVE, 

OF  PLAQUEMINE,  LOUISIANA, 

WAS  born  in  the  parish  of  West  Baton  Kouge.  State  of  Louisiana,  on 
the  16th  of  February,  1801,  of  French  descent.  His  father,  Pierre 
Labauve,  was  born  in  the  parish  of  St.  James,  in  the  same  state  ;  his 
mother  was  a  native  of  France. 

In  July,  1834,  he  was  elected  to  the  State  Senate  against  a  very 
strong  man  who  had  been  in  that  body  for  years.  In  1838  he  was  a 
candidate  again,  but  was  defeated  by  his  former  competitor,  on  the 
ground  that  in  1836  he  had  been  at  first  opposed  to  the  pledge  of  the 
faith  of  the  state  in  favor  of  the  Citizens'  Bank,  although  he  afterwards 
voted  for  the  measure,  under  instructions  of  a  large  number  of  constitu 
ents.  In  1842,  the  failing  of  the  bank  threw  the  people  in  a  great 
alarm  and  confusion  ;  they  saw  he  was  right,  and  they  elected  him  in 
July,  1842,  to  his  former  seat.  But  this  election  having  been  protested 
and  canceled  on  pretence  of  illegal  votes,  he  was  re-elected  in  July, 
1843,  by  a  larger  majority  than  before. 

A  convention  having  been  called  to  adopt  a  new  constitution  he  was 
elected  a  member  of  that  body,  in  July,  1844.  The  convention  met  at 
Jackson,  Louisiana,  in  August  of  the  same  year,  and  adjourned  after 
a  three  weeks'  session  to  New-Orleans. 

He  had  then  to  attend  both  the  Senate  and  the  Convention,  and  was 
also  on  the  judiciary  committees  in  both  bodies.  After  the  adjourn 
ment,  he  determined  to  retire  from  public  life,  and  communicated  this 
to  his  friends,  notwithstanding  which  the  convention  to  nominate  a  can 
didate  for  the  Senate,  from  the  county  of  Iberville,  having  met  at  Pla- 
quemine,  nominated  him ;  but  being  present  at  the  meeting,  he  posi 
tively  declined,  requesting  his  friends  to  let  him  rest.  At  the  election 
in  November,  1851,  he  was  re-elected  to  his  seat'in  the  State  Senate: 
he  had  no  opposition. 

He  has  now  nine  children — six  daughters  and  three  sons ;  and,  by  his 
industry  and  economy,  has  amply  provided  for  his  family. 


CALVIN  GRAVES,  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA.  365 

JOHN    LANDES, 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  LANCASTER  COUNTY  BANK,  PENNSYLVANIA, 

WAS  born  in  1785.  He  has  filled  many  of  the  most  important  offices 
in  his  county,  and  has  been  at  the  head  of  the  institution  over  which  he 
now  presides  since  its  establishment  in  1841.  In  1848  he  was  one  of 
the  presidential  electors.  He  has  now  retired  from  all  active  business, 
except  that  pertaining  to  the  bank. 


HON.   CALVIN   GRAVES, 

OF  NORTH  CAROLINA. 

WHEN  eminent  abilities,  valuable  public  services,  an  unblenched 
political  integrity  and  a  stern  private  virtue,  derivable  only  from  the 
daily  practice  of  religion  and  piety,  contribute  to  adorn  the  character  of 
an  individual,  then  is  it  most  proper  to  be  set  prominently  forth  as  an 
example  to  those  who  would  make  themselves  useful  to  their  fellow- 
men.  And  the  writer  cherishes  the  belief  that  he  will  perform  this  ac 
ceptable  service  to  the  public,  in  giving  a  brief  sketch  of  the  public 
services  and  private  character  of  the  Hon.  Calvin  Graves,  of  North 
Carolina. 

He  was  born  in  the  county  of  Caswell,  North  Carolina,  in  January, 
1804.  His  father,  Azariah  Graves,  was  a  member  of  a  large  and  respect 
able  family  of  the  same  name,  and  ranked  high  as  an  intelligent  and 
enterprising  farmer  in  a  community  long  regarded  as  among  the  most 
enlightened  and  prosperous  agriculturists  of  the  South.  His  mother 
was  the  daughter  of  Col.  John  Williams,  who  was  appointed  by  the 
general  Congress  of  the  province  in  1775  lieutenant-colonel  of  a  battalion 
raised  in  the  Hillsboro'  district ;  and  who  subsequently  distinguished 
himself  by  the  active  part  he  bore  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution.  After 
the  termination  of  hostilities,  he  resumed  the  practice  of  his  profession 
in  Caswell,  being  the  first  lawyer  who  located  in  that  county. 

Mr.  Graves  received  his  primary  education  at  the  academy  under  the 
charge  of  the  Rev.  William  Bingham,  in  Orange  county,  which  was 
established  on  a  footing  but  little  inferior  to  the  colleges  of  that  day, 
and  from  the  high  character  of  the  learned  divine  who  controlled 
its  operations,  gained  an  extended  and  deserved  reputation.  From  this 
school,  in  the  year  1823,  he  was  transferred  to  the  University  of  North 
Carolina,  where  he  remained  one  year,  when,  at  the  request  of  his  father, 
he  withdrew  to  commence  the  study  of  the  law. 

During  the  whole  of  his  academical  and  collegiate  course,  Mr.  Graves, 
by  the  uniform  urbanity  of  his  manners  and  kindness  of  his  disposition, 


366  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

retained  the  respect  and  esteem  of  his  fellow-pupils  ;  and  is  not  known 
to  have  incurred  at  any  time  the  displeasure — certainly  never  the  cen 
sure  of  his  teachers,  but  by  a  punctual  discharge  of  his  duties,  uniform 
ly  won  their  applause. 

His  first  year  of  professional  study  was  prosecuted  under  the  instruc 
tion  of  his  brother-in-law,  Judge  Settle,  of  Rockingham  county;  after 
which,  he  entered  the  law  school  of  Chief  Justice  Henderson,  of  Gran- 
ville  county,  where  were  educated  some  of  the  most  distinguished  jurists 
that  now  adorn  the  bench  and  bar  of  more  than  one  of  the  southern  and 
western  states. 

He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1827,  and  in  the  following  year  com 
menced  the  practice  in  his  native  county. 

Then,  as  now,  the  patience  of  young  practitioners  was  often  sorely 
tried  by  the  long  tenor  of  probation  required  of  them  before  they  were 
allowed  to  enjoy  the  profits  of  their  profession.  This  is  especially  in 
convenient  to  such  persons,  because  of  the  constant  expenditure  of 
money  required  of  them  ;  and  vexations  of  this  character  have  doubt 
less  made  many  a  one  feel  the  force  of  the  legal  witticism  that  character 
ized  "  the  prospects  of  a  young  lawyer  as  a  contingent  remainder  that 
requires  a  particular  vested  estate  to  support  it." 

Mr.  Graves  was  so  fortunate  as  to  be  exempted  from  this  usual  de 
lay,  for  in  a  short  time  he  gained  for  himself  a  lucrative  practice  in  the 
county  of  his  residence — which  was  doubtless  greatly  owing  to  the  con 
fidence  the  public  had  in  his  character  from  their  long  acquaintance  with 
himself  and  his  family. 

As  an  advocate,  he  ever  maintained  a  character  for  candor  and  an 
undeviating  adherence  to  truth,  which,  together  with  his  well-known  dis 
like  of  what  are  usually  termed  the  tricks  of  the  profession,  gave  him 
influence  with  courts  and  juries.  He  drew  no  distinction  between  the 
suppression  of  the  truth  and  the  statement  of  a  falsehood,  and  his  argu 
ments,  whether  to  the  jury  or  the  court,  were  always  based  upon  a  full 
and  fair  statement  of  the  evidence  and  the  authorities.  In  eliciting  tes 
timony,  his  manner  was  uniformly  respectful  to  the  witnesses  of  his 
opponent,  and  he  never  failed  to  protect  his  own  when  unjustly 
assailed. 

In  his  arguments  at  the  bar,  whether  upon  questions  of  law  or  of  fact, 
he  was  clear  and  convincing,  to  which  quality,  he  owed  many  triumphs 
in  his  profession.  Not  to  this  alone,  however,  is  his  success  to  be  attri 
buted,  for  his  mind  was  well  stored  with  the  learning  of  his  profession; 
and  habits  of  close  application  enabled  him  to  preserve  that  strict 
mental  discipline  which  is  indispensable  to  eminence  in  the  profession  of 
the  law. 

At  an  early  period,  the  pursuits  of  his  profession  were  interrupted  by 
other  requisitions  made  of  him  by  the  people  of  Caswell,  and  increasing 
public  employments  claimed  so  large  a  portion  of  his  time  that 
for  several  years  past  he  has  entirely  withdrawn  from  the  bar. 

It  is  as  a  legislator  that  Mr.  Graves  is  more  extensively  known.  He 
first  entered  lie  publife  as  a  member  of  the  state  convention  in  1835, 
called  to  reform  the  constitution  of  his  native  state.  Being  amongst 
the  youngest  members  of  that  august  body,  he  preferred  the  position  of 
a  laborer,  and  a  listener  to  the  renowned  statesmen  with  whom  he  was 


CALVIN  GRAVES,  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA.  367 

associated,  to  that  of  aspiring  to  honors  in  debate.  His  characteristic 
modesty  and  good  taste  dictated  this  course,  for  he  was  sensible  of  the 
fact,  that  such  men  as  Macon,  Gaston,  Fisher,  Meares,  and  others  of  the 
wisest  and  most  intellectual  gentlemen  of  the  state,  who  were  members 
of  the  convention,  would  be  listened  to  with  more  interest  than  a  young 
man  without  experience  in  parliamentary  affairs.  He  was  subsequently 
active  in  urging  the  adoption  by  the  people  of  the  amendments  recom 
mended  by  the  convention,  the  general  tendency  of  which  was,  to 
liberalize  the  basis  of  representation,  enlarge  the  right  of  suffrage,  and 
to  extirpate  in  part  the  religious  intolerance  that  marred  some  of  the 
features  of  the  old  constitution.  He  made  several  addresses  to  the 
people  of  Caswell  on  this  subject,  which  were  much  commended  by  all 
parties,  and  fully  evinced  the  distinguished  part  he  was  destined  to  bear 
in  public  affairs. 

He  was  returned  as  a  member  from  Caswell  to  the  House  of  Com 
mons  in  1840,  and  from  his  position  was  required  to  engage  actively  in 
the  canvass  of  that  year,  which  will  long  be  remembered  as  one 
characterized  by  fierce  party  conflicts  from  one  extent  of  the  country  to 
the  other.  Mr.  Graves  passed  through  this  trying  ordeal  with  credit 
to  himself,  as  an  able  political  debater,  and  without  having  incurred  the 
displeasure  of  a  single  political  adversary. 

Having  been  trained  by  his  father,  from  early  boyhood,  to  regard  the 
political  principles  taught  by  Jefferson  and  Madison  as  indispensable 
to  the  successful  operation  of  our  republican  system  of  government,  he 
has  upon  all  occasions  advocated  the  cause  of  the  democratic  party. 
During  the  session  of  J840,  he  was  assigned  a  prominent  position  as  a 
debater,  and  was  useful  to  his  party,  as  a  discreet  and  judicious  leader. 

He  was  re-elected  in  1842,  when,  the  democratic  party  having  a 
majority,  he  was  chosen  speaker  of  the  house.  At  any  time  this  would 
have  been  considered  no  common  honor,  but  to  one  of  Mr.  Graves' 
short  parliamentary  experience,  it  was  peculiarly  complimentary.  In 
this  situation,  he  fully  sustained  his  reputation  and  gained  the  approba 
tion  of  all  parties,  by  the  impartiality  and  justness  of  his  decisions, 
which  was  evidenced  by  a  unanimous  vote  of  thanks  at  the  close  of  the 
session. 

In  1844  Mr.  G.  was  again  a  member  of  the  house,  when,  the  whig 
party  being  in  the  ascendency,  he  was  succeeded  in  the  speaker's  chair 
by  the  Hon.  Edward  Stanley.  At  this  session  he  was  elected,  by  joint 
vote  of  the  two  houses,  to  the  station  of  trustee  of  the  university,  by 
the  highest  vote  of  either  of  the  four  who  were  chosen  at  the  same  time, 
several  of  the  most  distinguished  of  the  whig  party  being  in  nomination. 
This  vote  well  attests  the  estimation  in  which  he  was  held  by  the  mem 
bers  of  the  legislature  generally,  without  distinction  of  party. 

He  was  returned  to  the  State  Senate,  from  Caswell,  in  the  session  of 
1846,  where  he  was  placed  in  the  front  rank  of  every  political  discus 
sion.  During  this  session  a  proposition  was  made  by  the  whig  party  to 
re-organize  the  congressional  districts  in  the  state,  so  as  to  give  them 
selves  additional  strength  in  the  House  of  Representatives.  The  districts 
had  been  laid  off  by  the  legislature  four  years  previously,  according  to 
law,  so  as  to  conform  to  the  scale  of  representation  fixed  under  the  cen 
sus  of  1840.  The  uniform  custom  had  been  to  arrange  the  districts  the 


368  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

first  session  after  each  census,  and  to  permit  them  to  remain  unaltered 
during  that  decade.  The  proposition  to  re-district  the  state  was  re 
garded  by  many  as  a  dangerous  innovation,  and  by  some  as  being  such 
a  radical  change  of  the  policy  of  the  state  government  as  to  amount  to 
a  violation  of  the  spirit  of  its  constitution.  The  bill  to  effectuate  this 
object  passed  the  lower  house,  and  was  sent  to  the  Senate,  where  the 
whig  party  advocated,  and  the  democrats  opposed  its  passage.  Among 
the  former  were  many  gentlemen  of  brilliant  intellect  and  high  ora 
torical  accomplishments.  Messrs.  Hugh  Waddell,  Gilmer,  Lillington, 
and  Woodfin,  distinguished  names  in  the  whig  party  and  in  the  state, 
were  all  members  of  the  Senate  during  this  session.  The  debate  on  the 
democratic  side  devolved  mainly  on  Mr.  Graves,  and  well  did  he  sus- . 
tain  himself  in  this  responsible  situation.  It  was  the  pleasure  of  the 
writer  of  this  article  to  hear  his  speech  upon  that  occasion,  and,  as  a 
specimen  of  clear,  convincing  argument,  bold  yet  persuasive  eloquence, 
he  has  rarely  heard  it  equaled.  He  took  a  statesman-like  view  of  the 
question,  entering  minutely  into  the  character  and  structure  of  our  go 
vernment,  its  history,  and  its  practical  operation,  and  the  dangerous 
consequences  that  would  result  from  a  change  of  policy  such  as  proposed 
by  the  bill.  At  its  termination,  as  one  of  his  hearers,  I  felt  deeply  the 
convincing  influences  of  his  speech;  and  the  general  commendations  be 
stowed  upon  it  by  those  near  me,  without  distinction  of  party,  satisfied 
me  that  1  was  not  singular  in  my  appreciation  of  this  great  effort.  I  be 
lieve  it  was  regarded  at  the  time  as  not  admitting  of  a  successful  reply — 
at  all  events  none  was  attempted,  but  the  debate  on  the  other  side 
turned  mainly  on  considerations  of  mere  temporary  party  expediency. 

During  this  session  the  speaker  fell  sick,  when  Mr.  Graves  was  una 
nimously  elected  speaker  pro  tern. — a  rare  instance  in  this  country  of 
a  gentleman  being  selected  to  preside  over  a  legislative  body  contain 
ing  a  party  majority  against  him. 

In  the  session  of  1848  he  was  again  a  member  of  the  Senate,  when 
parties  were  precisely  balanced  in  that  body.  He  was  elected  speaker, 
and  by  his  dignified  and  gentlemanly  bearing  in  this  high  office  gave 
universal  satisfaction. 

This  session  of  the  legislature  of  North  Carolina  will  long  be  remem 
bered  for  the  benevolent  and  liberal  enterprises  of  state  improvement 
it  put  on  foot.  An  act  was  passed  for  the  construction  of  a  lunatic  asy 
lum,  which  is  now  in  rapid  course  of  construction.  It  embraces  all  the 
modern  improvements,  and  is,  perhaps,  the  largest  building  of  the  kind 
in  the  United  States.  There  was  much  opposition  to  this  charitable 
measure  on  account  of  the  heavy  appropriation  of  money  it  would  re 
quire,  involving  an  increase  of  taxes.  From  the  character  of  Mr.  G.  it 
may  be  readily  concluded  that  he  was  not  one  of  those  who  would  ne 
glect  a  duty  of  the  Christian  legislator  for  any  mere  selfish  purpose.  He 
gave  the  measure  an  efficient  support,  and  was  named  in  a  supplemen 
tal  act  as  one  of  the  commissioners  to  superintend  the  construction  of 
the  building. 

During  the  same  session,  a  proposition  was  introduced  to  construct  a 
rail-road  connecting  the  seaports  with  the  far  interior  of  the  state,  in 
volving  an  appropriation  of  two  millions  of  dollars  on  the  part  of  tho 
state 


CALVIN  GRAVES,  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA. 

In  those  localities  where  the  natural  resources  have  been  so  fully  de 
veloped,  by  a  construction  of  works  of  this  kind,  and  where  their  utility 
is  daily  manifest  to  every  observer,  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  how  a  mea 
sure  of  this  great  public  importance  could  meet  with  opposition.  But 
when  it  is  remembered  that  the  people  of  North  Carolina  have  expe 
rienced  to  a  limited  extent  only  the  benefits  resulting  from  such  works, 
that  they  are  really  uninformed  as  to  their  advantages,  but  are  liable  to 
be  imposed  upon  by  the  misrepresentations  of  demagogues  and  time 
serving  politicians,  it  is  but  natural  to  expect  opposition  to  all  measures 
involving  heavy  outlays  of  public  money. 

This  measure  passed  the  house  by  a  close  vote ;  and  after  a  warm  and 
acrimonious  debate  in  the  Senate,  it  was  found,  upon  a  count,  that  there 
was  a  tie  among  the  voters.  It  devolved  upon  Mr.  G.,  as  speaker,  to 
cast  his  vote  in  the  one  scale  or  in  the  other — against  the  bill,  upon 
which  hung  the  best  hopes  of  the  state,  or  for  it,  to  the  great  joy  of  those 
who  had  the  public  good  art  heart.  His  situation  was  rendered  more 
than  ordinarily  embarrassing  in  consequence  of  the  views  of  his  imme 
diate  constituents  of  Caswell,  who,  though  an  intelligent  people,  were 
opposed  to  the  state's  taking  part  in  works  of  this  kind,  more  from  a  be 
lief  that  the  legislature  'did  not  possess  the  power  to  make  appropria 
tions  for  such  purposes  than  from  a  reluctance  to  contribute  their  part 
of  the  public  burthens  which  would  be  thereby  imposed.  Mr.  G.  con 
sidered  that  the  legislature  possessed  the  power  to  make  the  appropria 
tion,  and  with  him  the  question  resolved  itself  solely  into  one  of  expe 
diency,  which  left  his  liberal  mind  no  room  to  doubt  as  to  his  course. 
The  path  of  duty  being  laid  open  before  him,  he  had  the  moral  courage 
to  pursue  it,  regardless  of  consequences.  He  voted  for  the  measure  at 
the  hazard  of  popularity,  resigning  all  selfish  views  to  accomplish  the 
best  interests  of  the  state. 

As  was  anticipated,  this  vote  was  not  approved  of  by  many  of  Mr. 
G.'s  constituents ;  but  it  is  confidently  believed  that  when  this  great 
work  shall  have  been  completed,  and  its  beneficial  influences  shall  have 
been  felt  by  the  many  communities  through  which  it  is  constructed — 
when  it  shall  make  the  ';  waste  places"  glad,  and  cause  the  "  desert  to 
blossom  as  the  rose" — dispensing  wealth,  intelligence,  and  happiness, 
where  now  can  only  be  seen  poverty,  ignorance,  and  vice — a  returning 
sense  of  justice  in  that  "  sober,  second  thought  of  the  people,  which  is 
never  wrong,"  will  accord  to  -him  unreserved  praise  for  the  stern,  self- 
sacrificing  spirit  in  which  this  vote  was  given. 

He  subsequently  took  an  active  part  in  raising  the  amount  of  stock 
required  of  individuals  to  this  work ;  and  some  delay  having  occurred 
in  the  subscriptions,  he,  with  ex-Governor  Moorehead,  Gen.  Saunders, 
and  Mr.  Gilmer,  was  requested  by  a  convention  of  the  friends  of  the 
improvement  to  canvass  the  state  along  the  line  of  the -contemplated 
road  for  more  than  two  hundred  miles,  which  they  did.  and,  after  much 
labor,  their  efforts  were  crowned  with  success ;  since  which  time  the 
work  has  been  regularly  and  actively  prosecuted. 

The  board  of  internal  improvements  in  North  Carolina  consists  of 
the  governor  of  the  state  and  two  commissioners.  Governor  Manly 
appointed  Mr.  Graves  as  one  of  these  commissioners  when  he  came  into- 
office  in  1849,  and  his  successor,  Governor  Reid,  again  renewed  the  ap- 

24 


370  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

pointment  with  the  approbation  of  his  Council  of  State.     He  has  given 
much  attention  to  the  important  duties  of  this  situation. 

Fondness  for  domestic  life,  the  absence  of  ambition  for  popular  favor, 
and  a  deep  anxiety  to  be  successful  in  forming  the  habits  and  character 
of  his  children,  have  confined  Mr.  G.  to  a  sphere  more  limited  than  his 
friends  deemed  it  proper  he  should  occupy.  Several  times  he  refused 
to  allow  his  name  to  be  presented  for  nomination  to  a  seat  in  Congress, 
when  a  nomination  was  equivalent  to  an  election.  Preferring  to  be 
useful  to  being  prominent,  he  has  ever  been  unambitious  of  mere  per 
sonal  distinction.  To  listen  attentively  to  the  counsels  of  others,  but  to 
form  opinions  of  his  own,  and  to  act  upon  them,  has  been  a  prominent 
feature  of  his  character  through  life. 

Asa  legislator,  he  participated  in  all  the  important  debates,  but  sel 
dom  in  discussions  upon  mere  local  matters,  and  was  always  listened  to 
•with  attention. 

His  personal  influence  as  a  member,  which  was  not  inconsiderable 
even  with  opposition  members,  was  uniformly  exerted  for  useful  pur 
poses  of  legislation,  never  for  selfish  ends.  Few  members  performed 
more  labor  than  he  did.  Being  a  ready  and  accurate  draftsman,  he  per 
formed  much  labor  in  drawing  bills,  reports,  and  resolutions  for  other 
members. 

His  speeches,  being  designed  to  affect  the  opinions  and  actions  of  those 
who  heard  them,  were  seldom  written  out  for  the  press,  and  not  at  any 
time  except  through  the  solicitations  of  others.  There  being  no  report 
ers  of  the  proceedings  of  the  legislature,  his  printed  speeches  will  bear  a 
very  small  proportion  to  the  many  important  ones  delivered  by  him. 

Such  is  the  character  of  Mr.  Graves  as  a  public  man.  His  private 
walk  is  surrounded  by  all  those  virtues  that  adorn  the  character  of  the 
Christian  gentleman.  Affable  and  polite  in  his  demeanor  towards  others, 
mild  in  disposition,  sincere  in  all  his  declarations,  he  never  fails  to  gain 
the  confidence  and  esteem  of  those  with  whom  he  associates. 

In  1830  he  married  Elizabeth,  the  daughter  of  Mr.  John  C.  Lea,  of 
Caswell  county,  of  which  happy  union  he  is  comforted  with  a  family  of 
interesting  children,  to  whose  intellectual  and  moral  culture  he  bestows 
a  watchful  attention. 

Having  been  reared  upon  a  farm,  and  trained,  in  a  measure,  to  agri 
cultural  pursuits  in  early  life,  he  contracted  a  fondness  for  them  which 
has  induced  him  to  give  all  the  attention  that  could  be  spared  from  other 
employments  to  .the  culture  of  the  soil.  In  this  occupation  he  has  been 
successful,  and  has  earned  for  himself  the  name  of  an  intelligent  and 
scientific  farmer. 

In  1837  he  became  a  member  of  the  Baptist  Church,  and  has  since 
exerted  an  active  influence  in  behalf  of  the  benevolent  enterprises  and 
institutions  of  that  denomination  of  Christians.  He  has  also  made  him 
self  useful  in  the  administration  of  their  church  government. 

A  conscientious  discharge  of  duty,  whether  in  public  or  private  sta 
tions,  has  gained  for  Mr.  Graves  a  confidence  in  the  public  mind  that 
gives  him  great  power  for  good;  and  being  now  but  in  the  prime  of 
life,  a  fair  promise  is  held  out  that  he  will  be  one  of  the  most  useful 
men  of  the  age. 


REUBEN  CULVER,  OF  OHIO.  371 

REUBEN  CULVER, 

OF  OHIO,  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  LOGAN  BRANCH  BANK. 

THE  subject  of  the  present  sketch  was  born  on  the  4th  day  of  Octo 
ber,  1798,  at  the  town  of  Waterford,  on  the  Muskingum  River,  eighteen 
miles  above  Marietta.  His  parents  were  of  the  number  of  New-Eng- 
landers,  who  a  year  before  made  a  settlement  at  that  place.  His  family 
are  regularly  descended  from  the  pilgrims  who  came  over  in  the  "May 
flower,"  and  who  ever  showed  themselves  the  strenuous  supporters  of 
the  principles  embodied  in  the  creed  of  the  early  puritans.  When  came 
the  struggle  for  American  independence,  foremost  among  its  advocates 
were  found  many  of  his  kin  :  his  maternal  grandfather,  Buell,  particu 
larly  distinguished  himself  as  an  officer  in  the  militia:  other  stations  of 
trust  and  posts  of  honor  were  also  held  by  different  ancestral  relations 
during  the  stormy  period  of  the  Revolution. 

In  1796,  his  parents  emigrated  from  Litchfield,  Connecticut,  to  Ma 
rietta,  then  the  most  considerable  town  in  the  county,  known  only  as 
the  "Territory  Northwest  of  the  Ohio."  After  remaining  a  year  at  this 
place,  during  which  time  arrangements  were  making  for  a  more  perma 
nent  residence,  they  removed  to  Waterford,  near  which,  having  located 
a  tract  of  land,  they  began  to  reclaim  it  from  its  primeval  wildness, 
subjected  as  they  were  to  all  the  inconveniences  and  privations  incident 
to  the  lives  of  the  "  first  settlers." 

Under  these  circumstances  commenced  his  life,  and  his  earlier  days 
were  spent  upon  the  spot  which  had  lately  been  the  scene  of  Indian 
depredations  and  murders.  His  play-grounds  were  within  a  few  rods 
of  the  "  block-houses"  which  had  sheltered  the  pioneers  from  the  toma 
hawk  and  scalping-knife  of  the  ruthless  savage.  Here  were  enacted 
many  deeds  of  noble  daring  which,  having  been  preserved  in  history  or 
transmitted  orally  from  generation  to  generation,  have  now  assumed 
the  appellation  of  "legends  of  the  olden  time." 

Perhaps  American  history  does  not  present  another  instance  of  a 
colony  being  founded  by  emigrants  who  possessed  more  of  the  public 
and  social  virtues  than  did  those  who,  upon  the  lands  of  the  Ohio  Com 
pany's  Purchase,  laid  the  foundation  of  a  great  western  empire,  which 
has  so  increased  in  population,  wealth  and  refinement,  as  to  exceed  even 
the  wildest  dreams  of  fancy. 

Among  such  men,  amid  such  privations  and  hardships,  and  depressed 
by  all  that  makes  poverty  intolerable,  the  youth  of  him  whose  brief 
biography  we  trace  was  passed.  Although  the  education  of  their  chil 
dren  has  always  been  one  of  the  first  considerations  with  the  New-Eng- 
landers,  it  is  not  to  be  expected  that  the  country,  at  so  early  a  day  as 
that  we  now  speak  of,  could  afford  any  great  facilities  for  educating  the 
youth  who  were  growing  up,  inasmuch  as  those  who  were  the  better 
qualified  to  act  as  instructors  could  not  be  found,  or  if  they  were  to  be 
found,  were  themselves  engaged  in  the  severer  labors  which  occupied  the 
time  of  all  who  chose  the  rugged  fortunes  of  the  "  new  country." 

There  was,  however,  very  fortunately,  a  Mr.  Fry,  liberally  educated, 


372  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

who  had  been  engaged  in  the  arduous  services  of  the  Indian  war,  but 
being  released  by  the  conclusion  of  a  treaty  of  peace,  he  spent  his  win 
ters  among  the  settlers  in  teaching  the  "  young  idea  how  to  shoot"  and 
receiving  as  a  compensation  the  moderate  salary  of  eight  or  ten  dollars 
per  month.  It  was  under  his  tuition  that  young  Culver  obtained  the 
rudiments  of  his  education.  Situated  as  he  was  where  books  were  not 
at  ready  command,  it  was  esteemed  quite  a  turn  of  fortune  when  he 
became  possessed  of  "Webster's  Spelling-Book,"  the  greater  portion  of 
which  became  memorized.  To  this  succeeded  writing,  geography,  &c. 
The  family  library,  consisting  of  but  few  books,  comprised  the  Bible, 
Watts'  Hymns  and  Psalms,  Fox's  History  of  the  Martyrs,  and  others  of 
this  class.  With  such  help  as  these  he  improved  his  mind,  and  occu 
pied  his  leisure,  until  quite  a  cloud  was  thrown  over  his  prospects. 

Being  the  oldest  of  the  family  of  children  he  was  required  to  render 
more  constant  assistance  at  home,  so  that  in  accordance  with  the  demo 
cratic  doctrine  of  "rotation"  the  younger  children  might  "  go  to  school." 
This  was  a  severe  stroke,  yet  he  did  not  surrender  his  studies  for  lack 
of  time  to  pursue  them  without  interruption,  but  gave  them  such  atten 
tion  as  was  in  his  power.  Until  now,  however,  he  had  not  commenced 
the  study  of  mathematics,  even  in  its  elementary  branches,  and  when 
he  did  propose  beginning,  another  difficulty  presented  itself  which  was 
also  overcome — a  "cyphering  book"  was  required,  and  none  could  be 
procured  in  the  whole  neighborhood ;  but  by  continued  exertions  sev 
eral  successive  additions  were  made  to  the  fund  for  that  purpose,  until 
quite  sufficient  was  amassed  to  purchase  the  desired  treasure,  and  a 
neighbor  shortly  after  going  to  town,  some  sixteen  miles  distant,  kindly 
undertook  to  procure  the  book.  Slowly  passed  the  day  in  awaiting 
his  return,  and  often  was  the  .sun  watched  in  its  descent  to  the  west,  but 
as  in  the  days  of  Joshua  it  apparently  "  stood  still  in  the  midst  of  the 
heavens  and  hastened  not  to  go  down." 

But  night  came,  and  with  it  the  long-coveted  prize,  and  on  the  same 
evening  his  first  lessons  were  taken  under  the  instruction  of  a  young 
man  in  the  neighborhood,  whose  knowledge  of  arithmetic  already  ex 
tended  to  the  "  Rule  of  Three,"  and  who  was  striving  to  make  still  farther 
advances.  By  the  compact  then  entered  into,  the  pupil,  in  considera 
tion  of  the  instruction  given,  was  to  furnish  "lights"  for  both.  About 
this  time,  an  intelligent  Scotch  gentleman  attached  himself  to  this  social 
circle,  bringing  with  him  a  library  of  thirty  or  forty  choice  volumes, 
the  free  access  to  which  was  tendered  to  the  young  literary  aspirant 
with  a  generosity  which  none  but  those  placed  in  similar  circumstances 
can  fully  appreciate;  and  his  gratitude  for  the  kindness  was  testified  by 
the  avidity  with  which  the  contents  of  the  various  works  of  theology, 
history,  travels,  biography,  &c.,  were  devoured. 

Such  were  the  means  by  which  his  taste  for  study  was  cultivated, 
until  he  was  impelled  by  it  to  leave  his  home  and  seek,  amid  other  as 
sociations,  and  under  more  favorable  auspicies,  its  gratification.  Ac 
cordingly,  at  the  tender  age  of  fifteen,  he  bid  adieu  to  relatives  and 
friends — with  no  expectation  of  ever  again  returning  to  share  their  for 
tunes  and  their  smiles,  without  any  other  possession  than  such  as  were 
contained  in  the  wallet  slung  upon  his  shoulder,  and  no  recommenda 
tion  save  that  of  honest  and  industrious  habits  and  a  tolerable  English 


REUBEN  CULVER,  OF  OHIO.  373 

education.  With  these  he  entered  an  office  for  the  purpose  of  acquiring 
the  printer's  trade.  In  the  industrious  and  faithful  discharge  of  his  du 
ties,  five  of  the  succeeding  years  of  his  life  were  spent.  This  was  during 
the  war  with  Great  Britain.  His  increased  opportunities  for  reading  were 
now  improved,  as  his  earlier  ones  had  been — and  he  was  proffered,  by  those 
whom  he  had  won  as  friends,  what  were  considered  choice  situations — 
but  he  preferred  directing  his  attention  more  fully  to  the  acquirement  of 
an  education — and,  at  the  age  of  twenty,  having  accumulated  some  pe 
cuniary  means,  he  relinquished  his  avocation  and  prosecuted  the  study 
of  the  languages,  under  Rev.  Calvin  Chaddock,  an  eminent  teacher  and 
divine,  whose  friendship  he  enjoyed  until  deprived  of  it  by  the  death  of 
the  latter.  In  1819,  he  went  to  Virginia,  and  commenced  the  study  of 
medicine,  taking  charge  of  an  academy  during  a  portion  of  the  time  as 
a  means  of  support.  He  had  here  the  good  fortune  to  enlist  the  friend 
ship  of  several  families  of  the  true  Virginia  stamp,  whose  kind  offices 
did  much  to  render  pleasant  and  agreeable  the  time  spent  in  the  com 
pletion  of  his  professional  studies.  After  a  period  of  five  years  thus 
occupied,  he  set  out  with  the  view  of  selecting  a  location  where  he 
might  try  his  success  at  the  healing  art.  Passing  through  the  Hocking 
Valley,  he  was  induced  to  remain  for  a  short  time  at  Logan,  and  the 
opening  for  practice  proving  very  flattering,  he  afterwards  concluded  to 
make  a  permanent  settlement  here.  He  was  soon  after  his  location 
united  in  marriage  to  a  daughter  of  Judge  Biddle,  who  had  been  a  resi 
dent  of  the  place  for  many  years  previous,  and  had  acquired  an  honora 
ble  reputation  among  all  who  knew  him.  This  union  was,  however, 
destined  to  be  of  but -short  continuance,  as  he  lost  his  companion  with 
in  a  year  after  their  marriage.  Being  again  alone  in  the  world,  he  re 
linquished  his  business  and  left  the  village.  But  after  remaining  unset 
tled  for  a  while,  he  located  a  second  time  in  Thorn ville,  Ohio,  at  which 
point  an  important  enterprise  was  being  carried  on,  employing  a  vast 
number  of  workmen,  and  where  his  professional  duties  would  be  greatly 
enhanced,  while  the  amount  of  travel  would  be  correspondingly  dimin 
ished.  His  stay  here  was  of  two  or  three  years'  continuance,  during  the 
latter  part  of  which  period  he  became  acquainted  with  Miss  Brooke,  of 
Zanesville,  whom  he  afterwards  married. 

In  1831,  he  returned  to  his  former  residence  at  Logan,  but  not  with 
the  design  of  giving  his  attention  so  unremittingly  to  professional  labor 
as  he  had  hitherto  done,  but  anticipated  engaging,  at  an  early  day,  in 
the  more  pleasant  pursuits  of  agriculture.  With  this  aim  he  purchased 
a  valuable  tract  of  land,  and  had  the  prospect  of  adding  to  it  extensively 
from  the  lands  of  the  "Ohio  Company."  He  then  moved  upon  his 
farm  while  it  was  yet  in  its  natural  state,  inhabited  by  the  wild  forest- 
denizens — wolves,  deer,  &c.,  and  undertook,  with  his  own  hands,  to 
"clear"  it  and  render  it  fit  for  cultivation.  His  labor  here  was  more 
severe  than  ever,  as  he  always  assumed  the  most  difficult  portion  of 
the  toil  even  when  having  in  his  employ  rugged  laborers  inured  to  every 
hardship.  Cut  off"  from  all  society,  except  that  of  his  own  family  and 
a  few  others  who  lived  almost  entirely  by  hunting,  which  pastime  also 
occupied  a  portion  of  his  leisure,  affording  pleasant  recreation  and  the 
means  of  furnishing  his  table  with  dainties,  of  which  the  city  market 
could  not  boast,  he  lived  happily  in  the  hope  of  soon  reclaiming  from 


374  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

the  forest  a  farm  which  would  give  him  both  a  home  and  an  easy  inde 
pendence.  But,  owing  to  the  interference  of  another  person,  he  was 
disappointed  in  extending  the  limits  of  his  domain  as  he  had  expected, 
and  having  a  liberal  inducement  to  dispose  of  what  he  had  already  im 
proved,  he  did  so,  and  purchased  a  fine  property  adjoining  the  village 
which  he  had  lately  left,  where  he  has  since  continued  to  blend  the  prac 
tice  of  his  profession  with  the  peaceful  pursuits  of  agriculture.  His  last 
remove  was  undoubtedly  a  fortunate  one,  for  it  placed  him  in  a  much 
more  pleasant  relation  with  respect  to  society  ;  and  by  the  changes  which 
he  had  hitherto  made,  having  each  contributed  to  his  pecuniary  resources, 
he  found  himself  in  possession  of  a  respectable  amount  of  means  which 
were  judiciously  employed  in  real-estate  speculations,  and  yielded  him 
returns  amounting  to  a  fair  competency. 

This  change  in  his  circumstances  was  accompanied  by  a  correspond 
ing  change  in  his  studies  and  pursuits.  Being  relieved  from  the  press 
ing  necessity  for  constant  exertion,  he  was  enabled  to  devote  more  time 
to  literature  and  the  sciences.  Among  the  latter  he  formed  a  somewhat 
extensive  acquaintance  with  geology,  mineralogy,  &c.,  which  has  been 
a  source  of  unalloyed  pleasure  to  himself,  and  has  enabled  him  to  con 
tribute  some  observations  to  the  friends  of  these  sciences  made  during 
these  investigations.  It  was  his  custom  while  riding  upon  his  profes 
sional  tours  to  make  accurate  examinations  of  the  geological  formation 
of  the  country,  and  to  collect  mineralogical  specimens  for  his  cabinet, 
which  became  quite  extensive  by  the  additions  made  to  it  in  this  wav. 
To  assist  in  procuring  them  he  always  carried  with  him  a  small  steel 
hammer  with  which  to  break  fragments  of  rock,  &c.  He  also  received 
a  great  many  specimens  from  persons  through  the  country,  who,  on 
finding  anything  which  they  regarded  as  peculiar,  sent  it  to  him  as  a 
curiosity,  and  by  exchanges  with  persons  at  a  distance  he  enlarged  his 
collections  of  foreign  minerals.  As  the  Hocking  valley  lies  in  the  cen 
tre  of  the  great  mineral  region  of  southern  Ohio,  he  has  tried  to  make 
himself  familiar  with  almost  every  stratum  exhibited  in  the  country, 
with  its  different  places  of  development,  extent,  &c.  He  takes  a  deep 
interest  in  observing  whatever  may  have  an  influence  to  induce  the 
general  improvement  of  the  country ;  and  enterprises  of  every  kind, 
aiming  to  benefit  the  moral,  social  and  intellectual  condition  of  society, 
meet  his  hearty  co-operation  and  are  advanced  by  his  exertions  in  their 
behalf. 

Nor  is  his  private  generosity  less  creditable.  Indeed,  in  its  exercise 
his  own  interests  have  often  suffered.  Whilst  engaged  in  a  pioneer 
practice  he  trusted  too  much  to  the  honor  and  gratitude  of  his  patients 
for  his  remuneration.  This  was  of  course  in  many  instances  sufficient 
to  insure  payment,  but  in  a  large  proportion  his  only  reward  is  the  ap 
probation  of  his  own  heart,  and  that  he  has  honestly  and  faithfully  en 
deavored  to  alleviate  the  sufferings  of  his  fellow-beings,  and  the  con 
sciousness  that  what  he  does  possess  has  cost  no  orphan's  cry  or  widow's 
tear.  As  an  instance  of  the  principles  which  sometimes  govern  with 
regard  to  compensating  services  rendered  in  the  hour  of  suffering,  one 
whose  flim \\y  fancied  that  they  required  an  unusual  amount  of  medicine 
demurred  to  the  whole  system  of  "paying  the  doctor"  as  wrong.  On 
being  asked  his  reasons  he  replied,  "  Why  he  can  live  without  it  easier 


REUBEN  CULVER,  OF  OHIO.  375 

than  I  can  pay  it."  This  was  a  "  poser,"  and  through  a  long  course  of 
years  which  has  since  elapsed,  the  sturdy  agrarian  has  never  been 
troubled  by  a  demand  for  the  payment  of  the  "  doctor's  bill."  By  but 
few  practitioners,  perhaps,  has  so  large  a  proportion  of  professional  ser 
vices  been  gratuitously  rendered  to  the  indigent,  fatherless  and  widow, 
as  by  him,  and  this  without  ostentation. 

He  never  sought  public  preferment,  although  frequently  solicited  by 
his  friends  to  sustain  positions  in  political  life  which  would  have  given 
his  name  and  character  no  little  prominence.  He  has,  notwithstanding, 
always  firmly  avowed  and  maintained  his  political  opinions  without 
seeking  to  make  them  the  source  of  emolument  or  honor  to  himself. 

Until  1838,  Logan  was  without  a  single  attorney,  and  as  some  one 
was  required  as  "  legal  adviser"  he  was  frequently  referred  to  for  coun 
sel  with  regard  to  disputed  questions  in  law  and  equity,  and  for  the 
•drawing  of  written  instruments,  &e. 

This  led  him  to  pay  some  farther  attention  to  the  gaining  of  legal  in 
formation.  As  his  services  were  always  gratuitous  he  was  at  times 
overrun  with  "cases"  which  were  not  to  be  treated  with  '•'•pukes  and 
purges" 

He  has  twice  received  from  the  legislature  of  Ohio  the  appointment 
of  associate  judge  for  his  own  county.  The  first  term  commenced  ]  834 
and  imposed  upon  him  the  transaction  of  nearly  ail  the  business  with 
in  the  jurisdiction  of  the  associate  bench.  He  was  elected  a  second 
time  in  1848  and  served  until  the  office  was  abolished  by  the  new 
constitution. 

Although  once  possessed  of  a  vigorous  constitution,  exposure  and 
over-exertion  in  former  years  have  left  their  impress  upon  his  system, 
so  that  he  has  lately  been  compelled  to  relinquish  his  practice  almost 
entirely,  and  seek  in  rest  from  toil  the  recovery  of  his  declining  health. 
Such  is  his  natural  disposition,  however,  that  cessation  from  employment 
would  be  worse  than  active  service.  His  time  is  consumed  in  the  dis 
charge  of  lighter  duties  and  study,  and  with  such  effect  that  it  is  hoped 
that  he  may  long  live  to  enjoy  the  society  of  his  family  and  the  exten 
sive  circle  of  his  friends,  for  which  he  is  so  peculiarly  fitted  by  the 
social  qualities  of  his  character. 

Such  is  a  summary  of  the  incidents  in  the  experience  of  one  who,  if 
his  name  may  not  have  attained  a  wide  distinction,  yet  presents  to  the 
youth  who  may  read  this  sketch  an  example  of  how  the  disadvantages 
of  early  life  may  be  overcome  by  a  course  of  unwearied  industry,  and 
his  patient  toil  rewarded  by  the  smiles  of  a  beneficent  providence,  the 
approval  of  his  own  conscience,  and  an  honorable  reputation  at  least 
within  the  circle  of  his  own  acquaintance. 


376  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

• 

HON.   WILLIAM  B.  CLARKE, 

OF   HAGERSTOWN,  MARYLAND, 

WAS  born  September  4th,  1817.  His  father,  George  Clarke,  was  a 
Pennsylvania!!  by  birth.  He  removed  to  Georgetown,  in  the  District 
of  Columbia,  in  1808,  where  he  practised  with  great  success  his  profes 
sion  (medicine),  and  married  Maria  Beverley,  daughter  of  Robert 
Beverley,  of  Blandfield,  Essex  county,  State  of  Virginia. 

At  the  age  of  nineteen  years,  the  subject  of  this  memoir  graduated  at 
Nassau  Hall.  He  commenced  the  study  of  the  law  in  the  office  of  the 
Hon.  John  Sergeant,  of  Philadelphia,  and  before  completing  his  studies 
married  Sophia  Duckett,  only  daughter  of  William  Price,  Esq.,  of 
Hagerstown,  Maryland,  under  whose  direction  he  finished  his  legal 
course,  In  1839  he  commenced  the  practice  of  the  profession  he  had 
selected,  (in  Washington  county,  Maryland.)  In  1842  he  was  appoint 
ed  prosecuting  attorney  for  his  county  by  the  then  Attorney-General, 
Josiah  Bailey,  Esq.,  which  office  he  held  until  the  death  of  the  late  At 
torney-General  Geo.  R.  Richardson,  (February,  1851.)  During  this 
period,  from  1839  to  the  present  time,  Mr.  Clarke  has  sustained  a  repu 
tation  as  an  advocate,  and  an  attentive  business  man,  having  the  entire 
confidence  of  the  people.  Mr.  Clarke  has  received  important  trusts  from 
the  people  of  his  county. 

In  1844  he  was  elected  to  the  House  of  Delegates,  and  in  1846  to 
the  Senate  of  Maryland ;  in  both  positions  he  sustained  himself,  and  re 
ceived  from  the  whigs  of  Maryland  the  nomination  made  in  June,  1850, 
for  the  office  of  governor.  The  canvass  was  an  exciting  one.  He  sus 
tained  his  reputation  as  a  public  speaker  throughout  the  state,  and 
although  he  received  the  largest  vote  ever  given  in  the  counties,  he  was 
defeated.  Baltimore  city,  regarding  him  as  opposed  to  reforms  she  had 
so  long  desired,  gave  a  majority  to  his  opponent  sufficient  to  overcome 
that  of  the  counties. 

He  was  a  member  from  the  second  congressional  district  to  the  late 
national  whig  convention.  And  from  the  proceedings  it  will  be  seen  he 
was  placed  upon  the  two  most  important  committees — composed  of 
one  member  from  each  state. 


ISAAC  SAUNDERS,  OF  RHODE  ISLAND.  377 

ISAAC  SAUNDERS, 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  CITIZENS5  UNION  BANK,  RHODE  ISLAND. 

THE  following  is  a  brief  sketch  of  the  life  of  a  plain,  honest  business 
man.  It  is  furnished  at  the  very  unexpected  solicitation  of  the  publisher 
of  this  volume;  but  not  without  the  confidence  that  if  it  lack  some  of 
the  more  glaring  recommendations  of  the  class  of  writings  to  which  it 
belongs,  it  possesses  not  a  few  others,  both  rare  and  valuable.  Mr. 
Saunders  would  be  the  last  man  to  sit  for  a  romance,  or  become  the  sub 
ject  of  fancy  sketches.  His  life  has  been  isolated,  and  rendered  remark 
able  by  no  strange  and  mysterious  adventures — no  wonderful  and  lucky 
accident.  He  is  one  of  those  rare  persons  whose  integrity  and  force  of 
character  must  force  them  up  into  an  admirable  notoriety  which  their 
modesty  never  seeks — who  will  command  the  respect  of  their  contem 
poraries  and  their  posterity. 

Business  men  are  not  unfrequently  brought  into  special  notice  by  the 
rapid  growth  of  their  fortune.  The  stream  of  wealth  flows  in  upon 
them — broad,  deep  and  impetuous.  They  hasten  to  be  rich.  Their 
riches  give  them  notoriety.  Their  influence  is  great.  But  it  is  the  influ 
ence  of  money.  Take  this  away,  and  like  the  swamp-bird  with  broken 
wing,  .they  fall  quite  out  of  sight.  They  are  themselves  worshiped,  be 
cause  they  have  a  golden  god. 

So  also  are  business  men  sometimes  pushed  forward  into  notice  by 
a  course  of  thrift,  which  has  all  the  way  along  depended  upon  a  shrewd, 
selfish  policy,  utterly  inconsistent  with  the  great  social  welfare.  Men 
of  but  one  idea — the  idea  of  riches — and  subjugating  every  thing  to  it, 
they  become  wealthy,  and  consequently  noted.  The  world  applauds 
them,  disregard  to  whose  interests  has  given  them  their  glory. 

But  not  thus  the  subject  of  this  memoir.  He  is  no  millionaire. 
He  is  the  favored  son  of  no  lucky  accident  or  speculation.  He 
is  no  sordid  victim  of  avarice,  victimizing,  by  a  selfish  shrewdness  the 
world  around  him !  He  is  only  a  man  of  handsome  fortune,  high  repu 
tation,  open  character,  and  sound  and  elevated  Christian  integrity,  re 
spected  by  all,  but  by  none  so  much  as  by  those  who  know  him  best. 
Having  arisen  to  his  present  position  in  society  from  the  nothingness 
which  the  sequel  describes,  his  life  may  be  profitably  studied  by  those 
young  business  men  who  deem  a  selfish  shrewdness  or  a  cold  calculating 
policy  necessary  to  their  success.  To  such  persons  it  is  commended  as 
well  worthy  their  attention.  And  if  it  shall  but  inspire  any  young  aspirant 
with  the  sentiment,  that  honesty  is  the  best  policy,  and  that  perseve 
rance  is  a  law  of  success,  the  subject  of  it  will  not  regret  its  publication. 

ISAAC  SAUNDERS  was  born  in  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  on  the  eighth 
day  of  November,  1808.  His  father,  Caleb  Saunders,  was  born  in 
Hopkinton,  Rhode  Island,  and  by  trade  a  shoemaker.  His  mother  was 
the  daughter  of  Robert  Harkness,  whose  father  was  born  in  England, 
and  emigrated  to  this  country.  He  was  formerly  owner  of  the  Black- 
stone  estate  in  Blackstone,  Massachusetts.  His  maternal  ancestors 
were  Quakers. 


378  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

Isaac's  opportunities  for  education  were  very  limited.  At  the  age  of 
six  years  he  was  sent  to  the  public  school.  From  that  time  till  his 
eleventh  year,  he  continued  to  attend  it  more  or  less.  Then,  having 
made  little  progress,  he  left  it  forever.  His  parents  were^too  poor  to 
admit  of  his  remaining  at  school  a  single  day,  after  acquiring  strength 
of  mind  and  muscle  to  aid  them  at  all  by  his  labor.  At  eleven,  his 
arm  can  support  a  candy-board,  and  the  school-books  with  which  he 
had  become  a  little  familiar  must  be  laid  aside  and  forgotten.  At  the 
stern  demand  of  poverty,  science  must  be  exchanged  for  candy ;  and 
through  the  streets  and  lanes  of  the  city  he  wanders,  exposing  his 
twisted  treasure  to  as  many  eyes  as  his  adroitness  can  catch.  Poor 
boy  !  Ignorant  of  his  danger,  he  might  have  felt  some  of  that  pride 
which  an^Irishman  is  said  to  have  felt  who  wrote  home  exultingly,  that 
he  now  drove  his  own  cart  [wheelbarrow.]  He  is  now  a  somewhat 
independent  salesman,  found,  almost  every  morning,  upon  the  steps  of 
Brown  University,  for  trade  with  its  students.  How  many  of  these 
deem  that  the  poor  candy  boy  with  whom  they  were  trading,  was  to 
write  his  name  above  their  own  upon  the  scroll  of  history.  And  when, 
he  blundered  down  stairs,  as  he  did  in  a  fright  on  one  occasion 
amid  their  laughter,  who  could  have  deemed  that  he  was  the  boy  whose 
name  in  manhood  should  be  registered  among  the  noted  business  men. 
of  the  nation  1  But  to  return. 

This  candy-calling  for  a  boy  of  eleven  years  was  one  of  great  and 
peculiar  exposure.  It  required  him  to  follow  "  the  multitude  doing 
evil."  He  must  mingle  in  all  the  holiday  crowds,  elbowing  his  way  as 
best  he  could.  He  must  witness  all  their  follies,  and  breathe 
the  noxious  atmosphere  of  the  low  grog-shops,  which  at  that  day 
abounded,  often  waiting  at  the  drinking  board  till  the  man  had  taken 
the  glass  from  his  lips  to  ask  him  if  he  wanted  to  buy  some  candy  !  He 
must  meet  all  the  demoralizing  influences  of  city  street-life,  becoming 
every  day  more  privy  to  the  ways  and  haunts  of  sin,  and  more  and 
more  strongly  tempted  to  enter  them.  Such  was  the  exposure  of  a 
candy-boy  in  the  city  of  Providence,  when  Isaac  left  the  school,  took 
the  board  upon  his  arm,  and  went  forth,  with  no  watchful  eye  but  God's 
upon  him,  not  to  make  his  fortune,  but-  to  do  something  for  the  support 
of  the  family.  That  his  character  was  scathed  by  it,  is  not  remarkable. 
The  wonder  is  that  it  did  not  lay  the  foundation  for  his  utter  ruin.  And 
indeed  it  would  seem  that  it  did  lay  such  foundation  ;  but,  unlike  too 
many,  he  in  after  years  refused  to  build  upon  it. 

He  continued  to  follow  the  candy  business  until  the  death  of  his 
father,  which  occurred  in  1821.  At  the  age  of  twelve  or  thirteen,  the 
age  at  which  boys  enter  the  rough  currents  of  passion,  become  head 
strong,  and  consequently  most  need  parental  restraint,  he  is  left  with 
no  earthly  guardianship,  save  that  of  a  mother,  of  whom  he  ever  speaks 
as  "kind  and  indulgent."  While  his  father  lived,  he  was  often  pun 
ished,  but  as  he  himself  thinks  with  very  little  good  effect.  His  mother 
never  attempted  to  punish  him  but  once;  and  then  he  brought  in 
a  four-foot  stick  of  wood  for  her  to  use  upon  him;  she  laughed, 
and  there  the  matter  ended. 

On  the  death  of  his  father,  Isaac  laid  down  the  candy-board  and  took 
up  the  bread-basket.  Sometimes  he  carried  his  bread  in  a  wheelbar- 


ISAAC  SAUNDERS,  OF  RHODE  ISLAND.  379 

row.  In  this,  as  his  former  business,  the  proceeds  are  all  sacredly  de 
voted  to  the  support  of  the  family,  which  was  very  poor.  By  dint  of 
industry  and  frugality,  however,  they  struggled  on  till  a  better  day 
should  dawn.  Isaac  continued  in  the  bread  trade  about  one  year,  when 
he  let  himself  to  a  farmer  for  the  summer,  and  marketed  his  fruit.  In 
the  fall  and  winter  of  the  same  year  he  assisted  in  a  grocery  store. 
The  following  spring  and  summer  found  him  again  on  a  farm.  In  the 
fall  he  returned  again  to  the  city,  and  to  use  his  own  language,  "  did 
but  little  but  rove  about  with  such  associates  as  lived  in  idleness."  It 
was  now  1823,  he  being  about  fifteen  years  old. 

We  have  now  seen  our  young  hero,  born  and  cradled  in  the  city, 
favored  with  a  little  education  and  running  through  the  candy,  bread, 
fruit  and  grocery  trade.  And  now,  after  a  little  country  respite  from 
immoral  influences,  we  find  him  again  plunged  into  them  without  a 
father,  with  only  a  kind,  indulgent  mother ;  and  what  is  worst  of  all, 
without  employment.  Loosely  afloat  upon  the  sea  of  temptation,  swept 
by  the  furious  storms  and  cross-winds  of  passion,  what  can  be  anticipated 
for  him  less  than  utter  shipwreck  and  sinking  in  the  depths  below! 
With  no  human  eye  to  watch  him  and  no  hand  sufficiently  strong  to 
hold  and  guide  him,  who  but  must  have  been  ready  to  pronounce  him 
a  ruined  boy  ?  To  him  the  way  to  the  grog-shop,  the  theatre  and  every 
other  haunt  of  city  vice,  was  all  exposed.  He  was  in  the  broad  way 
of  destruction,  under  circumstances  which  render  escape  to  the  narrow 
way  of  life  highly  improbable ;  though,  as  the  event  proved,  and  in  prov 
ing  affords  encouragement  to  others  under  like  circumstances,  not  im 
practicable.  Says  an  eminent  divine,  "  Every  young  man,  especially 
in  a  great  city,  is  called  to  stern  moral  conflict  with  the  leagued  posts 
of  evil — a  battle  in  which,  now  and  then,  there  comes  a  critical  moment 
whereon  his  destiny  is  suspended."  Such  a  moment  had  now  come  in 
the  life  of  the  subject  of  this  memoir.  We  shall  see  in  the  sequel  how 
he  passed  it. 

Hitherto,  Isaac  appears  to  have  acted  in  the  choice  of  situations  only 
in  reference  to  the  necessities  of  the  family.  For  aught  that  appears 
to  the  contrary  he  has  not  yet  very  fully  awaked  to  the  probable  in 
fluence  of  callings  and  circumstances  upon  the  formation  of  his  own 
character.  But  now,  while  roving  about  the  city  without  employ,  a  new 
feeling  comes  over  his  soul — a  new  element  of  soul  is  developed  which 
is  to  influence  his  whole  future  life.  He  now  comes  to  himself.  He 
begins  to  see  that  by  his  present  mode  of  living  he  is  exposing  himself 
to  a  greater  evil  than  poverty,  and  his  mother  and  sisters  to  a  greater 
shame  than  that  against  which  his  willing  toil  would  guard  them.  Ke- 
flection  comes  to  his  aid.  He  reasons. 

Speaking  of  himself  at  the  critical  moment  to  which  we  are  now 
referring,  after  speaking  of  his  indolence  and  indolent  associates  in  the 
city,  he  says,  "  [  began  to  reason  with  myself,  that  if  I  continued  in  the 
city  with  rny  associates,  with  no  one  but  a  kind  and  indulgent  mother 
to  control  my  vicious  propensities,  I  must  unavoidably  become  a  misera 
ble  citizen.  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  I  would  be  a  wholesome  citi 
zen  ;  but  in  order  to  do  this,  I  felt  that  at  my  age  it  was  under  the  cir 
cumstances  necessary  to  break  off  all  intercourse  with  old  associates — 
a  thing  that  could  not  well  be  done  while  I  remained  in  the  city.  There- 


380  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

fore,  though  it  would  be  a  trial  to  leave  it,  yet  to  do  so  I  felt  deter 
mined,  if  I  could  obtain  any  employment."  Resting  in  this  determi 
nation  he  availed  himself  of  the  first  opportunity  for  executing  it,  which 
was  a  three-months'  job  of  tending  a  wool-carding  machine  for  his  uncle, 
ten  miles  from  the  city. 

In  this  decision  and  action  Mr.  Saunders  clearly  evinced  that  love 
of  virtue,  self-respect,  independence  of  thought  and  energy  of  will  which 
so  completely  characterized  his  after  life.  He  evinced  a  love  of  virtue, 
in  that  he  could  not  consent  to  yield  to  his  "  vicious  propensities ;" 
self-respect,  in  that  he  determined  to  be  a  wholesome  citizen  ;  inde 
pendence  of  thought,  in  that  he  appears  to  have  acted  upon  the  strength 
of  his  inwrought  convictions.  We  hear  of  no  one  advising  him  to  the 
course  he  pursued. 

He  showed  energy  of  will,  in  that  he,  from  the  force  of  his  own  mind, 
broke  off  from  all  intercourse  with  his  old  vicious  associates,  stemmed 
the  current  of  influences  which  held  the  young  in  the  city,  and  turned 
his  back  upon  all  its  enchantments.  And  as  he  goes  forth  from  it  on 
foot,  a  journey  of  ten  miles,  he  reminds  us  of  Bunyan's  Christian  flee 
ing  from  the  City  of  Destruction,  and  of  just  Lot  led  forth  by  an  angel- 
hand  from  the  devoted  cities  of  the  plain  to  a  place  of  safety.  Whether 
our  hero  reached  his  Zoar  just  as  the  sun  was  up  or  down,  he  lost  his 
way  and  wandered  on  twenty-two  miles  for  ten.  His  angel  took  him. 
away  to  a  safer  condition,  but  did  not  do  it  by  the  shortest  way.  Nor 
does  it  ever  seem  to  have  been  Mr.  Saunders'  lot  to  find  the  shortest  ways 
to  what  the  world  calls  success.  Extraneous  influences  have  done  little 
for  him.  He  never  received  the  gift  of  a  single  dollar  in  his  life. 
Whatever  he  is,  he  has  developed  from  himself. 

He  is  now  in  the  country.  But  his  contract,  to  his  uncle's  entire  satis 
faction,  is  soon  fulfilled,  and  no  alternative  is  left  but  to  return  to  the 
city.  There  he  spent  the  winter.  And  for  him  a  sad  one  it  was. 
Writing  in  reference  to  it,  he  says,  "  Having  no  employment  and  no 
one  to  use  his  influence  to  get  any  for  me,  again  coming  in  contact  with 
my  old  associates,  and  being  of  an  age  to  be  easily  persuaded,  I  spent 
the  winter  in  doing  very  little  but  mingle  with  those  who  hung  about 
grog-shops  and  the  like  places  till  the  following  March." 

Few  are  sufficiently  aware  of  the  dangers  of  city  life  to  one  young 
and  floating  indolently  about  it,  as  was  Isaac  during  this  winter.  Says  a 
vigorous  writer, "  Tempting  and  hostile  influences  hover  over  the  crowded 
thoroughfares  of  city  life  in  myriad  invisible  forms,  as  the  legions 
of  spiritual  forces  discovered  to  the  eyes  of  the  prophet  over  the  moun 
tains  of  Israel.  They  infest  the  paths  of  youth  as  sharks  follow  a  navy 
or  ravens  an  army.  The  incitements  of  passion  are  always  present,  the 
objects  of  passion  always  available,  and  the  concealment  of  transgression 
always  ready,  imparting  to  all  temptations  inconceivable  facilities,  ad 
dress  and  power."  Says  the  same  writer,  addressing  the  young  man, 
"  Against  this  array  of  influences  nothing  can  save  you  but  virtue  en 
shrined  in  your  heart — a  deep  and  abiding  conviction  of  God's  omni 
science — that  he  sees  through  the  dark  cloud,  the  shadows  of  the  night, 
the  concealment  of  bolts  and  bars  and  complicated  precautions,  and  that 
soon  every  secret  fault  as  well  as  public  act  shall  meet  the  fearful  award 
of  a  final  judgment." 


ISAAC  SAUNDERS,  OF  RHODE  ISLAND.  381 

Isaac  spent  the  winter  under  the  full  blast  of  these  hostile  influences. 
Yet  he  fell  not  that  he  should  not  rise.  He  had  virtue  enshrined  in  his 
heart.  He  is  conscious  of  his  peril.  A  year  ago  we  found  him  reason 
ing  about  it.  He  reasons  still,  and  again  resolves  to  leave  the  city.  "I 
decided,"  so  he  writes,  "to  leave  the  city  if  I  could  get  nothing  more 
than  my  board,  for  I  could  see  nothing  before  me  but  misery  if  I  stayed 
in  it." 

If  some  one  should  seem  to  see  a  weakness  here,  and  say,  "  He  ought 
to  have  nerved  himself  to  the  conflict,  and  maintained  his  virtue  where 
he  was,"  we  reply,  that  force  of  character  is  quite  as  clearly  exhibited 
in  fleeing  from  a  temptation  which  it  is  not  necessary  to  meet,  as  in  with 
standing  that  which  cannot  be  avoided.  In  grasping  those  passions 
which  find  their  fuller  gratification  in  the  excited  city,  and  holding  them 
at  bay,  while  for  his  moral  good  he  left  the  city  for  the  sober  country,  our 
young  hero  evinced  a  degree  of  moral  force  which  no  reader  will  regard 
less  than  remarkable. 

On  going  into  the  country,  however,  he  is  able  to  get  a  little  more 
than  his  board.  Twenty-five  dollars  extra  to  it  is  the  condition  upon 
which  he  now  engages  to  work  a  year  at  a  cotton  factory  in  North  Sci- 
tuate,  Rhode  Island.  This  was  a  small  sum  with  which  to  clothe  him, 
but  it  was  the  best  he  could  do,  and  he  complained  not.  The  reader 
will  perceive,  all  the  way  along,  that  Isaac  is  necessarily  his  own  man. 
Deep  meaning  there  is  in  those  words  of  his,  "  I  had  no  one  to  use  any 
influence  to  get  me  employment." 

It  is  now  the  spring  of  1824.  Isaac  is  now  in  his  sixteenth  year.  We 
have  followed  him  through  his  city  life ;  we  have  seen  him  again  and 
again  thirsting  for  freedom  from  the  temptations  which  he  feared  would 
be  too  hard  for  him  in  the  city.  His  wish  is  answered !  Henceforth 
the  country  is  his  home.  Though  earning  but  about  $25  a  year,  yet 
breathing  freer,  and  more  secure  of  his  character,  he  murmurs  not. 
The  business  tact,  however,  of  the  boy  who  sold  candy,  and  bread,  and 
fruit,  is  soon  discovered.  Isaac  is  one  day  summoned  into  the  store. 
"  Can  you  read,  write  and  cipher?"  he  is  asked.  He  replies,  "  A  very 
little."  The  result  of  this  interview  was  that  he  was  sent  into  the  store, 
with  no  change  of  wages.  A  few  years  previously  to  this,  while  he 
was  yet  unable  to  write,  a  wealthy  man  to  whom  he  was  sent  on  an  er 
rand  from  his  family,  wondered  at  his  inability  to  write  his  name.  He 
says,  "I  looked  him  in  the  face  and  thought,  you,  sir,  are  able  to  send  me 
to  school  if  you  had  a  mind  to." 

Isaac  finds  his  new  situation,  though  not  more  profitable,  more  satis 
fying.  But  it  demands  better  clothing  than  his  wages  ($25  per  year) 
will  buy.  To  meet  the  new  necessity  he  spends  the  hours  during  which 
he  could  be  absent  from  the  store  in  "  tending  gardens,"  for  which, 
together  with  what  he  receives  for  milking  the  cow  on  Sundays,  he 
receives  $17  extra  for  the  year.  This  nearly  clothes  him;  and  a 
handsome  suit  of  satinet  furnished  by  his  mother  completes  his  ward 
robe.  And  yet  not  quite  ;  for  it  was  not  till  his  eighteenth  year  that 
he  had  any  overcoat,  which  his  mother  furnished  also.  Of  this  he  says 
he  was  so  proud  that  he  threw  it  on,  and  thereby  gave  himself  a  regu 
lar  sweat  on  a  warm  fall  day. 

The  following  incident  will  show  with  what  feelings  he  still  looked 


382  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

upon  the  city.  Tie  had  been  absent  from  it  about  four  months,  when 
his  mother  and  sisters  desired  him  to  come  to  Providence  and  visit 
them.  He  writes :  t;  I  obtained  permission  to  be  absent  from  the  store 
two  days;  went  to  the  city  in  the  morning,  talked  over  all  the  particu 
lars  of  my  new  situation,  heard  what  news  they  had  to  communicate, 
and  in  the  afternoon  went  down  street;  there,  falling  in  with  a  man  that 
was  going  out  to  Scituate  that  evening,  I  took  passage  out  with  him, 
sending  word  back  accordingly  to  my  mother  and  sisters;"  "for,"  he 
adds,  "  I  did  not  dare  stay  in  the  city  all  night;  or,  I  determined  I  would 
not,  lest  I  should  fall  in  with  my  old  associates,  and  be  led  away  by 
them."  This  was  not  because  he  delighted  in  the  society  of  his  indulgent 
and  kind  mother  and  most  amiable  sisters  less,  but  because  he  dreaded 
the  city  more.  We  have  seen  him  ever  determined  to  be  something.  He 
now  has  taken  on  a  stronger  and  more  hopeful  self-respect,  and  is  car 
rying  out  his  determination  most  discreetly.  Neither  over-cautious  of 
danger  on  the  one  hand,  nor  reckless  of  it  on  the  other,  he  is  as  cou 
rageous  to  flee  from  it  as  he  is  to  meet  it  at  the  call  of  duty. 

To  return.  Isaac's  new  situation  was  one  of  peculiar  temptation 
to  defraud  his  employer.  Pressed  as  he  was  for  means  to  clothe  him 
self  decently,  a  feebler  moral  nature  would  have  yielded  to  purloining. 
His  character,  however,  continued  quite  above  suspicion.  He  continued 
in  his  new  employment  until  June  18, 1829,  when  sickness,  which  it  was 
supposed  would  terminate  in  consumption,  "  laid  him  up"  seventeen 
weeks.  When  sufficiently  recovered,  he  was  removed  to  Attleboro', 
Massachusetts,  where  his  mother  was  then  residing.  The  March  fol 
lowing,  having  been  released  from  his  engagement  at  Scituate,  he  ac 
cepted  an  offer  of  work  in  a  mill  at  Attleboro',  thus  being  enabled  to  re 
side  with  his  family.  In  this  he  continued  two  years,  when  his  employer 
decided  to  hire  a  small  mill  in  Smithfield,  Rhode  Island. 

It  is  peculiar  to  free  governments,  that  merit  should  find  promotion. 
This  is  strikingly  illustrated,  on  a  small  scale,  in  the  life  of  Mr.  S.  He 
is  ever  rising,  however  gradually.  Fro'm  an  operative,  doing  the  bid 
ding  of  his  employer,  he  is  now  his  equal,  working  side  by  side  with  him 
in  the  conduct  of  business  affairs.  The  partners,  having  run  their  hired 
mill  successfully  for  three  years,  bought  a  mill-seat  in  North  Scituate, 
built  upon  it  in  1835,  and  commenced  operations  in  1836.  Mr.  S.,  feel 
ing  that  the  establishment  did  not  afford  sufficient  business  for  two  men, 
it  was  decided  that  his  partner  should  reside  in  it,  while  he  accepted  an 
offer  for  the  management  of  a  mill  in  North  Providence.  This  was  un 
fortunate.  The  principal  man  in  the  company  for  which  he  was  man 
aging  died,  and  he  lost  his  salary.  In  the  spring  of  '37,  he  removed  to 
Scituate.  The  partners  had  now  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  negro- 
cloth,  which  shift  proved  so  disastrous,  that,  in  the  spring  of  '38,  they 
were  compelled,  under  the  general  depression,  to  stop  their  mill. 

This  was  a  gloomy  day  to  Mr.  S. ;  one  for  the  gloom  of  which  he 
was  not  himself  responsible,  and  the  darkness  of  which  his  own  con 
scious  integrity  streaked  radiantly.  He  felt  the  reverse,  however, 
most  keenly  ;  and  yet,  as  a  means  of  disciplining  him  to  a  still  wiser 
forecast,  and,  not  least,  of  isolating  him  from  co-partnership,  it  can  now 
be  justly  regarded  only  as  a  blessing  in  disguise.  He  was  too  much  of 
a  man  to  need  a  partner  in  the  conduct  of  business  affairs,  and  his  indi- 


ISAAC  SAUNDERS,  OF  RHODE  ISLAND.  383 

viduality  was  too  marked  to  invite  one.  He  is  now,  however,  at  the 
mercy  of  his  creditors.  What  can  be  done  ?  Happy,  thrice  happy,  for 
Mr.  S.  that,  though  his  monetary  credit  is,  for  the  time  being,  gone,  his 
moral  credit  is  still  sound,  his  creditors  themselves  being  judges.  Nor 
has  any  part  which  he  has  acted,  in  the  way  leading  to  his  present  busi 
ness  failure,  brought  his  ability,  as  a  manager  of  business  affairs,  undei 
the  remotest  suspicion.  His  creditors  come  upon  his  premises,  look 
into  his  affairs,  and,  instead  of  taking  all  he  has,  say  to  him,  "Go  on." 
Such  is  their  confidence  in  his  ability  and  integrity,  that  they  leave  him 
to  go  on  unmolested  with  his  business.  But,  notwithstanding  the  for 
bearance  of  his  creditors,  his  friends  thought  that  the  extent  of  his  em 
barrassments  rendered  his  prospects  gloomy  indeed.  And  so  they  were. 
But  he  says,  "  I  thought  that  if  I  could  manage  to  start  again,  and  alone, 
when  all  the  responsibility  would  be  on  me,  I  could  succeed.  At  any 
rate,  I  determined  to  make  the  attempt  rather  than  give  up  in  despair." 
He  did  so,  and  we  shall  see  how  he  succeeded. 

At  the  time  of  this  reverse,  either  of  three  weaknesses,  some  one  of 
which  will  be  found  to  attach  to  most  men,  would  have  ruined  him  in 
business.  First,  if  his  integrity  had  been  weak,  his  creditors  would  not 
have  trusted  him  with  the  establishment  a  single  day.  Had  it  not 
been  decidedly  strong  in  their  estimation  they  would  have  knocked  the 
establishment  off  at  auction,  and  divided  the  sacrifice  among  them 
selves,  leaving  him  again  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain  he  had  climbed 
with  so  much  difficulty.  But  his  heart  was  strong  in  virtue.  His  cre 
ditors  understood  it,  and  acted  accordingly.  They  feared  not  that  his 
uprightness  would  prove  pervious  to  the  stronger  temptations  to  fraud, 
with  which  his  heavy  embarrassments  would  now  ply  him.  Mr.  S.  was, 
at  this  time,  and  still  continues  to  be,  a  member  of  the  F.  B.  Church. 

Or,  secondly,  if  Mr.  S.'s  business  talent  had  been  thought  questionable, 
as  would  be  likely  to  be  the  case  in  this  hour  of  his  misfortune,  his  credi 
tors  would  have  arranged  with  him  only  by  taking  all ;  for  everything 
indicated  that  nothing  short  of  the  most  prudent  and  skillful  manage 
ment  of  the  concern  could  be  rewarded  with  success  in  retrieving  his 
fortune,  while  bad  management,  however  honest,  might  rob  them  of  a 
share  of  the  part  pay  which  was  now  at  their  option.  But  their  confi 
dence  in  his  business  ability  being  equal  to  their  confidence  in  his  busi 
ness  integrity,  they  consulted,  and  told  him  to  go  on. 

Or,  thirdly,  had  Mr.  S.  been  a  man  easily  discouraged,  or  one  whom 
misfortune  unnerves,  he  would  have  given  all  up  in  despair,  and  gone 
back  to  begin  the  world  over  again,  or,  losing  his  ambition,  to  plod  dro- 
nishly  through  the  rest  of  his  life. 

But  of  neither  of  these  weaknesses  was  he  the  victim.  Their  absence 
left  him  to  successfully  struggle  up  out  of  his  embarrassments,  dropping 
off  one  creditor  after  another,  until  at  length  he  is  free  from  debt,  and 
the  establishment  his  own.  Nor  does  his  prosperity  end  here.  The 
business  talent  and  prudent  forecast  which  had  enabled  him  to  relieve 
himself  of  embarrassment,  soon  elevate  him  "  quite  above  board."  For 
that  mother  and  those  sisters  with  whom  he  did  not  spend  the  night  in  the 
city  through  dread  of  its  influences — a  mother  and  sisters  worthy  of 
such  a  son  and  brother — the  son  builds  a  neat  residence,  and  settles 
them  very  comfortably  at  his  village. 


884  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

His  prudent  policy  has  enabled  him  to  pass  securely  all  the  reverses 
in  the  manufacturing  interests  in  which  so  many  have  sunk  around. 
His  prosperity  has  been  constant,  holding  himself  up  and  others  too. 
His  fortune  is  now  handsome — it  is  needless  here  to  say  how  handsome ; 
it  is  sufficient  to  say  that  it  is  handsome  enough.  He  declines  not  a  little 
commission  business,  which  his  known  talent  causes  to  seek  him,  while 
at  the  same  time  he  transacts  not  a  little.  More  he  does  not  want,  and 
will  not  have. 

Mr.  S.  never  could  be  a  millionaire :  he  lacks  the  essential  element 
of  character  necessary  to  becoming  one.  He  does  not  worship  Mam 
mon.  With  him  property  is  a  means,  not  an  end.  Money  is  with  him 
valuable  only  for  its  uses.  His  soul  was  never  touched  with  the  ambi 
tion  that  will  be  rich — that  says,  Astor-like,  I  will  one  day  be  rich  as 
some  model  Croesus.  He  knows  nothing  of  subjugating  himself  to  the 
one  idea  of  getting  money  ;  for  that  his  soul  is  quite  too  large,  his  views 
of  human  duty  quite  too  comprehensive.  Benevolence  in  his  heart  ever 
stands  above  avarice.  As  a  business-man,  he  holds  money  firmly  ;  as 
a  benevolent  man,  he  holds  it  very  loosely.  His  beneficence,  however, 
is  ever  subject  to  a  wise  discretion,  always  remembering  the  church  and 
the  poor.  To  be  sure,  he  is  unable  to  make  the  large  benevolent  be- 
stowments  that  endow  colleges,  &c. ;  but  he  is  ever  endowing  hearts, 
which  appears  to  be  more  to  his  satisfaction.  So  well  is  his  liberality 
and  public  spirit  understood,  that  whenever  any  enterprise  for  the  pub 
lic  good  is  set  on  foot  in  the  community,  requiring  voluntary  subscrip 
tion  for  its  execution,  he  is  about  certain  to  be  the  first  to  be  spoken  of  and 
called  upon.  And  all  this  is  quite  inconsistent  with  the  idea  of  a  person  ever 
becoming  a  millionaire  under  any  circumstances.  Mr.  S.,  in  his  detesta 
tion  of  the  miserly  inhumanity  which  takes  advantage  of  another's  ne 
cessities  to  build  itself  up,  must  ever  remain  a  man.  He  can  never  sink 
into  the  insignificance  of  mere  avarice,  or  become  a  mere  golden  pa 
geant.  Immeasurable  must  be  his  backsliding  before  his  treasury  shall 
become  like  the  cave  the  fox  would  shun  because  all  the  tracks  aimed  in. 

Since  the  commencement  of  his  course  of  steady  prosperity  he  has 
enlarged  his  home  business  scarcely  at  all.  By  this  he  has  shown  him 
self  impervious  to  that  vanity  for  display,  to  which  so  many  have,  un 
der  similar  circumstances,  fallen  victims  within  a  few  past  years.  The 
result  has  been  that  he  has  found  himself  almost  constantly  in  a  condi 
tion  to  gratify  his  benevolent  sentiment  by  assisting  others  under  pecu 
niary  embarrassment.  This,  however,  he  does  where  money  is  not 
wanting.  On  one  occasion  a  neighbor  of  his  had  become  deeply  in 
volved,  and  was  about  making  an  assignment  of  his  property.  This 
came  to  the  ears  of  Mr.  S.  He  at  once  called  on  him,  and,  notwithstand 
ing  the  treatment  he  had  before  received  from  him  was  calculated  to 
provoke  anything  but  kindness,  at  once  offered  his  services  in  treating 
with  his  creditors.  The  offer  being  readily  accepted,  he  undertook  for 
him.  It  was  the  coldest  of  weather,  and  the  snow  was  deep,  and  drifted 
through  the  many  miles  and  ways  Mr.  S.  had  to  go  to  find  the  creditors ; 
but  he  found  them,  and  succeeded  in  quieting  them  till  his  embarrassed 
neighbor  had  time  to  turn  round  and  save  his  property  ;  so  that  it  is 
not  without  some  good  reason  that  the  neighbor  now  says  that  Mr.  S. 
has  done  more  for  him  than  his  father  and  all  his  relatives.  This  one 


ISAAC  SAUNDEBS,  OF  ERODE  ISLAND.  385 

instance,  showing  the  disposition  of  the  subject  of  this  memoir,  must 
stand  for  a  chapter.  But  not  a  few  will,  in  the  great  day  of  final  account, 
point  to  him  as  their  disinterested  benefactor; — all  which  but  confirms 
the  position  that  he  is  not  the  man  to  become  immensely  rich.  Some 
one  has  said  that  the  time  is  coming  when  men  will  be  afraid  to  die  so. 

And  is  it  not  the  shadow  of  this  fear,  cast  forward,  that  causes  so  many 
rich  men  to  endow  benevolent  institutions  just  when  they  can  keep  their 
money  no  longer  1  But  Mr.  S.  prefers  to  enjoy  his  beneficence  while 
living.  He  perceives  the  wants  of  the  world  too  clearly,  and  has  a  heart 
to  feel  for  them  too  warmly,  to  postpone  his  charities  till  a  dying  hour. 
Immeasurable  must  be  his  backsliding  before  he  can  live  to  himself 
alone.  He  is  at  this  moment  the  principal  in  offering  a  reward  for  a 
prize  essay  on  a  benevolent  subject.  But  recently  he  said  to  a  student,  "  If 
you  need  any  assistance,  call  on  me."  These  instances  must  serve  as  in 
dices  to  the  whole  series.  The  biography  of  a  living  man,  for  his  own  gene 
ration,  must  be  modestly  written.  Many  things  must  be  modestly,  and, 
in  reference  to  other  living  persons,  respectfully  suppressed. 

Mr.  S.  has  frequently  been  called  into  public  life  by  his  fellow-citizens. 
In  1841  he  was  elected  justice  of  the  peace.  In  '42  he  threw  up  his 
commission  in  disgust,  as  he  says,  with  the  petty  cases  he  was  called 
to  try,  and  cases  he  might  be  called  to  try,  growing  out  of  the  Dorr 
troubles.  On  national  questions  his  sentiments  were  alwrays  whig ;  but 
he  was  never  so  wedded  to  partyism  as  to  lose  his  individuality.  In  '44 
he  was  a  zealous  supporter  of  Henry  Clay  for  the  Presidency.  In  '46 
he  was  elected  by  the  suffrage  party  to  the  General  Assembly.  In  an 
ticipation  of  this  election,  however,  he  distinctly  avowed  that,  if  elected, 
he  should  act  and  vote  on  whig  principles.  This  avowal  was  highly  cha 
racteristic  of  the  man.  He  is  frank,  almost  and  sometimes  quite  to  a 
fault.  He  is  too  independent  for  secret  colors'  or  mental  reservation. 
But  he  was,  in  common  with  the  democratic  party,  in  favor  of  the  resto 
ration  of  Mr.  Dorr  to  citizenship.  He  believed  many  of  the  people  to 
be  as  much  to  blame  as  he  was.  Had  they  not  encouraged  him,  he 
would  not  have  taken  up  arms.  As,  however,  he  had  no  sympathy  with 
Dorr's  politics,  he  voted  against  him  as  a  candidate  for  the  United  States 
Senate  in  '46.  During  the  time  that,  from  the  force  of  peculiar  circum 
stances,  he  acted  with  the  democratic  party,  he  was  understood  by  that 
party  to  be,  not  a  democrat,  but  a  liberal  whig.  And  when  the  name 
"  law  and  order"  was  abandoned,  and  the  name  "  whig"  resumed,  he  again 
took  his  stand  with  the  party  whose  general  political  principles  he  had 
always  held  and  avowed.  It  is  characteristic  of  Mr.  S.  to  see  a  fault  in 
a  friend  as  readily  as  a  foe — in  his  own  party  as  readily  as  in  another ; 
nor  has  he  any  fear  to  govern  himself  accordingly. 

In  1846  Mr.  S.  was  elected  to  the  Court  of  Probate,  and  in  '48  and 
'49  was  elected  again  to  the  General  Assembly,  where  he  appears  ever 
very  satisfactorily  to  have  served  his  fellow-citizens. 

In  his  own  town,  whichever  political  party  may  be  in  the  ascendency, 
such  is  the  confidence  felt  in  him  as  a  presiding  officer,  that  he  is  ever 
made  moderator  of  the  town  meeting  when  he  will  consent ;  and  when 
drawn  juryman,  he  has  invariably  been  made  foreman.  He  is  president  of 
three  corporate  associations  in  his  town,  one  of  which  is  the  Citizens' 
Union  Bank  : — all  which  goes  to  show  that  the  candy  boy,  blundering 

25 


386  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

down  the  steps  of  Brown  University  in  affright,  is  now  a  full,  strong, 
honest  business-man. 

It  was  very  much  through  the  influence  of  Mr.  S.  that  the  old  prac 
tice  of  selling  the  keeping  of  the  poor  at  auction,  to  the  lowest  bidder, 
was  abandoned  in  his  town.  He  was  also  one  of  the  committee  for  car 
rying  out  the  plan  for  town  asylum,  which  is  now  in  successful  opera 
tion. 

But  we  hardly  need  particularize  further,  our  object  being  simply  to 
indicate  tho  estimation  in  which  Mr.  S.  is  held  by  his  townsmen.  He  is, 
as  before  remarked,  a  member  of  the  F.  W.  Baptist  Church.  He  is  a 
constant  attendant  upon  public  worship,  and  liberal  in  its  support.  He 
never  has  had  a  case  in  court  growing  out  of  his  own  business,  and  ever 
advises  settling  disputes  without  an  appeal  to  the  law,  when  it  can  be 
done  without  sacrificing  principle.  The  ease  and  dispatch  with  which 
he  transacts  business  is  a  subject  of  frequent  remark  and  surprise.  He 
keeps  his  own  books;  has  no  bustle  on  days  of  settlement ;  never  ban 
ters  in  trade ;  learns  the  state  of  the  market ;  sets  his  price,  or  makes 
his  offer,  and  there  the  matter  ends.  He  is  never  in  a  hurry — always 
has  time  to  be  sociable  with  his  friends. 

Persons  in  his  employ  are  ever  strongly  attached  to  him,  and  this 
too  notwithstanding  his  independent,  and  sometimes  even  blunt  mode 
of  dealing  with  them.  His  principal  workmen  have  been  in  his  employ 
from  nine  to  eighteen  years.  It  is  a  rare  thing  for  a  family  to  leave  his 
village.  .His  case  gives  proof  experimental  that  there  is  no  necessity 
for  that  want  of  sympathy  between  the  capitalist  and  his  workmen  so 
often  discoverable.  Mr.  S.  makes  no  effort  at  display  and  equipage 
above  that  of  an  ordinary  common-sense  man.  His  native  independ 
ence  renders  him  incapable  of  using  any  undue  influence  to  secure  pre 
ferment.  He  feels,  to  "use  his  own  language,  "  that  the  public  can  dis 
cern  a  man's  character  and  worth  by  his  general  course  of  life,  and  will 
be  likely  to  deal  with  him  accordingly."  Connected  with  his  manufac 
turing  establishment  he  has  a  small  farming  business,  which  he  feels  to 
be  more  congenial  to  his  inclination,  and  to  which,  if  more  would  turn 
their  attention,  he  thinks  it  would  be  better  for  the  community.  He  is 
now,  at  the  age  of  forty-five,  in  good  health,  spending  his  days  very  qui 
etly,  and  in  the  enjoyment  of  conscious  virtue,  and  of  the  respect  of  his 
fellow-citizens.  His  aged  and  virtuous  parent,  and  his  amiable,  indus 
trious,  and  virtuous  sisters,  are  settled  but  a  few  steps  from  his  door  in 
his  quiet  village,  happy,  doubtless,  and  grateful  in  being  blessed  with 
such  a  son  and  brother. 

Should  any  reader  of  this  brief  memoir  chance  to  call  at  his  house,  he 
shall  not  fail  to  be  received  with  a  cordial  and  unstudied  hospitality 
which  will  at  once  assure  him  of  his  welcome. 


H.   H.  EMMONS,  OF  MICHIGAN.  387 

H.  H.  EMMONS, 

OF   DETROIT,   MICHIGAN. 

WHEN  Mr.  E.  submitted  to  the  writer  of  this  the  propriety  of  com- 
plying  with  the  request  to  furnish  a  memoir  for  the  present  work,  he 
remarked,  that  "  if  the  intention  of  the  work  was,  at  this  day,  to  present 
to  the  profession  a  portraiture  of  the  great  leading  lawyers  of  the  nation, 
who  thus  far  had  most  materially  aided  in  laying  the  foundations  of  her 
jurisprudence,  and  constructing  the  framework  of  her  constitution — those 
of  whom  the  country  was  justly  proud,  and  whose  lives  the  American 
citizen  would  delight  to  hear  read,  criticised,  and  contrasted  with 
the  sages  of  the  law  in  foreign  lands — if  such  is  the  high  object  of  the 
work,  then,"  said  he,  "  my  own  short,  obscure,  and  wholly  common-place 
history,  has  no  business  there.  Its  insertion  would  be  absurd,  and  but  a 
distasteful  repetition,  in  another  department,  of  those  farcical  exposures 
of  littleness  and  vanity  which  so  many  inconsiderable  men  of  modern 
times  are  making  in  the  political  reviews.  Since  the  days  of  old  jEsop 
the  asses  have  never  worn  with  success  the  skin  of  the  lion.  I  have  not 
yet  begun  to  hope  that,  if  Providence  shall  spare  my  life  for  thirty  years 
to  come,  and  suffer  me  still  to  toil  on  in  the  laborious  path  I  have  so  sa 
tisfactorily  thus  far  followed,  that  I  shall  even  then  have  been  enabled 
so  to  keep  up  with  the  enlightening  and  growing  spirit  of  modern  juris 
prudence,  so  to  aid  in  improving  its  principles,  in  ameliorating  the  modes 
of  its  administration,  and  in  leading  the  long  list  of  able  men  which  my 
state  opposes  to  the  efforts  of  any  man  who  would  lay  claim  to  the  first 
high  station  at  its  bar,  as  to  place  my  name  in  a  similar  volume  which 
shall,  at  that  distant  day,  record  the  greatness  of  the  American  bar. 
There  is  no  doubt  whatever  of  the  distinction  between  a  '  distinguished 
American  lawyer^  and.  a  young,  faithful,  rising,  successful  leader  of  the 
bar  in  the  newer  states  of  the  northwest. 

"  As  yet,  we  have  few — indeed,  no  old,  experienced,  and  profoundly 
learned  lawyers.  Our  greatest  boast  must  now  be  that  our  young  men 
are  as  laborious  and  faithful,  present  as  strong  an  array  of  talent  and  in 
dustry,  and,  therefore,  as  many  of  the  elements  of  future  greatness,  as  the 
more  aged  and  experienced  bars  of  the  East.  Our  time  has  not  come  to 
claim  a  place  in  a  work  which  details  the  successes  and  glories,  the  great 
ness  and  power,  of  the\American  judiciary,  and  its  most  learned  and  able 
counsellors. 

"  But  if  the  work  proposes  to  furnish  to  the  student  and  young  pro 
fessional  man  a  guide  and  stimulus  to  exertion,  by  detailing  the  successes 
of  living  men,  thus  enabling  them  to  see  the  precise  road  which  others, 
succeeding  at  the  same  period,  and  in  all  respects  circumstanced  like  them 
selves,  have  followed  up  to  wealth,  high  respectability  in  life,  and  eminent 
professional  standing,  then  our  own  state  may  well  furnish  her  quota  of 
illustrations.  Some  of  these  results,  in  a  slight  degree,  my  own  short 
history  may  illustrate  ;  and  if  the  policy  is  to  set  forth  instances  of  pro 
fessional  prosperity  from  each  state,  then  I  have  no  objection  to  have  pre 
pared  the  simple  detail  of  my  hard,  unremitted  twelve  years'  toil,  its 


388  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

professional  rewards,  and  quite  moderate  triumphs.  If  those  who  are 
starting  on  behind  me  can  see  aught  in  it  worthy  of  imitation,  or  tend 
ing  to  stimulate  a  just  professional  ambition,  I  shall,  indeed,  be  happy 
to  know  that  thus  early  in  life  a  far  higher  and  better  use  of  my  labors 
can  be  made  than  I  had  ever  dared  to  hope." 

The  great  mass  of  history  writers  have  treated  the  acts  of  the  politi 
cian,  the  place-holder,  and  the  military  leader,  as  though  they  alone 
guided  the  destiny  of  their  country,  and  moved  on  the  wheels  of  civiliza 
tion,  and  of  social  and  intellectual  progress.  They  overlook  the  mighty 
impulses,  the  revolutions  and  great  principles,  which  the  quiet  and 
noiseless  philosopher  and  the  moral  reformer  are  ever  producing  in  the 
world.  The  men  who  enact  into  laws  the  profound  principles  which  the 
historically  unknown  lawyer  has  eloquently  demonstrated  at  the  bar. 
and  which  the  judge  has  elaborated,  matured,  and  announced  from  the 
bench,  alone  find  a  place  on  the  records  of  their  time.  They  who  are  but  in 
struments,  who  but  float  along  on  the  popular  tide,  and  utter  the  thoughts 
and  mature  convictions  which  studious  and  unostentatious  intellectual 
greatness  has  impressed  on  its  country  and  age,  alone  figure  in  the  columns 
of  the  political  journal,  and  find  a  place  on  the  historical  page,  while  the 
real  sources  of  human  progress  are  unrecorded  and  unknown. 

The  possession  of  place,  of  public  political  places,  is  not  only  falsely 
assumed  as  high  evidence  of  official  fitness,  but,  still  more  unfortunately, 
is  it  frquently  treated  by  the  general  historian  and  the  memoir  writer  as 
the  sole  evidence  of  distinguished  talent,  and  of  public  power  and  influ 
ence.     And  more  especially  is  it  true  that  the  great  mass  of  American 
authors  who  have  essayed  to  write  the  life  or  notice  the  success  of  an 
eminent  lawyer,  have  seemed  to  labor  under  a  sense  of  the  littleness  and 
obscurity  of  their  hero  until  his  purely  professionalise  was  abandoned — 
until  he  could  be  spoken  of  as  no  longer  enthusiastically  devoted  to  one 
of  the  most  noble  and  ennobling  studies  in  the  whole  round  of  human 
inquiry,  and  as  having  successfully  entered  that  partisan  field  where 
thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of  low,  mean,  and  ignorant  men  rise  to 
high  position  and  influence.      It  is  only  when  they  have  been  elected  to 
something,  that  tangible  evidence  of  eminence,  greatness,  and  power,  is 
supposed  to  be  discovered,  and  the  subject  raised  up  to  the  dignity  of 
legitimate  history.     They  hardly  touch  upon  the  early  life  of  the  stu 
dent,  the  struggles  manfully  made  with  the  discouragements  of  poverty, 
ill  health,  obscure  locations,  meagre  libraries,  and  poor  instruction,  all 
overcome  by  perseverance  and  energy,  in  the  details  of  which  the  young 
reader  may  see  a  picture  of  difficulties  conquered,  which,  in  his  own 
case,  he  had  supposed  unconquerable.     The  early  professional  obstacles, 
when,  without  books,  clients,  money,  or  influential  friends,  a  meagerly- 
furnished  office  has  been  opened  with  faint  hopes  and  dreary  prospects — 
the  excitements  of  early  practice — the  varied  character  of  success,  whe 
ther  brilliant,  sudden,  and  attractive,  or  gradual,  solid,  and  noiseless — 
the  course  of  investigation — the  manner  of  constructing  arguments  and 
briefs — the  mode  of  preparation  for  trial,  and  peculiarities  in  its  con 
duct — the  extent  and  kind  of  professional  practice — the  treatment  of 
clients — the  degree  of  pecuniary  success,  and  the  nature  and  limits  of 
the  reputation  won  by  the  life  whose  picture  is  drawn,  are  all,  in  the 
great  majority  of  instances,  wholly  overlooked.      The  law,  with  all  its 


H.  H.  EMMONS,  OF  MICHIGAN.  389 

great  responsibilities,  its  solemn  duties,  its  showy,  popular,  and  ambition- 
gratifying  successes,  its  power  and  influence  upon  every  state  and  nation, 
where  its  principles  are  cultivated  and  studied  as  a  science,  its  high  and 
powerful  positions,  is  considered  as  an  instrumentality  only  in  the  hands 
of  its  professors  for  merely  partisan  political  achievement.  It  is  not 
treated  as  an  ultimate  object,  but  rather  as  a  road  leading  to  loftier 
fields  of  public  activity  above  and  beyond  it. 

These  things  have  so  moulded  public  taste  that  the  details  of  success, 
however  great  and  sudden,  of  merely  legal  attainments,  however  pro 
found  and  varied,  when  unassociated  with  any  manifestation  of  popular 
favor  beyond  extensive  professional  employment,  appear,  to  the  minds 
of  the  great  majority,  tame  and  trivial. 

But  very  few  of  the  really  great  lawyers  of  our  country  have  risen  to 
political  eminence.  They  who  have  thus  shone  in  both  departments 
have  a  long  list  of  professional  triumphs  to  grace  their  history  before 
they  have  entered  that  field  of  party  servitude,  outside  of  which,  during 
the  last  half  century,  no  public  man  has  obtained  or  preserved  a  place 
and  political  power  in  our  country.  And  he  whose  life  offers  no  extra 
ordinary  attainments,  success,  or  power,  at  the  bar  or  upon  the  bench, 
which  presents  no  incidents  indicative  of  great  talent  and  industry,  or 
adaptation  to  the  profession,  and  is  in  no  way  distinguished  from  the 
great  mass  of  lawyers  around  him,  except  that  he  has,  in  common  with 
ten  thousand  men,  who  are  not  even  nominally  lawyers,  succeeded  in 
procuring  a  party  nomination,  can  have  no  peculiar  interest  for  the  pro 
fession,  or  afford  any  useful  instruction  or  guide  for  the  young  and  am 
bitious  student.  On  the  contrary,  the  incidents  in  the  life  of  one  who 
has  been  exclusively  devoted  to  his  profession,  never  held  an  office,  ob 
tained  or  sought  a  nomination,  never  attended  a  political  caucus,  or  en 
deavored  to  control  the  selection  of  a  candidate,  and  who  has  risen  to 
the  first  rank  in  his  profession,  obtained  wealth,  high  standing  and  influ 
ence,  a  gratifying  reputation,  and,  indeed,  everything  which  legitimately 
attaches  us  to  the  fortunes  of  a  learned,  laborious,  arid  eminently  suc 
cessful  lawyer,  are  all  well  worthy  of  a  student's  examination,  and  will 
encourage  his  perseverance,  or  correct  his  mistakes. 

It  is  with  these  views  that  the  following  memoir  is  presented  to  the 
profession,  in  full  confidence  that  it  will  safely  stand  the  test  of  our  cri 
ticism.  There  may  be  some  men  in  Michigan,  besides  its  one  great 
leading  statesman,  better  known  beyond  the  limits  of  the  state  than 
Mr.  E.  But,  as  a  thorough  technical  lawyer,  he  has  no  equal  of  his 
age,  and  no  superior  at  all  at  the  Michigan  bar.  No  man  so  thoroughly 
and  exhaustingly  argues  a  legal  question,  nor  more  closely  and  success 
fully  conducts  causes  before  a  jury.  There  are  some  his  superiors  in 
the  mere  beauties  of  declamation — some  his  equals  in  shrewdness  and 
management  at  the  circuit,  and  among  the  older  lawyers  and  on  the 
bench,  perhaps,  he  may  be  equaled  in  technical  learning ;  but  I  know 
the  common  judgment  of  the  state  is  but  echoed,  when  I  say  that,  for 
a  union  of  all  the  qualities  which  go  to  make  up  the  strong  lawyer,  for 
a  combination  of  natural  talent,  logical  accuracy,  extraordinarily  laborious 
habits,  universal  preparation,  instantaneous  perception  of  error,  and 
readiness  of  answer ;  for  strong,  illustrative  and  convincing  argument, 
and,  when  great  principles  are  concerned,  impassioned  eloquence ;  for 


390  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

subtlety  of  distinction,  without  ever  being  known  to  be  indistinct  or 
vague ;  for  fairness,  for  boldness,  for  all  allowable  strategy  and  manage 
ment  which  the  detection  of  falsehood  and  the  support  of  truth  demand; 
for  that  general  walk  in  life,  that  course  in  court  which  wins  the  confi 
dence  and  secures  influence  with  the  bench  ;  for  a  union  of  all  these  high 
qualities,  he  is  beyond  all  comparison,  thus  early  in  his  professional 
life,  the  first  man  in  his  state.  The  vast  extent  of  his  practice,  and  the 
magnitude  and  variety  of  his  employments,  prove  that  this  high  praise 
is  in  nowise  beyond  the  practical  and  constantly-manifested  judgment 
of  the  community  in  which  he  lives. 

The  professional  success  of  Mr.  E.  was  rapid  beyond  parallel.  He 
had  no  probation,  but  entered  immediately  upon  the  highest  and  se 
verest  labors  of  the  law.  He  has  been  at  the  bar  but  little  more  than 
twelve  years,  and  at  the  time  when,  a  few  months  since,  ill  health  com 
pelled  him  to  turn  over  for  a  time  his  immense  business,  while  he 
makes  an  attempt,  by  travel,  to  recruit  his  strength,  his  practice  was 
not  only  larger  than  any  other  man  in  his  own  state,  but,  so  far  as  the 
writer  believes,  it  had  no  equal  in  the  northwest.  He  was  engaged 
in  nearly  all  the  more  important  and  more  severely-contested  cases  in 
Michigan,  and  was  frequently  employed  as  counsel  in  the  adjoining 
states.  His  immense  practice  was  by  no  means  obtained  or  aided  by 
the  moderation  of  his  charges.  Five  hundred,  and  one  thousand  dollars 
are  familiar  items  of  credits  for  retainers  on  his  books,  and,  in  many  in 
stances,  double  the  latter  sum  has  been  received.  Considering  the 
standard  charges  of  the  bar  at  wrhich  he  practises,  these  rates  evince  an 
employment  in  the  very  highest  walks  of  his  profession,  and  in  the  most 
important  and  difficult  cases.  It  is  true  he  has  had  the  benefit  of  a 
most  popular  and  talented  partner,  a  man  of  considerable  eloquence 
and  power  as  a  jury  advocate,  which,  in  many  instances,  it  is  highly 
probable  has  induced  the  retainer  of  his  firm.  But  it  is  well  known  that 
the  legal  questions  presented  in  each  contest  have  mainly  depended 
upon  the  efforts  of  Mr.  E.  Had  he  pursued  his  profession  alone,  and 
years  ago  confined  his  attention  solely  to  the  argument  of  legal  questions 
in  the  court  of  last  resort,  and  the  duties  of  counsel  in  the  trial  of  causes 
at  the  circuit,  as  he  now  does,  he  would  have  obtained  a  still  higher 
fame,  as  a  jurist,  than  he  at  present  enjoys. 

In  the  early  history  of  Mr.  E.  there  is  nothing  extraordinary.  Its 
particulars  are  worthy  of  notice  only  as  they  illustrate  how  unnecessary 
for  eminent  future  success  are  remarkable  and  precocious  natural  deve 
lopments  or  premature  devotion  to  study.  During  his  boyish  years, 
he  was  characterized  more  for  boldness  and  vigor  of  action,  an  untiring 
spirit  which  usually  gave  him  the  leadership  of  young  companions  than 
for  studious  and  intellectual  habits.  Though  seldom  tyrannically  ex 
ercised,  he  was  celebrated  for  an  uncommon  degree  of  physical  courage, 
and,  when  exasperated,  of  even  recklessness.  A  degree  of  boldness  in 
the  assertion  and  defence  of  what  he  esteemed  his  rights,  far  beyond 
the  common  measure,  when  but  a  mere  lad,  obtained  for  him  much  no 
toriety.  The  author  of  this  memoir  being  present  at  a  meeting  between 
Mr.  E.  and  a  gentleman  who  knew  him  intimately  in  youth,  listened 
with  great  interest  and  wonder  to  an  extended  list  of  really  extraor 
dinary  feats  and  contests  of  which  he  was  the  hero.  Some  really 


H.  H.  EMMONS,  OF  MICHIGAN.  39l 

amusing  and  inherent  interest  had  been  selected  for  insertion,  but  the 
length  to  which  other  more  illustrative  and  instructive  materials  have 
extended  this  notice  has  caused  their  erasure.  They  all  evince  a  bold, 
determined  spirit,  and  if  the  particulars  were  not  glossed  by  the  lapse 
of  time  and  the  partialities  of  friendship,  they  indicated,  also,  a  sense  of 
justice  and  early  devotion  to  truth  and  honor  which  must  have  wholly 
assuaged  any  fears  which  the  violence  attending  some  of  them  may 
have  elicited  for  his  future  life.  The  same  indomitable  perseverance 
and  unceasing  activity  with  which  he  accomplished  his  early  exploits 
mark,  in  an  eminent  degree,  his  after-life.  It  has  carried  him  through 
difficulties  and  professional  contests  of  a  peculiarly  trying  and  afflicting 
nature,  and  caused  him  to  pass  triumphantly  through  scenes  of  conflict 
and  unusual  opposition,  which  would  have  crushed  ninety-nine  men  in 
the  hundred.  It,  beyond  all  doubt,  characterizes  his  public  reputation, 
and  produces  that  rankness  of  grasp  with  which  he  seizes  upon  every 
thing  of  a  public  nature  which  succeeds  in  enlisting  his  sympathies.  He 
does  nothing  by  halves;  what  he  touches  he  leads  in.  It  impels  him 
forward  wholly  irrespective  of  personal  consequences.  So  marked  is  the 
latter  peculiarity,  that  when  the  health  of  Mr.  E.,  at  a  public  dinner, 
had  been  proposed,  that  portion  of  the  preliminary  remarks  which  ac 
corded  to  him  the  advocacy  of  what  he  deemed  right,  irrespective  of  its 
popularity  or  its  personal  effect,  called  from  the  audience  an  audible 
and  universal  assent. 

To  his  political  party  he  owes  nothing.  No  clique,  or  combination 
of  men,  have  aided  his  advancement.  And,  although  extensively 
known  as  a  public  man,  without  his  profession,  it  is  more  as  a  leader  and 
friend  of  the  various  movements  for  intellectual  and  moral  improvement 
than  as  a  party  politician. 

It  is  true  he  is.  in  his  own  peculiar  mode,  an  ardent  politician,  but  it 
is  only  because  he  is  ardent  in  everything  which  he  deems  essential  He 
goes  out  to  a  political  argument  as  he  goes  up  to  the  Supreme  Court — 
prepared.  Having  a  definite  object,  obtaining  which,  or  learning  it  is 
unattainable,  he  returns  to  his  library  as  if  no  agitating  contest  had 
ever  solicited  his  labors  from.  it.  So  fixed  are  his  rules  and  habits,  that 
he  returns  to  his  office  invariably  after  a  public  political  effort,  and 
however  difficult  the  duty,  forces  his  mind  back,  before  retiring  to  rest, 
to  the  legal  subject  he  left  for  his  political  study. 

The  family  of  Mr.  E.,  which,  though  never  wealthy,  and  sometimes, 
by  the  accident  of  business,  really  poor,  was  yet  eminently  respectable, 
always  commanding  a  high  social  position,  and  stimulating  in  the  do 
mestic  circle  habits  of  thoughtfulness,  and  sound,  substantial  conversa 
tion.  Though  neither  himself,  nor  either  of  his  talented  or  distinguished 
brothers,  was  regularly  educated  at  schools,  the  activity  of  the  family 
mind,  the  constant  discussion  of  current  topics,  fitted  him,  at  an  early 
day,  for  those  professional  contests  in  which,  writh  a  success  equal  to 
that  of  any  man  in  the  northwest,  he  has  subsequently  engaged. 

Nor  is  this  reference  to  the  intellectual  activity  of  the  family  of  Mr. 
E.,  one  of  those  meaningless  things  which  is  so  frequently  said  of  the 
family  relatives  of  a  successful  man.  He  has  a  younger  brother  at 
Milwaukie,  in  Wisconsin,  who  read  his  profession  in  his  office,  and  who, 
like  Mr.  E.,  left  a  mercantile  clerkship  for  the  study  of  the  wofessioD. 


92  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

He  has  equal  talent,  is  making  equal  progress,  and  is,  though  but  just 
commencing  his  profession,  in  the  very  first  rank,  doing  the  most  im 
portant,  lucrative,  and  extensive  business  of  any  lawyer  of  his  state. 
He  has  never  been  in  school  since  a  mere  lad,  and  from  a  very  early  age 
was  constantly  engaged  in  laborious  mercantile  pursuits.  Eminent 
success,  repeated  triumphs  over  old,  educated  and  experienced  men  in 
such  circumstances  is  conclusive  evidence  of  the  very  highest  talent. 

He  has  another  brother  in  Michigan,  whose  brilliant  and  extraordi 
nary  career  has  been  impeded  by  that  cruel  and  common  misfortune 
•which  so  often  strikes  down  the  warm-hearted  and  talented  young  men 
of  our  country.  But  before  the  great  curse  of  our  nation  arrested  his 
rapid  rise,  it  was  far  more  sudden  and  brilliant  than  that  of  either  of 
his  brothers.  His  talents  are  indeed  remarkable.  At  the  age  of  six 
teen,  alone,  he  came  to  Michigan  as  a  mercantile  clerk,  without  a  friend 
to  aid  him,  or  a  letter  of  introduction,  without  education  save  that 
which  the  natural  intellectual  activity  of  his  whole  family  impelled  him 
to  acquire  in  the  midst  of  his  business  labors.  When  scarcely  nineteen, 
two  years  before,  according  to  the  laws  and  constitution  of  the  state,  he  was 
entitled  to  hold  the  office,  he  was  elected  secretary  to  the  legislature  in 
opposition  to  several  old  and  leading  politicians  of  the  state.  The  first 
volume  of  the  laws  of  the  State  of  Michigan  were  published  under  the 
supervision  of  young  J.  P.  C.  Emmons,  a  lad  of  nineteen,  who  was 
elected  to  the  post  which  imposed  the  duty,  not  by  the  collateral  influ 
ence  of  others,  but  because,  having  acted  in  the  same  department  in  a 
subordinate  capacity  the  former  year,  his  talents  and  popular  manners 
made  nearly  every  member  unwilling  to  place  another  above  him,  how 
ever  old,  experienced  and  influential.  He  also  read  law  with  Mr.  H. 
H.  E.,  and  until  his  habits  became  unsteady  bid  fair  to  outstrip  every 
competitor.  He  has  been  once  a  member  of  the  state  legislature.  He 
is  again,  with  reformed  habits,  applying  himself  to  duty,  and  if  sustain 
ed  by  Providence  in  his  present  resolutions,  but  few  years  will  compel 
the  professional  lines  to  open  and  let  him  pass  on  to  the  front  rank. 

A  third  brother,  beloved  by  the  whole  city,  whose  precocious  mind 
had  already  attracted  much  attention,  died  two  years  since,  at  the  age 
of  sixteen.  He  had  been  but  little  at  school,  but  like  each  of  his  older 
brothers,  had  early  entered  a  store  as  a  clerk,  and  like  them,  had  de 
voted  himself  arduously  to  study.  Such  works  as  Alison's  Europe, 
Macauley's  England,  Thier's  Revolution,  Bancroft's  United  States,  had 
not  only  been  read  carefully  by  him,  but  their  historical  assertions  ex 
amined,  and  the  political  views  analyzed  and  reviewed  at  great  length. 
He  left  voluminous  manuscripts  of  a  character  indicating  a  mind  of  the 
noblest  and  loftiest  cast,  and  the  most  precocious  and  singular  acute- 
ness.  Had  he  been  spared  none  can  doubt  that  he  would  have  over 
topped  the  most  successful  of  his  talented  family.  No  boy  of  his  age 
was  ever  mourned  by  a  greater  number  of  admiring  and  sincere  friends 
than  Frederick  A.  Emmons. 

His  mother  and  sisters  have  no  public  literary  reputation,  but  those 
who  know  them,  perceive  that  the  great  source  of  their  brother's  success 
may  be  traced  to  the  leading  traits  of  mind  common  to  every  member 
of  the  family. 

His  father  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  the  State  of  New-York,  but 


H.  H.  EMMONS,  OF  MICHIGAN.  303 

being  early  led  into  the  field  of  party  politics  his  profession  was  aban 
doned  for  the  editorship  of  a  political  journal.  As  a  partisan  writer,  he 
was  celebrated  for  originality  and  strength.  His  paper  attracted  much 
attention  in  the  state;  and  when  at  a  later  period  in  life  he  concluded 
to  return  to  the  practice  of  the  law,  he  received  advantageous  offers  of 
connections  from  the  learned  and  talented  editors  of  several  of  the  lead 
ing  journals  of  the  eastern  cities.  During  the  few  years  that  he  devo 
ted  himself  to  the  study  and  practice  of  the  law  at  Detroit,  few  men 
ever  made  more  rapid  progress  in  professional  learning.  Indeed  few 
knew  and  none  would  have  suspected  that  the  thirty  preceding  years 
had  been  spent  in  the  editorial  chair  instead  of  labors  at  the  bar. 
Until  his  death,  a  few  years  after  his  arrival  at  Detroit,  he  maintained  a 
leading  place  in  his  profession. 

Mr.  Emmons  commenced  his  professional  studies  without  any  regu 
lar  course  of  scientific  education.  He  was  not,  however,  without  the  ad 
vantages  of  great  study  and  mental  discipline.  He  is  not  held  up  as 
one  of  those  mental  wonders  who  are  great  without  effort,  know  much 
without  any  investigation,  and  astound  the  world  by  their  instinctive 
profundity.  We  do  not  believe  in  such  prodigies.  When  they  are 
supposed  to  be  discovered,  it  is  but  mistaking  the  energetic  and  deter 
mined  man  who  educates  himself,  for  one  who  has  not  been  educated 
at  all.  The  study  and  acquirements  of  Mr.  Emmons  are  worthy  of 
notice  only  as  their  extent  and  success  may  encourage  others  who  de 
sire  the  results  he  has  obtained,  but  erroneously  believe  that  they  have 
no  opportunity,  no  time,  no  power,  to  attain  them. 

The  business  of  his  father's  office,  while  an  editor,  engaged  nearly  the 
entire  time  of  Mr.  Emmons,  who  was  the  eldest  son.  The  establish 
ment  of  routes,  the  circulation  of  the  journal,  and  political  circulars  and 
pamphlets,  and  the  collection  of  dues,  kept  him  from  school  at  that  age 
when  ninety-nine  boys  in  the  hundred,  in  the  same  rank  in  life,  are  care 
fully  kept  there.  But,  although  absent  three  days  in  the  week,  he  was 
universally  up  with  his  classes.  His  Latin  grammar  lessons  were 
nearly  all  learned  in  the  saddle,  except  three  months  at  a  select  school. 
He  never  had  any  other  instruction  besides  that  which  he  obtained  in 
the  common  schools  of  his  town.  During  his  clerkship,  although  win 
ning  invariably  the  confidence  of,  and  giving  entire  satisfaction  to  his  em 
ployer,  he  was  a  close  student,  never  retiring  to  his  bed  without  giving 
at  least  two  hours  to  his  books.  In  winter,  he  seldom  rose  later  than 
half-past  four  or  five,  and  thus  secured  to  himself  some  two  or  three 
hours  for  study  before  the  business  of  the  day  commenced.  Yet  he  was 
still  intending  himself  for  a  merchant;  and  with  no  object  beyond  the 
love  of  study,  and  a  determination  to  take  a  stand  among  intelligent 
and  learned  gentlemen,  he  was  pursuing  this  indefatigable  course.  He 
had  two  early  friends,  each  of  whose  example,  he  has  frequently  said, 
alternately  controlled  his  intention  and  revolutionized  his  resolutions. 
James  P.  Cronkhite,  Esq.,  now  a  wealthy  and  indefatigable  merchant  of 
New-York  city,  but  who  is  at  the  same  time  entitled  to  rank  among  the 
leading  literary  men  of  his  state,  was  among  the  most  intimate  com 
panions  of  his  boyhood.  He  was  some  years  older  than  E.,  and  his 
early  habits  of  study  amidst  his  business  avocations  he  has  frequently 
said  influenced  his  own  application.  John  H.  Martindale,  Esq.,  a  lead- 


394  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

ing  and  talented  young  lawyer  of  Western  New- York,  now  practising 
at  Rochester,  in  that  state,  was  also  an  equally  intimate  associate;  and 
when  the  latter  obtained  an  appointment  at  West  Point,  a  constant  cor 
respondence  was  kept  up  between  them.  While  E.  was  a  clerk,  Mar- 
tindale  was  a  cadet  at  the  military  academy,  earning  fame  and  triumph 
as  a  laborious  and  successful  student.  Before  they  parted  they  pur 
sued  their  studies  together,  and  with  the  romance  and  confidence  of  in 
experienced  lads,  laid  many  plans  for  future  professional  efforts,  and 
drew  many  a  picture  of  public  success.  Letter  after  letter  came  from 
Martindale  filled  with  expressions  of  wonder,  regret,  and  expostulation, 
that  the  bright  plans  they  had  formed  for  the  future  could  thus  be  given 
up.  Though  at  first  all  this  made  but  slight  impression,  other  things 
combined  to  aid  their  effect,  and  the  counting-room,  was  at  last  aban 
doned  for  the  bar. 

He  was  entirely  without  means,  but  relied  upon  what  he  might  earn  as 
a  student  in  inferior  courts,  and  being  relieved  from  anxiety  by  a  knowl 
edge  that,  if  necessary,  he  would  receive  from  home  everything  to  render 
him  entirely  comfortable  and  respectable.  Boarding  at  his  father's 
house,  and  avoiding  thus  the  little  expenses  which  young  men  in  society 
away  from  home  are  obliged  to  incur,  his  personal  expenses  were  very 
small,  and  it  soon  appeared  that  the  result  of  his  justice-court  practice 
would  not  only  give  him  a  handsome  support  but  enable  him  to  lay  up 
something  for  the  future. 

Mr.  Emmons  entered  the  office  of  Messrs.  Stowe  and  Stetson,  at 
Keeseville,  in  the  northern  part  of  the  State  of  New- York,  men  of  de 
cided  ability  and  fair  practice,  but  neither  of  them  inclined  to  devote 
any  time  to  the  examination  of  a  student  or  the  direction  of  his  studies. 
The  universal,  and  as  Mr.  Emmons  insists,  the  inappropriate  four  vol 
umes  of  Blackstone  were  put  into  his  hands.  These  he  found  dry  and 
uninteresting,  and  although  short-hand  notes  of  each  of  the  chapters  were 
made,  he  became  but  little  interested.  Against  the  advice  of  others  and 
the  usual  custom,  he  read  before  finishing  them  other  more  practical 
treatises.  Chitty's  Contracts,  Cowen's  Justice  Court  Treatise,  Colyer's 
Partnerships,  Phelp's  Evidences,  Kent  and  other  works  were  better 
relished.  But  no  work  was  ever  passed  rapidly  through.  A  sufficient 
number  of  the  citations  were  examined  to  thoroughly  understand  the 
application  of  principles.  This  course  is  always  recommended  by  Mr. 
Emmons  to  his  students.  He  insists  that  nine  law-books  in  ten  actu 
ally  misinform  the  student.  The  writer  has  heard  him  put  the  following 
illustration  :  Take  twenty  intelligent,  educated  men,  and  read  to  them 
some  familiar  legal  maxim,  and  ask  each  for  his  understanding  of  its 
meaning  and  application,  and  no  two  will  agree,  and  probably  no  one 
be  right.  But  read  to  them  the  reported  cases  in  full,  from  which  the 
rule  is  deduced,  and  each,  with  the  additional  reading  which  the  cases 
would  undoubtedly  stimulate,  would  perceive  its  true  meaning  and  prac 
tical  effect.  His  habits  of  notation  are  carried,  to  say  the  least,  to  the 
limit  of  usefulness.  They  were  acquired  when  a  student,  and  he  now 
declares  himself  unable  to  arrive  at  just  conclusions  without  continu 
ing  the  habit.  He  commenced  when  a  student  elaborate  preparations 
of  his  causes  in  justice's  court.  Everything  was  of  course  new.  The 
mode  of  proving  title  to  a  promissory  note,  and  the  rule  of  damages, 


H.  H.  EMMONS,  OF  MICHIGAN.  395 

were  mapped  out  as  methodically,  and  all  the  cases,  ancient  and  modern, 
as  critically  analysed,  as  though  he  were  going  to  ask  the  court  of  last 
resort  in  the  nation,  to  overturn  some  long  conceded  doctrine.  The 
mode  of  notation  was  full  and  minute,  bringing  out  boldly  and  conclu 
sively  the  point  to  be  established.  If  the  contrary  was  contended  by- 
counsel  ;  if  the  statement  of  facts  showed  it  the  only  point  in  the  case ; 
if  the  judge  met  and  expressly  overruled  the  precise  distinction,  antici 
pated  in  argument  on  his  own  cause ;  if  the  case  questioned  or  sanc 
tioned  former  ones ;  if  it  had  a  peculiar  history  in  court,  all  was  men 
tioned  in  the  memoranda.  Short  suggestive  notes  of  its  general  appli 
cation  in  his  own  cause  were  carefully  made.  Some  leading  fact  or 
thing  in  the  case  is  selected  by  way  of  aiding  the  memory  to  recall  its 
details.  Experience  taught  him  the  title  of  the  case  would  not  do  so; 
but  if,  in  ever  so  meagre  a  manner,  he  stated  the  most  simple  outline  of  its 
facts,  a  glance  at  his  memoranda  instantaneously  brought  up  the  details 
of  the  case.  For  his  opponent  to  announce  Doe  vs.  Smith  in  replevin, 
trespass,  or  ejectment,  seldom  enabled  him  to  recognize  the  report.  But 
the  moment  he  reached  a  single  fact  in  the  statement,  all  was  in  the 
memory  as  fresh  as  if  he  had  just  risen  from  the  book. 

During  his  clerkship  his  course  of  study  was  not  methodical,  or  so  far 
as  professional  reading  was  concerned,  excessively  laborious.  His  pre 
paration  for  particular  arguments  was  always  masterly ;  indeed,  he 
seemed  to  require  the  stimulus  of  anticipated  contest  to  arouse  him  to 
great  effort.  It  was  in  his  extraordinarily  large  justice-court  practice, 
and  in  the  preparation  for  counsel  of  briefs  for  the  argument  of  the  va 
rious  certioraris  and  appeals  to  which  his  almost  invariable  successes 
gave  rise,  that  his  great  progress  when  a  student  wras  made. 

His  four  years'  clerkship  passed  without  anything  remarkable  beyond 
the  ordinary  flattery  which  a  tolerably  industrious  student,  a  popular 
speaker,  frequently  called  to  officiate  as  orator  on  public  occasions, 
so  commonly  receives.  That  he  was  the  leading  and  most  promising 
young  man  in  that  portion  of  the  state  no  one  doubted ;  but  the  feeble 
ness  of  his  health,  and  frequent  recurrence  of  severe  attacks  of  sickness, 
forbade  a  prophecy  of  eminent  success  in  a  laborious  profession  on  the 
part  of  his  more  intimate  friends  and  family. 

The  last  two  years  were  spent  in  the  office  of  the  Hon.  Henry  H. 
Ross,  of  Essex,  a  gentleman  of  fine  education,  great  attainments  as  a  law 
yer,  of  wealth  and  local  influence,  who,  in  return  for  service  as  a  clerk 
merely  nominal,  received  him  as  a  member  of  his  family,  and  afforded 
the  advantages  of  an  extensive  library,  and  what  was  then  to  him  of 
great  consequence,  and  which  he  feels  daily  influencing  his  future  pro 
fessional  life,  the  benefits  of  many  a  useful  lecture  upon  the  pathway 
before  him.  Mr.  Emmons  says,  that  "General  Ross  had  quite  pardon 
ably  got  the  idea  that  I  thought  much  of  my  oratorical  powers,  and 
counted  on  wrell-turned  sentences  entirely  too  much  for  future  success. 
I  heard  on  this  subject  very  little  theory.  Not  a  word  was  said  directly 
imputing  such  a  taste  .or  such  a  reliance.  But,  as  though  by  way  of  in 
teresting  professional  reminiscences,  (and  such  they  really  were,)  the 
early  history  of  all  the  great  lawyers  whose  names  I  saw  from  day  to 
day  in  their  reports,  and  who  graced  the  high  judicial  places  in  the  state, 
were  detailed,  and  the  fact  prominently  brought  out,  that  as  students 


396  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

they  were  privately  and  unostentatiously  studious ;  that  they  had  no 
reputation  for  mere  eloquence,  made  no  public  speeches,  and  grew  to 
greatness  so  gradually,  and  so  quietly  attracted  public  attention,  that  no 
one  ever  dreamed  of  calling  the  best  of  them  a  genius.  Another  class 
was  also  passed  in  review  whose  precocious  and  showy  talents  had 
early  led  them  aside  from  the  profession,  when,  without  future  growth, 
or  any  considerable  success,  they  must  even  rest  satisfied  with  the  low 
praise  of  possessing  bright  parts  and  active  talents,  and  with  the  power 
of  success,  but  wanting  the  application  and  energy  to  achieve  it.  The 
force  of  habit,  the  irresistible  power  of  the  early  tendencies,  were  illus 
trated  by  hundreds  of  examples,  till  I  believe  1  saw  in  a  new  light  the 
road  before  me.  I  discovered  dangers  to  my  ardent  and  headstrong 
temperament  which,  but  for  these  timely  and  kindly  cautions,  I  might 
not  have  avoided. 

"I  determined  to  seek  a  standing  at  the  bar  first,  to  do  my  whole  duty 
to  my  clients,  and  never  seek  without  the  profession  the  slightest  ad- 
vancement.  If  collateral  success  or  reputation  came,  I  determined  it 
should  be  accidental,  or  when  I  had  faithfully  tried  my  utmost  efforts 
at  the  bar." 

Mr.  Emmons  was  on  two  occasions  permitted  to  address  juries  in  the 
Supreme  Court,  while  yet  a  student,  a  thing,  the  author  ventures  to  say, 
with  but  few  parallels  in  the  State  of  New- York.  His  own  statement 
of  the  circumstances  do  not  show  that  it  was  so  much  to  add  strength 
to  the  cause,  because  eminent  counsel  were  engaged,  as  out  of  friendship 
to  himself;  but  the  fact  shows  that  he  had  made  much  progress,  and  was 
quite  ready  for  practice  when  he  came  to  the  bar ;  indeed,  his  future 
history  must  amply  illustrate  this. 

The  first  cause  which  he  ever  tried,  or  rather  had  tried  in  a  court  of  re 
cord — for  with  all  his  experience  he  had  not  the  courage  to  try  it  without 
assistance — was  that  of  Bromley  vs.  Flack  in  the  Essex  Common  Pleas, 
an  appeal  from  a  judgment  given  against  his  client  by  a  local  magis 
trate.  The  case  was  trover  for  five  tons  of  hay,  which  in  evidence  turned 
out  to  be  part  of  a  larger  quantity  from  which  it  had  never  been 
severed.  He  had  intended  to  try  his  cause  alone.  The  amount  in  con 
troversy  was  small  and  his  client  poor,  but  when  the  docket  of  causes 
before  it  was  nearly  exhausted,  his  confidence  foiled  him,  and  applying 
to  Mr.  Stow,  with  whom  he  had  studied,  then  engaged  in  the  defence 
of  a  criminal,  obtained  his  promise  of  assistance.  There  was  no  oppor 
tunity  for  an  interview  until  the  cause  was  called,  and  hence  Mr.  Stow 
knew  nothing  of  its  merits.  He  gathered  all  from  the  opening  of  the 
plaintiff's  counsel,  and  immediately  moved  a  nonsuit  upon  the  ground 
before  suggested.  Mr.  E.  immediately  put  a  book  into  his  hand  to 
sustain  the  objection.  In  reply,  the  opposing  counsel  read  several  cases 
fully  supporting  the  action.  These  had  all  been  carefully  noted  in  the 
brief  of  Mr.  Emmons,  and  the  judgments  overruling  them  referred  to  at 
length.  They  too  were  passed  to  his  counsel,  and  owing  to  the  want 
of  an  interview  before  the  trial,  all  was  necessarily  done  in  a  manner 
to  attract  considerable  attention.  The  cases,  as  every  lawyer  knows,  are 
directly  in  conflict,  and  before  a  court  of  no  very  extended  legal  learn- 
*ngi  just  calculated  to  beget  what  then  happened — a  very  spirited  and 
altogether  the  most  attractive  merely  legal  argument  of  the  term.  The 


H.  H.  EMMONS,  OF  MICHIGAN.  397 

plaintiff  was  nonsuited,  and  Mr.  E.'s  client  came  off  victorious.  But 
this  is  not  the  point,  in  so  ordinary  a  transaction,  which  makes  it  worthy 
of  notice  here.  After  the  judge  had  announced  the  opinion,  and  before 
the  jury  left  their  seats,  before  an.  overflowing  court  house,  Mr.  Stow 
rose  and  said  he  felt  it  his  duty  to  make  a  few  remarks,  with  which  he 
doubted  not  every  member  of  the  bar  would  sympathize,  and  the  pro 
priety  of  which  he  deemed  justified  by  the  presence  of  a  number  of  stu 
dents  and  younger  members  of  the  bar.  He  then  unfolded  the  legal 
"brief  of  Mr.  E.,  turning  it  slowly  over,  page  after  page,  so  as  to  make 
the  greatest  display  of  its  extent,  reading  from  time  to  time  the  short 
condensed  statement  it  contained  of  the  principles  of  the  cases  analyzed. 
He  then  served  the  brief  of  testimony  in  a  similar  way,  calling  atten 
tion  particularly  to  the  fact  that  every  question  of  competency  and 
relevancy  which  could  have  arisen,  had  the  trial  preceded,  had  been  anti 
cipated  ;  and  although  defeat  was  not  anticipated,  that  the  rule  of  damages 
was  thoroughly  considered,  and  authorities  noted  in  support  of  all  the 
positions  taken.  He  concluded  by  saying  that,  in  the  whole  course  of 
his  professional  life,  without  any  reference  to  its  magnitude  or  interest, 
he  had  never  known  a  cause  better  prepared  than  the  present.  It 
seemed  complete  in  all  its  parts,  and  recommending  an  examination  of 
the  papers  as  models  for  his  young  friends,  he  returned  them  to  Mr.  E. 
The  thing  was  so  unexpected,  so  uncommon,  so  bold  a  deviation  from 
the  usages  of  courts,  that  it  nearly  overwhelmed  the  subject  of  the  ex 
traordinary  compliment. 

Mr.  Emmons  has  said  since,  that  when  he  was  obliged  to  ask  a 
senior  to  go  forward  in  the  cause,  to  give  up  as  he  thought  the  oppor 
tunity  of  developing  the  results  of  his  industry,  and  fidelity  to  his 
client,  that  he  felt  sad  and  disappointed ;  that  he  had  looked  ahead  to 
a  personal  triumph,  as  well  as  one  for  his  client,  and  resigned  the  oppor 
tunity  of  making  an  argument  with  feelings  of  reluctance;  that  when 
the  extraordinary  expose  of  his  counsel  thus  gave  him  all,  and  a  thousand 
lold  more  than  he  dreamed  of  achieving,  he  said  he  began  to  realize  how 
private  and  noiseless  study  would  make  its  results  known  to  the  public 
without  public  orations  or  political  speeches  ;  that  few  single  incidents 
of  his  life  have  so  decidedly  encouraged  laborious  preparation  as  this. 
He  remembers  the  author  of  the  compliment  with  great  gratitude  and 
warmth.  As  the  only  return  he  has  ever  been  able  to  make  is  a  con 
stant  practice  of  great  liberality  and  encouragement  towards  beginners 
in  the  profession,  which  so  striking  an  example  taught  them,  this  he  has 
faithfully  followed.  His  law  library,  one  of  the  largest  in  the  West,  his 
own  great  fund  of  legal  information,  without  fee  or  charge,  is  ever  ready 
for  the  student  or  young  lawyer.  His  extensive  case  of  briefs  is  filled 
with  slips  noticing  their  loan  to  various  professional  friends.  Arguments 
the  most  elaborate,  costing  months  of  labor,  are  readily  handed  out  as 
containing  a  leading  to  doctrines  sought  by  young  professional  inquirers. 
Whatever  of  liberality  he  has  received,  and  he  confesses  to  much  from 
the  learned  members  of  the  bar  among  whom  he  counts  his  good  for 
tune  to  have  read,  it  has  been  amply  repaid  in  the  mode  of  all  others 
they  would  most  desire  in  a  similar  generosity  towards  others. 

Soon  after  his  admission  to  the  bar,  although  located  in  a  distant  part 
of  the  state,  he  received  from  Nicholas  Hill,  Esq.,  then  of  Saratoga 


398  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

Springs,  one  of  the  learned  authors  of  "  Cowen  and  Hill's  Notes,"  an 
oner  of  copartnership.  He  was  at  first  pleased  with  the  offer,  and  daz 
zled  with  the  prospect  of  thus  immediately  approaching  the  focus  of 
legal  learning  in  the  state.  But  as  he  looked  over  the  long  lists 
of  learned  men  at  the  New-York  bar,  and  reflected  upon  his  own  feeble 
health,  he  feared  his  ability  for  the  iron  labors  of  that  incessant  study 
which  could  alone  distinguish  him  at  Saratoga  and  at  Albany.  Influ 
enced  by  the  common  error  of  the  East,  that  at  the  West  there  is  but 
little  legal  learning,  he  thought  that  with  less  labor,  if  his  health  should 
fail,  he  could  there  succeed.  Accordingly  he  made  choice  of  Cleveland, 
in  Ohio,  and  formed  a  professional  connection  with  a  gentleman  of  that 
city.  His  father  had  just  before  removed  to  Detroit,  in  Michigan,  and 
without  communicating  to  him  his  expectation,  had  taken  it  for  granted 
that  his  son  would  follow.  Though  the  elder  Mr.  Emmons  had,  as  be 
fore  stated,  in  early  life  been  admitted  to  the  bar,  and  was  a  man  of  far 
more  than  ordinary  talent  as  a  writer,  of  great  knowledge  of  the  world, 
and  unusually  industrious  habits,  still  he  had  been  so  long  from  the 
practice  as  to  be  wholly  unfitted  to  proceed  alone.  He  had  commenced 
in  a  strange  city,  with  a  large  family,  and  when  the  subject  of  our 
memoir  reviewed  the  circumstances,  and  learned  his  father's  expecta- 
tations  and  wishes  that  he  would  remain  with  him,  he  felt  that  he  had 
no  choice  left;  and  though  far  less  pleased  with  Detroit  than  Cleveland, 
he  followed  the  suggestions  of  duty,  and  immediately  entered  upon  that 
laborious  and  successful  career  which  has  so  undeniably  placed  him  in 
the  front  rank  of  his  profession. 

In  order  fully  to  appreciate  the  circumstances  which  follow,  it  is 
necessary  to  bear  in  mind  that  Mr.  Emmons  procured  no  letter  what 
ever  to  a  single  citizen  of  Michigan  ;  he  had  laid  all  his  plans,  issued  his 
cards,  and  obtained  his  introduction,  and  formed  his  connections,  for  a 
different  state.  His  father  too  was  quite  unexpectedly  located  at  Detroit. 
They  were  both  entire  strangers,  without  an  acquaintance  at  the  bar  or 
on  the  bench,  and  open  therefore  to  all  the  force  with  which  any  unlucky 
accident  or  mistake  might  affect  their  reputation. 

In  these  circumstances  was  commenced  by  the  Messrs.  Emmons  the 
case,  much  celebrated  in  the  West,  of  Fitch  &  Gilbert  vs.  Newberry  & 
Godell,  (reported  in  1st  Douglas,  Mich.  Rep.  1.)  At  this  day  and  in 
many  localities,  it  may  seem  strange  that  the  question  involved  could 
excite  so  severe  a  contest,  and  that  an  erroneous  opinion  of  the  law 
should  so  unusually  prevail  at  a  really  talented  and  learned  bar.  The 
same  question  however  has  been  since  thought  of  sufficient  doubt  to  be 
considered  and  decided  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State  of  New- 
York  ;  and  his  Honor  Judge  Metcalf,  of  Massachusetts,  in  correspond 
ence  not  long  since  with  Mr.  Emmons,  informed  him  that  the  court  of 
last  resort  in  that  state  had  followed  the  decision  in  F.  &  G.  vs.  N.  &  G. 
It  was  moreover,  at  the  time  of  its  decision,  published  in  all  the  leading 
journals  in  the  western  states,  and  became  the  theme  of  much  newspaper 
controversy.  At  least  in  Michigan,  the  doctrine  that  a  common  carrier 
had  a  lien  for  his  freight  on  all  goods  which,  in  the  ordinary  course  of 
trade  he  received  and  carried  in  good  faith,  without  reference  to  the  letter 
or  authority  of  the  consignor  to  ship  them,  had  never  been  questioned. 
The  diction  of  Chief  Justice  Holt,  in  the  old  case  of  York  vs.  Greenough, 


H.  H.  EMMONS,  OF  MICHIGAN.  399 

Had  always  "been  followed.  When,  without  paying  the  demanded  charges, 
a  writ  of  replevin  was  issued  by  the  Messrs.  Emmons  to  take  from  the 
hands  of  a  forwarding  merchant  a  large  quantity  of  merchandise,  who 
had  innocently  paid  the  freight  and  charges  of  the  carrier,  and  succeeded 
to  all  his  rights,  claiming  to  maintain  the  suit  on  the  ground  that 
the  owner  had  never  consented  to  the  shipment  of  the  goods,  and 
might  therefore  take  them  wherever  found,  it  was  a  doctrine  so  novel, 
so  at  war  with  what  had  for  years  been  conceded  to  the  law,  that  the 
defendant,  under  the  advice  of  one  of  the  leading  firms  of  the  city, 
arrested  for  perjury  the  plaintiff  who  made  the  affidavit  and  procured 
the  writ  of  replevin.  And  seldom  has  a  criminal  complaint  and  arrest, 
when  neither  life  nor  limb  has  been  periled  by  the  imputed  crime,  been 
attended  with  more  intense  excitement  and  indignation,  or  greater  offi 
cial  energy  and  zeal  for  punishment  on  the  part  of  the  prosecution.  Mr. 
Emmons  appeared  for  his  client,  and  though  he  presented  his  legal 
views  in  justification  of  the  affidavit-at  much  length,  and  with  his  usual 
clearness  and  force,  there  was  too  much  prejudice  and  feeling  for  their 
appreciation  by  the  magistrate,  and  his  client  was  discharged  solely 
upon  the  ground,  that  he  was  a  young  and  inexperienced  man.  and  had 
been  misadvised  by  injudicious  counsel !  The  magistrate  was  a  leading 
lawyer,  the  prosecuting  attorney  for  the  state  was  among  the  oldest  pro 
fessional  men  of  the  former  territory,  and  p.  man  of  much  influence  and 
standing.  It  was  moreover  deemed  proper  by  the  prosecuting  attorney 
to  prove  by  witnesses  what  the  law  actually  was,  and  several  members 
of  the  bar  rather  ludicrously  swore  on  their  oaths  that  Mr.  Emmons  had 
grossly  misadvised  his  client.  Everybody,  lawyers  and  laymen,  great 
and  small,  learned  and  unlearned,  looked  upon  and  proclaimed  the  new 
comers  as  desperate  and  ignorant  practitioners.  All  this  did  not  in  the 
least  daunt  our  hero.  There  never  was  an  emotion  of  fear  in  his  nature. 
His  young  client  was  sympathized  with,  calls  were  made  upon  him, 
and  goodly  advice  tendered  to  abandon  his  suit,  and  thus  show  that 
although  falsely  he  had  innocently  sworn.  Fortunately  he  too  proved 
to  be  a  man  of  mettle,  and  with  unshaken  confidence  in  his  counsel, 
who,  he  had  judgment  enough  to  see,  adduced  most  abundant  authori 
ty  for  the  advice  he  had  given,  determined  still  implicitly  to  follow  it, 
and  early  the  next  morning,  under  Mr.  Emmons'  direction,  arrested 
Mr.  Newberry,  who  acted  as  complainant  in  the  prosecution  for  perjury 
against  himself,  for  slander  and  malicious  prosecution.  This,  in  the  cir 
cumstances,  was  indeed  a  bold  measure.  And  when  it  is  considered 
how  difficult  is  the  support  in  evidence  of  the  latter  count,  it  will  pro 
bably  be  thought  injudicious  and  rash.  But  Mr.  Emmons  deemed  a 
prosecution  for  slander  too  easily  sustained.  He  saw  that  such  an 
action  was  maintainable  even  if  his  own  advice  were  wrong.  For  if  his 
client  swore  falsely,  yet  innocently,  the  accusation  of  Newberry, 
many  times  repeated  that  he  was  perjured,  would  subject  him  to  an 
action,  whereas  malicious  prosecution  could  not  be  sustained  without 
showing  not  only  that  Mr.  Newberry's  counsel  were  mistaken  as  lo  the 
law,  but  that  the  advice  was  so  eminently  absurd,  so  at  variance  with 
common-sense,  that  no  man  of  ordinary  intelligence  and  common  pru 
dence  would  have  followed  it.  This,  when  the  citizen  acts  upon  tho 
advice  of  counsel,  is  the  strong  rule  in  such  cases,  and  to  comply  with 


400  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

its  rigid  terms  before  a  jury  he  fearlessly  undertook.  To  show  that 
the  furor  against  himself  and  client  was  not  only  without  law,  but 
against  natural  reason,  he  not  only  argued  before  the  magistrate, 
but  by  prompt  prosecution  assumed  to  establish  judicially  in  court.  The 
arrest  of  Mr.  Newberry  added  fuel  to  the  flames  of  professional  indig 
nation  ;  some  who  had  rather  pitied,  as  indiscreet  and  inexperienced,  now 
yielded  to  the  prevailing  opinion  that  he  was  reckless  and  unprincipled. 
Added  to  his  really  spirited  and  bold  action  was  a  manner  unfortunately 
uncompromising,  and  in  moments  of  excitement  bitter  and  retaliatory. 
He  was  a  ready  debater,  clear  and  illustrative  in  his  arguments,  with  a 
natural  tendency  to  tartness  of  reply,  and  great  facility  at  rendering  a 
position  laughable  and  absurd.  Opposition  but  increased  all  these  cha 
racteristics,  and  that  which,  coming  in  the  pathway  of  a  less  fiery  tempera 
ment,  would  have  been  gently  and  temporarily  bent  to,  till  its  force  was 
spent,  and  time  and  reason  had  developed  its  errors  and  injustice,  was 
increased  and  perpetuated  by  the  invariable  alacrity  with  which  Mr. 
Emraons,  then  just  past  his  majority,  with  but  little  knowledge  of  the 
world,  drew  his  sword  for  combat  with  every  man  who  gave  provoca 
tion.  Many  scenes  unusual,  and  of  far  more  than  ordinary  interest  in 
detail,  attended  his  immediately  succeeding  practice.  Their  revival  now 
would  however  only  keep  alive  the  recollection  of  that  which  nothing 
but  passion  produced,  and  whose  actors,  then  angry  and  hostile,  are  now 
his  firmest  friends. 

They  have,  at  Mr.  E.'s  request,  been  omitted.  He  says  the  great 
fault  lay  in  his  own  impetuous  and  unyielding  nature ;  that,  though  he 
was  guilty  of  no  professional  wrong,  and  the  arrest,  in  the  outset,  of  his 
client  for  perjury  was  really  an  outrage,  and  the  abuse  of  himself  cruel 
and  unjust,  yet  all  those  who  were  engaged  in  it  were  sincere,  and  really 
believed  the  law  had  been  violated  ;  that,  though  fully  sustained  by  the 
courts,  though  gratified  by  the  publication  of  his  successes  in  the  journals 
of  the  day,  all  this  would  have  been  just  as  full  and  pleasing  had  he 
omitted  to  throw  into  the  cup  of  his  triumphs  the  bitter  dregs  of  continued 
contest  and  fierce  opposition. 

The  full  and  complete  triumph  which  he  obtained  in  the  replevin  suit 
against  Newberry  arid  Goodell,  and  the  suit  against  Newberry  by  Gil- 
lett,  for  malicious  prosecution,  not  only  solaced  his  feelings,  but  gave 
him  at  once  a  standing  as  a  talented  and  resolute  lawyer.  His  argu 
ments  in  these  causes  were  masterly  and  learned.  That  they  were  never 
exceeded  in  research  and  close  analysis  by  a  young  man  of  twenty-two, 
who  had  been  but  twenty-eight  months  at  the  bar,  is  fearlessly  affirmed. 
Especially  are  his  triumphant  reply  and  keen,  cutting  criticism,  his  dis 
posal  of  the  argument  that  the  practice  had  made  the  law,  his  humorous 
illustrations,  in  which  an  imaginary  code,  springing  from  such  a  foun 
tain,  figu  red  conspicuously,  worthy  of  attention  and  of  an  insertion  here,  did 
not  too  narrow  limits  prevent  it.  That  a  jury  under  the  charge  of  a 
court,  to  say  the  least,  not  unfavorably  disposed  towards  Mr.  Newberry, 
should  find  that,  in  the  circumstances  proven,  a  man  of  ordinary 
intelligence  and  common  prudence  would  not  have  followed  the  advice 
of  the  eminent  counsel  whom  he  employed,  capped  the  climax  of  Mr. 
Emmons'  triumph. 

The  professional  rise  of  Mr.  E.  was  rapid  almost  beyond  precedent. 


H.  H.  EMMONS,  OF  MICHIGAN.  401 

When  he  arrived  in  Michigan  he  had  been  but  just  admitted  to  the  bar, 
had  never  argued  a  question  of  law  to  a  court  in  bane,  in  his  life,  and  was 
wholly  unacquainted  with  the  laws  and  practice  of  the  new  state  in  which 
he  was  settled.  The  reports  of  the  state  and  the  records  of  the  courts, 
both  state  and  federal,  will  show,  that  within  the  very  first  year  of  his 
arrival  he  stood  forward  among  the  largest,  and  especially  the  most  suc 
cessful,  practitioners  in  the  state.  In  1840,  '41,  '42,  and  '43,  no  firm 
in  the  state  tried  more  causes  than  his  own  ;  and  when  their  attractive 
ness,  the  large  amounts  recovered,  the  questions  involved,  and  the  learn 
ing  displayed  in  their  conduct  are  considered,  it  may  thus  early  be  said 
of  him  that,  within  three  years  after  his  admission,  so  far  as  the  amount 
and  character  of  his  business  and  the  mode  of  its  conduct  were  concerned, 
even  then  he  had  no  superior.  That  his  reputation  had  then  equaled 
that  of  many  of  the  old  territorial  lawyers,  of  course  cannot  "be  said. 
This  was  being  earned,  and  has  now  been  most  abundantly  accorded. 
And  this  peculiarity  attended  his  early  practice  :  the  most  important 
matters  were  confidently  submitted  to  his  sole  management  and  argu 
ment,  without  counsel,  in  opposition  to  lawyers  of  twenty-five  and  thirty 
years'  standing.  In  no  one  instance  was  this  confidence  regretted.  In 
the  second  and  third  years  of  his  practice  he  received  very  many  consul 
tation  fees,  and  thus  early  furnished  many  a  brief  from  which  others 
argued  in  court.  That  this  is  unusual,  need  not  be  said  to  lawyers  who 
have  plodded  for  twenty  years  before  they  have  commanded  large  coun 
sel  fees.  Nor  was  it  owing  to  the  want  of  opposition,  to  absence  of  old, 
experienced,  and  learned  counselors  located  and  in  active  practice  in  the 
same  city.  The  Hon.  William  Woodbridge,  since  governor  of  the  state, 
and  United  States  senator,  was  there  then,  and  frequently  acted  as  coun 
sel  ;  Hon.  Daniel  Goodwin,  long  United  States  District  Attorney,  judge 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  state,  and  now  a  judge  of  the  Upper  Penin 
sula,  an  old,  able,  and  powerful  lawyer,  was  in  full  practice  ;  Alexan 
der  D.  Frazer,  Esq.,  a  laborious  lawyer  of  forty  years'  extensive  read 
ing,  was  then,  as  now,  ever  ready  for  retainers,  and  he  ranks  among 
the  ablest  professional  men  in  the  northwest.  His  law  library  is  proba 
bly  more  extensive  than  any  other  private  one  west  of  Albany,  unless 
it  be  equaled  by  that  of  Mr.  E. ;  the  Hon.  B.  F.  C.  Withereil,  H.  J. 
Backus,  Esq.,  Hon.  A.  S.  Porter,  since  a  United  States  senator,  and 
many  others,  together  with  a  long  list  of  younger  men,  well  established 
and  in  good  practice  when  Mr.  E.  arrived  in  the  city,  gave  the  Detroit 
bar  a  legal  force^. brilliancy  and  talent,  which  equaled  that  of  any  city 
of  its  numbers.  For  a  young  man  just  past  his  majority,  with  no  legal 
experience,  an  entire  stranger,  without  money  or  influential  friends,  in 
the  midst  of  an  extraordinary,  and,  as  was  sometimes  thought,  over 
cruel  opposition,  to  step  at  once  into  the  highest  rank  of  such  a  profes 
sional  circle,  without  waiting  for  a  moment  to  learn  the  discipline,  and 
become  familiar  with  the  lower,  is  the  most  conclusive  evidence  of  de 
cided  ability,  and  devotion  to  the  means  of  success.  Rise  in  such  cir 
cumstances  must  be  substantial  and  merited.  It  was  secured  in  this  in 
stance  by  laboriously-prepared,  clearly-reasoned,  and  well-delivered 
arguments.  It  depended  on  no  fortuitous  circumstances.  By  his  talent, 
industry,  fidelity,  and  zeal,  he  won  success  in  the  face  of  a  fierce  and 
violent  opposition. 

26 


402  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

Even  in  his  best  cases  he  seemed  never  relieved  from  labor  in  the 
slightest  degree  by  the  oldest  or  most  able  counsel.  But  every  point 
was  studied  by  himself.  Having  submitted  his  plan  of  trial  to  his  as 
sociate  he  adopted  and  transferred  to  his  own  memoranda  any  sugges 
tions  he  deemed  an  improvement.  But  he  never  sat  down  before  a 
jury  compelled  to  say,  "About  this  part  or  that  department  of  the  cause 
I  know  nothing  and  leave  it  to  my  counsel."  He  made  it  all  his  own 
and  \vent  forward  in  the  case  accordingly. 

The  following  anecdote  will  illustrate  the  early  age  at  which  he  took 
responsibility  upon  himself  and  went  forward  in  the  most  important 
•causes.  Among  his  earliest  cases  of  considerable  consequence,  and  very 
soon  after  his  admission,  was  that  of  Hale  and  Hale  vs.  the  ship  Mil- 
waukie,  (reported  in  error  in  1  Douglass.  Mich.,  p.  — ,)  and  which  had 
been  instituted  by  Mr.  Emmons  in  the  face  of  a  decision  made  at  Buf 
falo,  in  the  State  of  New- York,  against  other  parties  claiming  for  goods 
lost  by  the  same  casualty.  The  whole  history  of  the  case  is  novel  and 
interesting,  but  I  feel  at  liberty  here  to  occupy  room  by  the  insertion 
of  those  particulars  only  more  immediately  connected  with  the  main 
incident  I  wish  to  introduce. 

On  a  former  trial  the  evidence  of  the  master  and  crew  had  readily 
relieved  from  all  responsibility  the  owners  of  the  ship.  This  evidence 
could  readily  be  contradicted  by  abundant  proof,  and  there  was  there 
fore  reason  to  expect  an  entirely  different  relation  of  circumstances 
from  the  same  witnesses  now.  The  substance  of  the  story  Mr.  Em 
mons  by  correspondence  had  obtained  second-hand  from  others,  but 
the  only  man  who  had  recorded  it,  or  who  could  furnish  a  copy  of  it, 
was  the  counsel  of  the  defendants  who  tried  the  cause  in  which  it  was 
given.  To  withhold  it  of  course  was  their  duty.  One  man  alone  could 
be  procured  who  would  assume  to  swear  to  the  captain's  former  testi 
mony,  and  he,  though  a  respectable  witness,  was  an  entire  stranger  to 
the  jury  and  was  a  party  somewhat  interested  in  the  question  at  issue. 
The  plaintiff  rested,  after  making  out  the  usual  prima  facie  case  against 
the  vessel  attached,  when  the  master  and  his  sailors,  one  after  the  other, 
took  the  stand,  and  swore  to  courses  run,  to  a  state  of  weather,  the  con 
dition  and  capacitv  of  the  ship,  and  the  conduct  of  the  seamen,  entirely 
different  from  the  Buffalo  statements.  It  seemed  to  all  that  the  defence 
was  clear.  The  plaintiff's  counsel  had  fully  interrogated  the  defen 
dant's  witnesses  as  to  their  former  statements  and  evidence,  but,  they 
having  been  informed  that  the  plaintiff  coul'd  make  n*  proof  whatever 
of  their  former  oaths,  all.  with  unblushing  boldness  and  flippancy,  was 
denied.  The  plaintiff's  only  witness,  a  plain,  intelligent  man,  who  clear 
ly  and  positively  rehearsed  their  former  testimony,  stated  that  as  an  in 
terested  party  he  was  present,  remembered  it  distinctly  and  could  not 
be  mistaken.  He  was,  however,  boldly  sworn  down  by  the  captain  and 
seamen.  At  this  point  the  court  adjourned  for  the  evening;  the  coun 
sel  associated  with  Mr.  Emmons  asked  the  clerk  to  suffer  him  to  take 
home  certain  depositions,  which,  as  he  supposed,  he  received  in  a  court 
envelop  from  the  hands  of  the  proper  officer.  On  reaching  home  he 
found,  instead  of  the  court  files,  the  clerk  had  put  up  the  copies  of  the 
depositions  furnished  to  one  of  the  counsel  for  the  defendants.  Per 
ceiving  at  first  nothing  private  in  their  nature,  and  that  they  were  copies 


H.  H.  EMMONS,  OF  MICHIGAN".  403 

of  what  was  wanted,  he  commenced  their  perusal  and  soon  came  to  a 
paper  headed,  "  Copy  of  Dickson's  testimony  taken  at  Buffalo"  For 
tune  had  thus,  at  that  late  stage  of  the  trial,  placed  in  the  hands  of  plain 
tiff's  counsel  the  long-sought  evidence.  The  paper  was  immediately- 
taken  to  Mr.  Emmons'  office,  and  in  his  absence  a  copy  made  and  laid 
upon  his  table,  leaving  to  him  the  responsibility  of  using  it  thus  ob 
tained.  The  depositions  were  then  re-inserted  in  the  court  envelop  and 
returned  to  the  clerk,  and  again  came  into  the  possession  of  the  court  with 
out  any  knowledge  that  they  had  been  seen  by  any  one.  The  matter  was 
discussed  in  the  morning,  and  Mr.  Emmons,  learning  that  no  fraud  had 
been  used  in  obtaining  it,  declared  that  he  would  not  only  willingly 
assume  the  responsibility  of  its  use,  but  should  esteem  it  a  flagrant 
cowardice  and  breach  of  duty  thus  to  suffer  a  corrupt  witness  to  escape 
and  sacrifice  his  client's  interest,  when  to  prevent  it  nothing  need  be 
done  but  to  read,  copy  and  use  a  paper  which  belonged  to  the  oppos 
ing  party,  but  which,  upon  no  principle  of  morality  or  enlightened  prac 
tice,  could  be  withheld  for  the  protection  of  known  perjury,  if  such  had 
been  committed.  The  testimony  thus  obtained  agreed  minutely  with 
that  given  by  the  plaintiff's  witness,  and  still  farther  and  more  essen 
tially  contradicted  the  defendant's  witnesses  on  the  present  trial.  The 
whole  day  was  adroitly  spent  in  collateral  points,  when  toward^  even 
ing  the  main  witness  of  defendant  was  recalled  by  the  plaintiff  under 
permission  of  the  court  for  further  cross-examination.  Mr.  Emmons 
produced  a  chart  containing  a  projection  of  the  courses  and  distances 
then  sworn  to  by  the  witnesses,  showing  that  they  led  many  miles 
away  into  the  woods  of  Wisconsin,  and  after  sufficiently  confusing  them 
in  an  unavailable  attempt  to  re-adjust  their  story  and  make  it  consis 
tent  with  any  plausible  hypothesis,  he  suddenly  called  for  the  chart, 
and  walking  up  toward  the  witness,  said,  "Captain  Dixon,  it  is  but  fair 
that  I  should  at  last  inform  you  that  I  have  a  copy  full  and  complete 
of  your  Buffalo  testimony ;  that  I  know  you  have  read  it  since  it  was 
taken  down — have  assented  to  its  truth  within  a  very  recent  period. 
Listen,  while  I  read  the  first  sentences  of  your  testimony  then  given, 
and  answer  upon  your  oath  whether  you  so  swore."  He  then  read  the 
first  portion,  and  the  witness  in  great  trepidation  remained  silently 
looking  upon  his  counsel.  Mr.  Emmons,  without  insisting  upon  an 
answer,  proceeded  through  the  whole  paper,  submitting  each  sentence 
and  subject  in  a  distinct  question,  without  eliciting  any  other  reply  from 
the  witness  than  that  to  some  portions  of  it  he  thought  he  did  not  pre 
cisely  so  state.  Impliedly  all  was  conceded  ;  still,  the  witness  had  not  in 
terms  admitted  its  truth.  The  plaintiff  had  no  means  of  proving  it  was 
a  copy  further  than  finding  it  among  the  papers  of  the  defendant's  counsel 
so  labeled,  and  this  proof  of  doubtful  efficacy  the  associate  of  Mr.  Em 
mons,  in  the  circumstances  of  its  procuration,  was  unwilling  to  submit 
at  all.  In  this  dilemma,  the  plan  was  to  let  it  all  pass  off  with  a  flourish 
of  contempt,  to  rely  upon  the  witness's  silence  and  confusion,  rather 
than  goad  him  up  to  a  denial  of  its  authenticity,  for  which  they  really 
believed  him  sufficiently  bold.  In  preparing  for  this  course,  and  to  dis 
miss  the  witness  from  the  stand  under  the  most  impressive  circum 
stances,  and  more  especially  to  inform  in  some  way  \\\Q  jury  of  the  fact, 
Mr.  Emmons,  who  frequently  keeps  up  a  running  comment  with  his 


404  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

witness,  on  cross-examination,  with  great  deliberation  and  emphasis,  re 
marked,  that  the  paper  he  held  in  his  hand  was  an  exact  copy  from  that 
then  actually  held  in  the  hand  of  the  defendant's  own  counsel.  No 
sooner  had  these  words  fell  from  his  lips  than  the  counsel  of  defendant, 
excited  beyond  all  control,  and  taking  it  for  granted  his  own  clerks  had 
betrayed  him,  or  that  his  paper  had  been  stolen,  sprung  to  his  feet,  and 
in  language  somewhat  extravagant  asserted  that  he  had  no  such  original. 
The  denial  was  full  and  distinct,  but  beyond  all  doubt  what  the  eminent 
and  unimpeachable  counsel  who  made  it  did  not  intend  to  say,  and  what 
he  was  hardly  conscious  of  his  saying  at  all.  Indeed,  his  succeeding  ac 
cusations  and  concessions  evinced  that  he  did  not  suppose  he  had 
made  such  denial.  Still  it  was  promptly  seized  on  by  Mr.  Emmons. 
He  arrested  the  onset  of  his  opponent  at  this  first  issue,  whether  he  had 
such  a  paper.  He  would  not  proceed  to  the  settlement  of  other  mat 
ters  till  the  decided  advantage  given  him  by  this  unlucky,  and  as 
he  after  the  trial  said,  he  had  no  doubt  entirely  involuntary  denial, 
was  fully  employed  before  the  jury  with  its  full  effect.  The 
scene  which  ensued  is  indescribable.  The  witness,  in  confusion  on 
the  stand ;  the  jury  all  on  their  feet,  staring  with  wonder  at  the  devel 
opments  of  the  chart,  and  amazed  at  the  hardihood  which  stood  so 
clearly  and  instantaneously  developed,  and  which  had  seemingly  stood 
impregnable  the  test  of  five  days'  siege ;  the  extraordinary  spectacle 
at  the  bar  of  high  words,  and  hard  accusations,  every  one  seemingly 
forgetting  the  cause,  the  proprieties  of  the  court  and  the  respect  due  to 
each  other,  until  when  the  scene  was  over  it  was  discovered  that  the 
court  had  actually  adjourned  de  facto •,  without  having  gone  through  the 
forms  of  such  a  proceeding.  I  said  all  had  seemed  to  forget  the  cause. 
There  was  one  who,  though  but  just  admitted  to  practice,  then  engaged 
almost  in  his  first  important  case,  did  not  for  an  instant  forget  the  issue 
or  the  jury.  It  is  for  the  exemplification  of  this  so  early  developed 
characteristic  that  we  insert  this  anecdote.  In  the  midst  of,  1  had  al 
most  said  the  tumult,  for  it  nearly  approached  one,  Mr.  Emmons,  turn 
ing  from  his  antagonist,  and  then  summoning  his  clerks  and  the  as 
sociates  of  his  opponent  to  declare  the  fact  that  the  original  of  what  he 
had  read  was  then  existing  in  the  bundle  of  his  adversary,  appealed 
to  the  jury  in  the  most  solemn  and  energetic  manner  not  to  suffer  their 
minds  to  be  for  a  moment  distracted  from  the  guilty  cause  of  all  which 
had  happened,  as  he  considered  the  course  of  the  counsel  so  complete  a 
confession  of  everything  they  desired  to  show,  he  deemed  it  wholly  un 
necessary  to  keep  him  longer  on  the  stand  as  a  witness. 

When  it  was  discovered  that  the  judge  was  gone,  the  jury  sepa 
rated,  the  clerk's  desk  locked,  and  the  bar  filled  with  the  bystanders,  it 
was  quite  naturally  concluded  that  they  were  no  longer  in  court;  and, 
though  somewhat  less  excited,  a  more  minute  and  deliberate  inquiry  and 
discussion  of  the  mysterious  procuration,  of  the  copy  commenced.  Here 
Mr.  D.  necessarily  left  his  counsel,  through  whose  agency  it  had  been 
obtained,  to  his  own  explanations,  if  any  he  saw  fit  to  give.  This  was 
very  imperfectly  done,  and  the  result  was,  its  procuration  was  pro 
nounced  dishonorable,  and  the  most  severe  epithets  were  applied  to 
counsel,  which  the  gentleman  concerned  but  feebly  parried.  The  jury 
•were  still  present,  and  it  seemed  to  Mr.  E.  that  the  current  was  actually 


H.  H.  EMMONS,  OF  MICHIGAN.  405 

being  turned  and  setting  in  against  his  cause,  and  that  more  odium  was 
about  to  rest  upon  the  mode  of  procuring  the  copy  than  upon  the  false 
hood  and  corruption  which  its  production  developed.  He  had  started 
to  leave  the  court-room,  when  this  state  of  things  arrested  hi?  atten 
tion.  He  hastily  returned,  laid  down  his  books,  and,  after  assum 
ing  fully  the  responsibility  of  everything  which  had  been  done,  with 
great  earnestness  and  even  vehemence,  he  reviewed  the  whole  testimo 
ny  of  the  captain,  commented  upon  the  fact  of  withholding  the  paper, 
and  suffering  him  to  swear  when  it  must  have  been  known  he  was 
swearing  falsely,  the  guilt  of  trying  now  in  the  presence  of  the  jury  to 
arrest  attention  from  this,  by  magnifying  a  petty  discourtesy  into  a 
great  offence — one,  he  said,  happening  in  circumstances  which  demanded 
the  dashing  in  pieces  of  ten  thousand  such  laws — and  was  at  great  length, 
and  with  a  violence  which  defied  all  interruption,  proceeding  to  rear  a 
methodical  justification  for  the  act,  interwoven  with  an  equally  convinc 
ing  statement  about  his  former  correspondence  to  procure  the  copy, 
and  the  secretion  of  this  one,  until  the  attorney  of  record,  on  the  other 
side,  appealed  to  him  to  desist,  as  the  iury  were  present.  To  this  he 
said  he  would  yield,  and  was  sorry  it  had  not  occurred  to  him  to  address 
it  to  his  own  counsel  immediately  upon  the  adjournment  of  the  court. 

The  old  and  eminent  counsel  engaged  with  Mr.  E.,  and  for  the  de 
fence,  met  the  following  morning,  and  agreed  upon  a  statement  to  be 
made  in  court,  which  would  reconcile,  consistently  with  the  honor  of 
each,  the  procuration  of  the  paper  by  the  one  and  the  denial  by  the 
other,  and  Mr.  E.  was  informed  of  what  was  deemed  by  all  parties  an. 
eminently  happy  adjustment  of  so  severe  and  violent  a  difficulty.  To 
their  mutual  surprise  the  young  attorney,  wholly  blind  to  personal  conse 
quences,  and  intent  only  on  securing  in  the  rninds  of  the  jury  every  fact 
demanded  by  his  long  and  laborious  legal  brief,  rejected  promptly  the 
arrangement.  He  demanded  that  the  matter  should  be  left  where  the 
last  evening  he  had  placed  it,  without  one  word  or  comment  other  than 
to  say,  in  the  most  general  terms,  that  each  acquitted  the  other  of  any 
dishonorable  motive ;  or  the  entire  facts,  just  as  they  occurred,  should 
be  open  to  the  use  of  each  before  the  jury,  with  all  the  license  which 
the  court  should  deem  proper  to  tolerate;  or  a  statement  immediately 
drawn  by  himself,  which  impliedly  conceded  the  main  fact  he  wished  to 
establish,  must  be  adopted.  No  argument  could  move  him  from  this  po 
sition.  The  counsel  yielded,  and  the  cause  proceeded  with  a  concession, 
as  it  untimately  turned  out,  of  what  the  plaintiff  could  not  otherwise 
have  proved.  Considering  the  age,  experience  and  eminence  of  the 
counsel  concerned,  the  youth  and  short  standing  at  the  bar  of  Mr.  E., 
his  resolute  and  persevering  course  was  as  extraordinary  as  it  was  suc 
cessful. 

The  following  is  given  as  an  instance  of  the  bold  character  of  his 
strategy  and  his  masterly  conduct  of  jury  causes. 

A  man  of  respectability  was  on  trial  for  perjury,  for  swearing  falsely 
in  relation  to  the  confessions  of  two  of  the  defendants  in  one  of  the  fa 
mous  Michigan  slave  cases.  The  case  of  Timberlake,  the  owner  of  the 
slaves,  against  Osborn  and  others,  had  been  once  tried,  and  the  jury 
had  disagreed,  differing,  it  was  believed,  mainly  upon  the  credence  to 
be  given  to  the  testimony  of  the  person  whom  they  had  now  procured 


40G  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

to  be  indicted.  A  case  of  great  intricacy  and  interest  is  seldom 
tried.  The  original  causes  had  been  the  subject  of  resolves  in  the 
Kentucky  legislature,  and  of  notice  in  the  halls  of  Congress.  Poli 
tics  had  freely  mingled  in  the  contest,  and  every  element  of  excitement 
and  stimulant  to  energy  combined  to  add  vigor  and  deterrninaiion  to 
the  prosecution.  The  government  was  eminently  successful,  so  far  as 
literal  testimony  went,  not  only  in  contradicting  the  oath  of  the  prison 
er,  pointedly  and  fully,  but  also  on  proving  that  neither  of  the  parties 
to  whom  the  admissions  were  imputed  had  any  opportunity  to  make 
them,  and  hence  that  they  were  impossible.  To  read  the  bare  oaths  of 
the  witness  for  the  prosecution  it  would  seem  there  was  no  escape  for  the 
prisoner.  It  was  perceived  that  the  whole  defence  rested  entirely  upon 
shaking  the  credulity  of  the  government  witnesses  by  cross-examination,  for 
direct  impeachment  was  impossible.  They  were  all  Quakers  of  the  strict 
est  sect,  and  of  good  standing  in  the  order.  We  must  pass  over  the  mas 
terly  cross-examination  of  old  Mr.  Osborn,  which  so  shook  its  strength 
as  to  leave  it  of  little  value  in  the  cause.  The  great  reliance  of  the  gov 
ernment  came  at  last  to  be  upon  the  testimony  of  the  son.  lie  wras 
called  first  to  prove  what  the  person  actually  swrore  to  on  the  former 
trial,  and  then  to  contradict  it  by  denying,  under  oath,  that  he  ever 
made  the  confessions  imputed  to  him  by  the  oath.  Owing  to  certain  con 
cessions  of  legal  principles  on  a  former  argument,  rather  unguardedly 
made  by  the  learned  counsel  for  the  government,  Mr.  E.  submitted 
several  objections  to  the  competency  of  this  witness  growing  out  of  the 
first  portions  of  his  evidence.  Jt  is  unnecessary  to  particularize  them,  but 
such  was  the  extraordinary  character  of  the  witness's  sudden  alterations 
of  his  evidence,  to  avoid  the  objections  of  Mr.  E.,  that  he  not  only  lost 
all  confidence  in  his  integrity,  but  perceiving  his  readiness  to  accommo 
date  his  statements  to  the  supposed  necessities  of  the  case,  he  instantly 
conceived  one  of  the  boldest  schemes  to  overthrow  a  dishonest  man 
ever  witnessed  in  a  court  of  justice.  In  order  that  the  almost  miracu 
lous  success  of  the  following  stratagem  may  be  appreciated,  let  it  be  re 
membered  that  Mr.  Howard,  the  counsel  for  the  government,  drew  the 
indictment ;  that  the  portion  upon  which  the  scheme  was  based  had 
been  a  dozen  times  read  during  the  trial.  Counsel,  judge,  witness  and 
jury  were  all  familiar  with  it.  Mr.  E.  turned  to  the  attorney  with 
whom  he  was  associated,  and  said,  "  Don't  interrupt  me,  no  matter 
what  extraordinary  thing  I  say  ;  I  have  no  time  to  explain ;"  and  suffer 
ing  the  witness  to  proceed  for  a  few  moments,  he  suddenly  rose,  took 
the  indictment  from  the  table,  and  again  objected  that  the  witness 
should  not  proceed  further,  as  his  wThole  evidence  was  entirely  at  war 
with  the  oath  set  forth  in  the  record.  He  commenced  with  great  vehe 
mence  and  apparent  excitement,  as  every  one  supposed,  reading  from 
the  indictment,  accompanying  his  seeming  quotations  with  all  proper 
inuendocs  and  formal  statements.  Such  was  the  almost  mesmeric  in 
fluence  of  Mr.  E.'s  violence — at  one  time  talking  to  the  court,  then  ex 
postulating  with  the  witness — that  no  one  discovered  that  the  recitation 
of  Mr.  E.  varied  most  materially  from  the  oath  set  out  in  the  indictment. 
In  order  to  affect  the  mind  of  the  witness,  and  impress  him  with  the 
importance  of  the  testimony,  he  remarked  that  the  liberty  of  his  client 
rested  upon  the  success  of  this  one  objection.  He  therefore  insisted  that 


H.  H.  KMMONS,  OF  MICHIGAN.  407 

unless  the  witness  could  say  that  he  remembered  clearly  and  positively 
that  the  prisoner  swore  literally  just  as  he  (Mr.  E.)  had  read  the  oath 
from  the  indictment,  that  he  should  not  be  suffered  longer  to  put  in  be 
fore  the  jury  a  mass  of  uncertain  and  irrelevant  evidence.  Here,  as  if 
overcome  by  his  own  violence,  he  paused  a  moment,  and,  assuming  a 
more  subdued  and  mild  demeanor,  said,  that  excited  as  he  had  appeared, 
he  did  not,  after  all,  wish  anything  more  than  that  the  witness  should, 
in  the  first  instance,  keep  his  mind  on  the  precise  facts  to  be  sworn  to, 
and,  without  putting  the  learned  counsel  to  a  reply,  or  the  court  to  a 
decision,  he  would  temporarily  withdraw  his  objection,  to  see  if  the  wit 
ness,  after  all,  could,  without  being  led  by  the  counsel  for  the  govern 
ment,  state  that  he  now  remembered  the  oath  of  the  prisoner  as  he  had 
read  it  in  his  hearing.  With  eager  readiness  the  meek  thee-and-thou 
man  affirmed  that  he  did  most  positively  and  clearly  remember  such 
was  the  oath  of  the  prisoner.  Of  course,  such  was  not  the  oath  set  out 
in  the  indictment,  or  sworn  to  by  the  other  witnesses  for  the  govern 
ment.  The  witness  was  completely  and  hopelessly  trapped  by  his  own 
dishonest  eagerness.  By  a  series  of  objections,  admissions  of  facts,  and 
concessions  of  law,  in  relation  to  what  further  they  wished  to  show  in 
relation  to  the  former  evidence  of  the  prisoner,  he  continued  to  bear  off 
for  the  time  all  attention  from  the  record  as  it  really  was.  On  cross- 
examination,  the  witness  was  asked  if  he  had  always  so  remembered  the 
evidence ;  if  he  had  so  stated  to  the  counsel  for  the  government  before 
the  trial ;  if,  when  Mr.  H.  read  him  the  indictment  the  night  before,  he 
recognized  the  oath,  as  there  set  out,  without  prompting  or  leading,  and 
a  series  of  similar  questions,  which  will  readily  suggest  themselves  to 
the  mind  ;  to  all  of  which,  with  great  readiness,  the  witness  answered  in 
the  affirmative.  He  said  that  he  had  always  so  remembered  it,  using 
various  forms  of  strong  expression  to  impress  the  jury  with  the  clear 
ness  of  his  memory  ;  until  when,  in  the  final  summing  up,  it  was  shown 
that  the  indictment  had  been  misread,  and  the  witness  swearing  to  false 
hoods  by  the  wholesale.  There  was  no  attempt  whatever  to  protect 
him  by  the  prosecuting  attorney.  He  was  abandoned  as  the  victim  of 
his  own  eagerness,  and  one  of  the  most  bold,  masterly  conducted,  and 
almost  incredible  stratagems  ever  witnessed  in  court.  The  only  conso 
lation  the  attorney  for  the  government  had,  was  to  condemn,  in  severe 
terms,  the  practice  by  which  his  witness  had  been  tempted  and  de 
stroyed. 

The  jury  stood  nine  for  acquittal  and  three  for  conviction.  Though 
upon  those  technical  rules  upon  which  the  weight  of  evidence  depends 
the  prisoner  should  have  been  acquitted,  yet  there  was,  after  all,  in  the 
successful  indirect  impeachment  of  the  witnesses  of  the  government,  an 
inherent  improbability  in  the  prisoner's  oath  which  stung  his  defence 
to  the  quick,  and  by  which,  but  for  the  extraordinary  course  which  stripped 
of  all  legal  force  the  testimony  against  him,  he  must  inevitably  have 
been  convicted.  The  case  has  never  been  tried  again,  and  in  all  proba 
bility  never  will  be. 

The  peculiar  structure  of  the  indictment  and  the  course  of  the  cause — 
certain  accidental  occurrences  which,  by  a  strange  and  unusual  combina 
tion,  suggested  the  possibility  of  such  an  achievement  to  Mr.  E.,  are  too 
complicated,  and  give  too  tedious  a  detail  for  insertion.  That  they 


408  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

should  have  been  thus  suddenly  seized,  and  instantaneously  woven  with 
so  deceptive  and  successful  a  delusion  as  to  lead  astray  a  whole  jury, 
two  learned  opposing  counsel,  a  really  able,  old,  and  experienced  judge, 
and  a  witness  who  came  fully  trained  upon  the  stand,  first  from  a  care 
ful  reading  of  the  indictment  as  it  actually  was,  proves  the  possession 
of  personal  power,  and  an  ability  instantaneously  to  seize  upon  the  ac 
cidents  of  a  trial,  and  wield  them  to  a  client's  advantage,  which  few  men 
possess  in  the  same  degree. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  trial  of  a  case  of  much  pecuniary  importance 
and  general  interest,  some  warm  words  fell  from  the  plaintiff's  counsel. 
Mr.  E.  was  highly  excited,  but,  as  in  later  years  he  has  eminently  suc 
ceeded  in  doing,  continued  to  resist  its  manifestation.  He  resolved, 
however,  to  reward,  during  the  trial,  his  professional  opponent,  who, 
though  a  man  of  high  standing  at  the  bar,  a  powerful  advocate,  of  high 
literary  attainments  and  general  powers,  was  but  ill  matched  with  Mr. 
E.  in  the  trial  of  a  long,  technical,  and  difficult  cause.  He  hit  upon  a 
plan,  novel  indeed,  in  which  to  effect  the  punishment  of  his  opponent — 
one  which  never  could  have  occurred  to  a  man  not  more  than  ordinarily 
familiar  with  all  the  rules  of  evidence,  the  whole  law  applicable  to  the 
case  on  trial,  and  the  practice  of  the  court. 

Having  discovered  from  the  course  thus  far  of  his  opponent  that  he 
entirely  misconceived  several  important  rules  of  evidence,  and  in  one 
respect  the  general  law  of  the  case,  he  deemed  it  almost  certain  that  he 
might  suffer  him  to  go  through  his  cause,  and  so  far  as  Mr.  E.  pleased 
he  could  put  in  his  own  defence,  and  that  he  could  then,  upon  merely 
technical  grounds,  quite  aside  from  the  merits,  compel  him  to  submit  to 
a  nonsuit  after  he  had  summed  up  to  the  jury.  In  ordinary  cases  such 
a  victory  would  be  profitless,  as  another  action  might  be  brought ;  but 
in  this  case  the  defence  was  but  half  prepared,  some  of  the  jury  were 
suspected,  and  Mr.  E.  felt  fully  authorized  to  obtain  the  permission  of 
his  client  to  the  course  he  adopted,  by  which  he  would  hear  fully  the 
plaintiff's  case,  go  far  enough  to  call  out  his  argument  before  the  jury, 
and  then  nonsuit  him.  To  do  this  in  the  manner  most  mortifying  to  his 
opponent  was  the  object.  He  also  resolved  to  obtain  against  him  as 
great  a  number  of  rulings  as  possible  on  questions  arising  during  the 
trial,  and  then,  in  one  well- arranged  digest  of  errors,  present  all  in  a 
series  to  the  court  and  jury.  This  somewhat  laborious  and  novel  plan 
he  most  triumphantly  executed. 

The  trial  lasted  some  ten  days,  during  which,  by  frequently  making 
an  offer  to  prove  certain  facts  in  a  doubtful  and  hesitating  mode,  he 
elicited  an  objection  from  his  adversary  which  was  promptly  overruled 
by  the  court.  These  ran  up  to  twenty-seven  in  number.  Although  the 
plan  was  to  suffer  plaintiffs'  counsel  to  sum  up  fully,  and  then  to  follow 
him  with  a  severe  expose  of  his  want  of  technical  learning,,  the  cause 
had  lasted  so  long,  and  Mr.  Emmons'  engagements  positively  demanded 
him  elsewhere,  that  after  suffering  a  part  of  the  speech  of  plaintiff's 
counsel  to  be  delivered,  the  first  distant  allusion  he  made  to  the  amount 
to  be  recovered,  Mr.  Emmons  called  him  to  order  upon  the  ground  that 
there  was  no  evidence  of  the  amount  of  damages  competent  for  the  con 
sideration  of  the  jury.  The  learned  judge  readily  ruled,  on  having  his 
attention  drawn  to  the  law  applicable  to  the  case,  that  out  of  some 


H.  H.  EMMONS,  OF  MICHIGAN.  409 

$6,000  claimed,  there  was  only  the  inconsiderable  sum  ci*  about  sixty 
dollars  so  proven,  that  he  could  suffer  in  relation  to  it  any  comment  to 
the  jury.  This  was  the  more  mortifying  to  counsel,  as  he  perceived  at 
once  that  it  was  all  along  designed  by  Mr.  Emmons.  He  remembered 
that  the  subject  had  been  with  apparent  indifference  passed  by  the 
defence,  subject  to  such  objections  as  they  chose  before  the  close  of  the 
case  to  make.  He  had  most  injudiciously  passed  on  in  his  cause,  over 
confident  in  himself,  and  regardless  of  his  experienced  and  adroit  adver 
sary. 

The  court  was  asked  for  a  few  hours' adjournment,  in  order  that  the 
plaintiff's  counsel  might  elect  what  course  to  pursue,  as  the  objection  was 
unexpected  and  therefore  unprepared  for.  Mr.  Emmons,  with  provok 
ing  and  most  complacent  liberality,  seconded  his  opponent's  request, 
assuring  the  court  that  this  one  passed,  other  impediments  still  more 
difficult  lay  in  the  plaintiff's  pathway  to  a  verdict. 

The  plaintiff  at  the  adjourned  hour  came  into  court  and  submitted  to 
a  nonsuit. 

Another  suit  for  the  same  cause  was  never  commenced,  and  the  re 
sult  was  a  defence  of  his  client  from  a  large  and  really  dangerous  claim. 

The  rebuke  was  probably  as  mortifying  and  complete  as  ever  an 
offended  lawyer  gave  another.  It  was,  too,  administered  in  a  way  of 
which  there  could  be  no  complaint  without  a  pre-admission  of  profes 
sional  inferiority.  Such  an  one  was  not  likely  to  be  put  forth. 

He  was  once  retained  as  counsel  to  defend  a  cause  of  great  local 
interest,  prosecuted  by  the  administrators  of  one  deceased  brother 
against  the  estate  of  another.  The  plaintiff's  estate  was  very  wealthy, 
that  of  defendant  barely  sufficient  to  sustain  with  comfort  the  widow, 
and  give  small  portions  to  a  numerous  family  of  children.  The  suit 
was  upon  a  note  of  some  $6,000,  the  payment  upon  which  would  sweep 
the  entire  property  of  the  defending  family.  The  defence  which  had 
theretofore  been  relied  upon,  was  that  the  consideration  of  the  note  was 
fraudulent,  in  that  the  elder  and  more  wealthy  brother,  who  first  came 
from  Scotland  to  this  country,  had  sent  word  to  the  intestate  of  the  de 
fendant,  that  if  he  would  come  to  America  and  settle,  he  would  buy 
him  a  farm.  This  it  was  contended  made  the  elder  brother  an  agent, 
and  that  he  was  in  the  law  bound  to  give  the  other  the  farm  at 
the  same  price  for  which  he  purchased  it,  and  inasmuch  as  he  had 
included  in  this  note  several  thousand  dollars  of  profit  it  was  to  this 
extent  void,  being  a  gain  made  by  the  agent  out  of  his  principal's  con 
tract.  Mr.  Emmons  saw  at  a  glance  the  fallacy  of  such  a  defence.  It 
was  an  agency,  if  any,  concerning  real  estate.  No  money  was  advanced 
by  his  client's  intestate,  no  promise  was  made  to  take  the  farm  when 
bought,  or  the  slightest  evidence  that  the  land  in  question  was  bought 
for  the  purpose  of  this  particular  sale.  All  the  great  leading  elements  of 
a  legal  agency  were  wanting.  There  was  beside  no  certainty  that  they 
could  make  it  appear  that  the  price  of  the  farm  constituted  a  part  of  the 
consideration  of  the  note,  which  bore  date  years  after  the  sale.  At  best 
it  was  to  be  left  to  the  jury  upon  circumstantial  evidence. 

The  unconscionable  price  moreover  for  which  the  farm  sold  was 
perhaps  quite  as  much  dependent  upon  the  temporary  mania  as  to 
the  price  of  real  estate,  as  to  any  really  hard-hearted  overreaching  on 


410  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

the  part  of  the  elder  and  wealthy  brother.  And  although  the  enforce 
ment  of  the  claim  would  have  been  hard  and  even  cruelly  unjust,  and 
the  case  was  one  calculated  not  only  to  justify  but  to  stimulate  to  the 
utmost  the  energy  of  a  lawyer  in  saving  all  he  possibly  could  for  his 
client,  still  it  fell  so  far  short  of  a  legal  fraud,  either  at  law  or  in 
equity,  that  Mr.  Emmons  knew  well  the  learning  and  experience  of  his 
Honor  Judge  Whipple,  before  whom  the  cause  was  tried,  would  beyond 
doubt  discover  the  weakness  of  the  defence,  and  in  leaving  the  cause  to 
the  jury  tell  them  the  plaintiff  was  entitled  to  recover. 

In  these  circumstances  he  saw  the  only  hope  ultimately  for  his  client 
consisted  in  a  settlement.  To  effect  this  advantageously  was  the  sole 
object  of  his  exertions.  He  took  to  his  hotel  the  eldest  son  of  his 
widowed  client,  a  young  man  of  integrity  and  real  intelligence,  and  fully 
explaining  to  him  the  fallacy  and  hopelessness  of  the  pretended  defence, 
obtained  from  him  such  terms  as  the  family  would  consider  just  and 
satisfactory  for  a  compromise.  He  instructed  him  to  make  no  commu 
nication  to  any  one,  to  be  in  constant  attendance  with  his  witnesses 
that  the  cause  would  proceed  with  all  possible  energy  and  apparent 
confidence  of  success,  but  that  the  first  favorable  opportunity  would 
be  seized  to  secure  a  settlement  upon  the  best  terms  which  could  be  pro 
cured.  The  occasion  watched  for  by  Mr.  Emmons  was  one  of  those 
temporary  flashes  of  triumph  on  the  one  side,  and  dejection  on  the 
other,  which  so  frequently  attend  the  trial  of  long  and  spiritedly  con 
tested  causes  when  the  respective  legal  rights  are  not  thoroughly  and 
definitely  understood.  Fortune  threw  into  the  cause  the  precise  inci 
dent  he  wanted. 

To  the  successful  accomplishment  of  Mr.  Emmons'  plan  he  deemed 
it  of  great  importance  to  secure  the  right  to  begin  and  close  the  case  to 
the  jury.  This  he  did  by  admitting  a prima  facie  cause  of  action  for 
the  plaintiff,  assuming  the  burden  of  showing  the  note  was  fraudulent 
and  void.  His  application  for  this  privilege  was  entirely  novel  at  that 
time  at  the  Oakland  bar,  and  the  motion  was  therefore  received  with 
much  mirth  and  ridicule  by  the  plaintiff's  attorney  and  counsel,  and 
when  readily  granted  by  the  learned  presiding  judge,  they  were  corres 
pondingly  disappointed.  This,  as  he  anticipated,  greatly  aided  his  hope 
of  a  compromise,  and  he  proceeded  to  make  the  most  of  the  advantage 
thus  obtained.  A  careful  and  guarded  opening  was  made,  in  which  the 
details  of  the  evidence  to  show  agency  were  wholly  omitted,  but  abun 
dant  citations  of  books  and  authorities,  to  show  that  it  was  a  fraud  for 
an  agent  to  speculate  upon  the  contract  of  his  principal,  were  read  and 
commented  on  at  length.  That  there  was  an  agency  was  adroitly  as 
sumed,  and  proceeding  at  once  to  the  only  point  at  which  it  was  con 
ceded  any  difficulty  was  anticipated,  that  of  proving  that  the  note  in 
question  was  really  given  in  part  payment  for  the  land — the  facts  and 
circumstances  from  which  this  was  to  appear  were  fully  explained  in  ad 
vance.  The  effort  was  so  happy  on  the  jury  and  bystanders,  and  it  was 
believed,  upon  the  court  and  opposing  party,  that  Mr.  Emmons  at  one 
time  believed  this  early  stage  in  the  cause  sufficiently  propitious 
to  warrant  his  attempt  at  settlement.  An  accidental  difficulty  between 
the  parties  however  prevented  his  efforts  then,  and  the  defence  proceeded 
in  the  usual  manner.  It  gave  rise  to  numerous  questions  of  competency 


H.  II.  EMMONS,  OF    MICHIGAN.  411 

and  relevancy,  in  which  Mr.  Ernmons  was  careful  in  the  extreme  not  to 
get  a  ruling  against  himself;  yielding  every  thing  of  doubt,  and 
when  he  possibly  could,  inviting  an  objection  from  his  opponents  when 
he  was  sure  it  would  be  overruled.  The  papers  of  the  estate  had  never 
been  examined  by  the  defendant's  attorneys.  Among  them  Mr.  Em- 
mons  caused  a  faithful  examination  to  be  made,  as  the  cause  progressed, 
until,  in  the  evening  of  the  fourth  day,  and  after  a  great  number  of  wit 
nesses  had  been  sworn,  to  prove  the  consideration  of  the  note,  a  written 
settlement,  signed  by  the  parties,  and  showing  beyond  all  controversy 
the  very  fact  they  had  been  laboring  by  so  many  witnesses  to  establish, 
was  discovered.  It  was  found  at  a  fortunate  time,  when  a  long  and 
spirited  argument  was  going  on  in  relation  to  the  competency  of  some 
offered  evidence.  The  next  morning  this  argument  was  suffered  for 
some  time  to  proceed,  that  the  audience  might  collect,  the  excitement 
of  the  opposing  counsel  to  come  again  up  to  its  maximum,  when  Mr. 
Emmons,  as  if  he  had  been  unwillingly  detained,  came  hastening  into 
court  with  a  paper  in  his  hand,  and  begged  his  associate  counsel,  who 
was  addressing  the  court,  to  yield  him  the  floor  for  a  moment.  This,  of 
course,  as  had  been  arranged,  was  readily  done.  Mr.  Emmons  then  re 
marked  that  they  owed  an  apology  to  the  court  and  jury  for  the  days 
they  had  uselessly  spent  in  endeavoring  to  defend  against  an  unjust 
claim,  by  such  tedious  and  indirect  modes  as  their  ignorance  of  their 
own  cause  compelled  them  to  adopt.  He  was  now  happy  to  inform 
them  that  the  cause  would  soon  close  on  their  part ;  that  they  had 
at  length  found  amongst  the  papers  of  the  estate  the  written  admission 
of  the  plaintiff's  intestate  of  the  very  fact  which  had  been  for  so  many 
days  denied  before  the  jury ;  he  therefore  withdrew  the  offered  evidence  to 
which  his  opponents  were  objecting,  and  all  the  other  evidence  in  the  case 
which  the  plaintiffs  did  not  desire  should  remain  before  the  jury.  The 
paper  which  he  held  in  his  hand  was  all  the  defendants  needed  to  secure 
a  verdict.  This  announcement  was  received  with  sensible  manifesta 
tions  of  good- will  in  the  crowded  auditory.  He  suggested,  as  the  case 
had  taken  so  sudden  a  turn,  as  the  defendants  were  so  unexpectedly  re 
lieved  from  several  days' farther  examination  of  witnesses  upon  this  con 
tested  point,  that  the  court  take  a  recess  for  an  hour  that  the  defence 
might  conclude  what  additional  proofs  it  was  necessary  to  put  in  ;  that 
to  proceed  then  would  quite  probably  but  use  the  time  of  the  court  in 
that  which  with  some  reflection  might  be  deemed  unnecessary.  To  this 
there  was  no  objection,  as  the  other  party  seemed  really  annoyed  and 
surprised  by  the  sudden  production  of  the  paper.  Without  sitting 
down,  and  before  adjournment,  Mr.  Emmons  took  the  plaintiff  by 
the  arm,  and  walking  down  the  centre  aisle  to  the  far  end  of  the  court 
room,  in  a  tone  of  high  confidence  and  decision,  said  to  him  :  "  You 
know  I  am  the  counsel  of  the  defendants,  and  I  want  you  to  make  no 
reply  to  what  I  say,  but  desire  simply  that  you  will  report  it  to  your 
counsel,  as  you  will  of  course  follow  their  advice.  I  am  instructed  by  my 
client  to  say  that  she  desires  this  controversy  to  be  settled  wholly  irre 
spective  of  any  legal  advantage  which  might  be  obtained  on  the  trial  of 
this  cause.  I  am  authorized  now,  notwithstanding  the  certainty  of  our 
defence,  to  offer  a  compromise,  leaving  to  the  estimate  of  indifferent  men 
the  true  value  of  the  farm  when  her  husband  bought  it,  What  is  due 


412  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

shall  be  immediately  paid  in  land  by  appraisement."  The  plaintiff 
readily  replied  that  he  knew  his  own  business,  did  not  want  to  see  his 
counsel,  that  he  had  never  been  asked  to  settle  until  now,  and  was  ready 
;oe  to  close  with  the  offer.  Mr.  Emmons  refused  to  consider  it 
,*d  till  approbated  by  the  plaintiff's  counsel.  This  was  but  a  mat 
ter  of  form,  for  before  the  forms  of  the  adjournment  were  concluded  the 
settlement  was  acceded  to  by  all  the  counsel,  and  the  court  by  both  par 
ties  asked  to  adjourn  till  after  dinner.  At  that  time  the  account  had 
been  settled,  the  deeds  executed,  and  whether  substantially  or  formally 
only,  the  writer  knows  not,  but  the  large  families  of  contending  cousins 
had"  shaken  hands  in  token  of  reconciliation.  The  defendants  were  saved 
a  handsome  fortune,  and  the  plaintiff  got  all  which  in  justice  was  due, 
or  which  they  in  mercy  could  have  taken. 

It  is  evident  that  with  great  legal  experience  opposed  to  him,  such  a 
plan  could  not  have  been  executed,  but  the  opponents  of  Mr.  Emmons 
though  never  of  large  practice,  were  esteemed  good  lawyers ;  indeed, 
leaders  in  their  county.  The  judge  upon  the  bench  was  learned  and 
experienced,  and  the  successful  accomplishment  of  such  a  plan  evinces 
a  high  degree  of  talent  and  address,  as  well  as  legal  acuteness  and  in 
dustry,  on  the  part  of  counsel.  The  skill  consisted  in  adroitly  keeping 
back  "out  of  the  way  of  discussion  the  really  weak  points  in  his  case, 
and  offering  a  settlement  in  the  only  moment  when  perhaps  it  would 
have  been  accepted.  Fortunate  accidents  sometimes  occur  which  much 
resemble  this  arrangement.  But  this  was  all  arranged  and  fully  antici 
pated,  and  had  not  this  lucky  paper  turned  up,  a  complicated,  and  what 
wo  venture  to  say  a  successful  plan  kid  been  arranged  to  produce  on  the 
following  day  similar  results. 

•  Instances  of  equal  interest  and  success  could  be  multiplied  from  the 
extensive  trial  lists  of  Mr.  Emmons.  These  are  given  only  as  a  sam 
ple  of  the  energy,  the  devotion  and  force  with  which  he  tries  a  cause. 

"When  on  the  defence,  judges  are  many  times  annoyed  by  the  clear 
ness  with  which  an  error  appears  in  the  bill  of  exceptions,  which  they 
would  by  no  means  have  committed  had  the  matter  been  as  fully  de 
veloped  "on  trial  as  it  is  made  to  appear  in  the  record.  Many  times  it 
will  appear  that  a  far  better  defence  can  be  made  on  another  trial,  and 
his  success  in  suffering  a  verdict  subject  to  fatal  exceptions  is  unparal 
leled.  In  such  an  experiment  he  never  failed. 

The  stamp  of  authority  has  no  influence  on  the  judgment  or  the  fear 
less  expression  of  Mr.  Emmons'  opinions.  The  following  is  but  one 
instance  out  of  hundreds  illustrative  of  his  criticisms. 

In  184*2,  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  adopted  rules  for 
practice  in  equity  for  the  several  circuit  courts  under  an  act  of  Congress. 
Soon  after  some  questions  arose  under  them  in  the  Michigan  circuit. 
Mr.  Emmons  took  occasion  to  criticise  them  with  the  greatest  severity. 
He  analyzed  and  showed  the  absurdity  of  several  rules  which  subse 
quent  experience  has  compelled  the  court  which  so  injudiciously  adopted 
them  to  repeal.  About  this  time  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  state  ap 
pointed  a  committee  to  adopt  rules  for  practice  in  equity,  and  the  com 
mittee  reported  and  the  court  adopted  several  of  the  innovations  from 
the  rules  of  the  United  States  courts.  Mr.  Ernmons,  without  consulta 
tion  with  any  one,  or  giving  any  intimation  of  his  rather  novel  motion, 


H.  H.  EMMONS,  OF  MICHIGAN.  413 

moved  the  court  in  bane,  for  an  order  appointing  a  new  committee  which 
should  point  out  the  objects  to  be  obtained  and  the  evils  to  be  remedied 
by  the  new  rules ;  thai  all  was  incomprehensible  to  the  bar  except 
their  annoyance  and  inconvenience.  Some  gentlemen  of  the  bar  most 
promptly  and  patronizingly  replied  that  they  were  taken,  word  for  word, 
from  the  rules  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  assuming 
that  the  high  source  of  their  origin  would  be  a  most  satisfactory  as 
surance  of  their  propriety.  "Yes,"  said  Mr.  Emmons,  "  I  was  aware  they 
had  a  similar  absurdity  in  that  court,  and  have  long  experienced  the 
vexatious  inconveniencies  of  complying  with  their  requirements.  That 
we  have  fellow-sufferers  in  other  courts  by  no  means  inclines  me  to 
withdraw  my  motion.  I  would  still  press  for  the  committee,  if  it 
pleases  your  honors."  The  rules,  it  seems,  had  already  attracted  the  at 
tention  of  the  learned  judges  at  the  circuits,  and  the  chief  justice  good 
naturedly  replied  that  the  court  would  appoint  Mr.  Emmons  sole  com 
mittee,  of  which  he  would  of  course  be  chairman,  to  draft  an  order  re 
scinding  the  rules  complained  of. 

In  the  early  practice  of  Mr.  Emmons,  he  obtained  a  very  large  num 
ber  of  criminal  defences,  and  among  the  number  was  that  of  a  somewhat 
celebrated  offender  who  for  many  years  sustained  a  high  reputation  in 
his  county  and  managed  large  amounts  of  property  with  great  apparent 
prosperity  and  business  success.  But  he  was  arrested  successively  for 
arson,  smuggling,  forgery,  bribing  jurors,  assault  and  battery,  with  intent 
to  commit  rape,  for  stealing  and  harboring  felons  and  receiving  stolen 
horses,  and  was  almost  universally  considered  as  one  of  the  leaders  of 
a  desperate  band  of  offenders,  who  terrified  by  their  depredations  the 
whole  community.  This  man,  when  his  standing  was  generally  good, 
retained  Mr.  Emmons  in  his  defence.  He  was  considered  by  most  men. 
then,  and  especially  by  his  counsel,  a  persecuted  man.  His  defence  in 
many  successive  trials  was  successful.  But  other  arrests  and  indict 
ments  still  followed,  and  though  by  a  series  of  the  most  pains-taking 
and  adroit  defences,  he  was  cleared  upon  some  six  or  eight  different 
trials,  and  actually  recovered  verdicts  against  leading  citizens  who  had 
published  him  as  a  dangerous  man  and  a  villain,  still  so  clear  at  last 
did  his  guilt  in  some  matters  appear  to  Mr.  Emmons,  and  so  repugnant 
to  his  better  feelings  were  these  efficient  and  zealous  labors  for  those 
whom  he  more  than  suspected,  and  knowing  that  he  could  do  nothing 
by  halves,  he  resolved  wholly  to  abandon  the  defence  of  criminals.  He 
found  the  name  of  his  firm  upon  the  defence  of  every  indictment  which 
stood  for  trial  in  the  criminal  court  but  two,  during  a  long  and  active 
term.  He  had  it  stricken  from  every  case  but  one,  and  from  that  time 
to  this  he  has  not  appeared  as  attorney  in  a  single  criminal  case,  and 
but  in  three  or  four  instances  has  he  acted  as  counsel.  His  explanation 
is  that  the  ardor  of  his  temperament  and  the  habits  of  his  professional 
life  were  constantly  urging  him  up  to,  if  not  over,  what  he  deemed  the 
line  of  duty  in  favor  of  a  criminal.  Believing  there  were  enough,  who 
from  choice  would  defend  all  who  deserved  it,  he  did  not  deem  it  a 
duty  to  continue  a  practice  which  was  distasteful.  This  sudden  and 
marked  abandonment  of  a  large  and  lucrative  branch  of  business  we 
deem  high  evidence  of  a  nice  sense  of  honor  and  love  of  principle. 

In  1843  Mr.  E.  was  left  alone  in  business  by  the  death  of  his  father, 


414  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

and  he  continued  thus  to  practice  until  his  present  accomplished  partner, 
Joseph  A.  Van  Dyke,  Esq.,  offered  him,  in  1844,  a  connection,  which, 
owing  to  his  growing  taste  for  study,  and  dislike  of  the  details  of  busi 
ness,  he  accepted.  The  result  of  this  connection  was  to  remove  Mr.  E. 
somewhat  from  the  ordinary  litigations  in  court.  The  union  of  his  own 
large,  miscellaneous  business  with  that  of  Mr.  V.  D.,  threw  into  his 
hands  a  mass  of  chancery  practice  and  business  in  the  higher  courts, 
which  from  that  time  forward  has  kept  him  constantly  in  his  library,  and 
compelled  him  to  devote  his  entire  time  to  professional  study.  His  part 
ner  being  a  successful  jury  advocate,  of  great  shrewdness,  and  a  good 
lawyer,  all  the  ordinary  trials,  when  clients  did  not  insist  upon  the  pre 
sence  of  Mr.  E.,  were  conducted  by  the  former.  The  legal  investiga 
tions,  however,  if  difficult  and  doubtful,  were  made  by  Mr.  E.  It  was 
quite  common  for  him  to  seat  himself  at  the  trial,  listen  to  his  partner's 
opening,  the  cross-examination  of  the  first  witness  by  the  opposing  coun 
sel,  or  hear  the  plaintiff's  opening,  if  his  firm  was  on  the  defensive,  and 
when  he  had  ascertained  that  it  was  highly  probable  the  true  points  in 
the  case  had  been  fully  anticipated,  and  that  his  partner  was  in  posses 
sion  of  them  all,  return  to  the  pursuit  of  those  extensive  and  exhausting 
investigations  in  which  for  the  last  eight  years  he  has  been  constantly 
engaged.  At  the  bar  of  the  circuit  and  before  juries,  therefore,  he  has 
been  seen  far  less  than  his  showy  and  active  partner,  who,  as  an  advo 
cate.  I  think  stands  at  the  head  of  the  Michigan  bar.  It  seldom  happens 
that  two  such  men  are  united  in  business  as  Joseph  A.  Van  Dyke  and 
H.  IT.  Emmons.  Together,  they  seem  to  embody  all  the  requisites  of 
a  masterly,  perfect  prosecution  and  defence.  If  I  were  obliged  to  part 
•with  either  in  a  great  cause,  of  course  the  technical  learning  of  Mr.  E. 
could  with  less  safety  be  spared ;  and  at  the  period  when  he  volunta 
rily  withdrew  from  the  more  showy  departments  of  jury  advocacy,  he 
commanded  a  much  larger  practice  there  than  his  partner ;  but  this,  I 
apprehend,  was  not  owing  to  the  fact  that  he  excelled  or  even  equaled 
him  in  mere  declamatory  powers ;  but  for  the  union  of  high  legal  attain 
ments,  with  powers  as  an  advocate  of  no  ordinary  kind,  and  as  a 
clear,  simple,  illustrative  reasoner,  an  acute  examiner,  argus  watchful 
ness  of  every  point  in  the  cause,  he  was  ever  signally  distinguished. 
The  association  of  such  a  man  as  Mr.  Van  Dyke,  and  the  absence  of  all 
ambition  on  the  part  of  Mr.  E.  for  fame  elsewhere  than  before  the  chan 
cellor,  the  federal  judges,  and  the  court  of  last  resort  in  his  own  state, 
has  most  materially  affected  the  character  of  his  practice  and  reputation. 
The  frequent  and  indeed  almost  constant  efforts  of  a  popular  kind,  made 
in  hi*  earlier  practice,  won  him  high  reputation  as  an  advocate  and  a 
successful  manager.  A  few  years  since  nearly  all  the  original  business 
of  the  state  was  turned  into  a  new  tribunal  (now  fortunately  abolished) 
called  the  county  court,  and  so  fully  had  Mr.  E.  withdrawn  from  the 
miscellaneous  business  of  his  firm,  that  during  its  three  years'  existence 
he  tried  but  three  causes  in  it.  One  of  these  was  a  very  celebrated 
cause,  lasting  some  thirty-one  days  in  the  trial,  and  raising  a  question  of 
title  to  the  immense  estate  held  by  the  Catholic  Bishop  of  Michigan. 
In  the  United  States  Court  his  jury  practice  has  been  more  extensive. 
But  it  is  not  as  a  man  of  eloquence,  of  great  persuasive  powers,  or  as  a 
man  of  popular  influence,  that  he  is  deserving  of  notice,  or  his  course 


H.  H.  EMMONS,  OF  MICHIGAN.  415 

deemed  worthy  of  imitation,  hut  as  a  lawyer  strictly;  as  a  successful 
reasoner,  because  he  studies  and  prepares  his  reasons ;  as  a  man 
eminently  ready  in  reply,  because  he  is  deeply  versed  in  the  principles 
which  his  opponent  has  mistaken  ;  who  surprises  his  adversary  by  a  won 
derful  foresight  and  far-reaching  calculation  of  effects,  not  by  any  extra 
ordinary  natural  gift  or  peculiar  conformation  of  mind,  but  by  a  perfect 
familiarity  with  every  fact  he  will  himself  put  in  evidence,  and,  far 
often er  than  the  contrary,  by  being  more  familiar  with  what  his  oppo 
nent's  testimony  will  legally  sustain  than  that  opponent  himself.  Mr. 
E.  rejects  the  idea  of  genius  for  the  profession,  and  claims  that  the  great 
line  of  distinction  is  drawn  in  its  ranks  by  indolence  on  the  one  hand, 
and  activity  on  the  other. 

In  the  court  of  last  resort  of  the  state,  Mr.  E.  has  delivered  a  long  list 
of  masterly  arguments.  They  are  never  superficial — such  an  argument 
he  never  made.  When  asked  to  aid  in  discussions  involving  principles 
with  which  he  is  not  familiar,  his  reply  is,  he  does  not  like  lecturing  be 
fore  an  audience  knowing  just  as  much  of  the  subject  as  himself.  In 
deed,  without  preparation  immediately  for  the  occasion,  or  previous 
general  familiarity  with  the  question,  he  never  speaks  in  court,  unless 
forced  to  do  so  by  the  accidents  of  a  trial.  He  never  harangues,  re 
peats,  or  wanders.  Though  he  is  minute,  and,  beyond  doubt,  sometimes 
unnecessarily  protractive,  one  moment's  time  is  never  spent  in  discussing 
irrelevant  doctrines.  The  bench  has  never  to  say,  "  we  do  not  see  the 
application."  It  is  ever  clear,  and  receives  at  his  hands  an  actual  appli 
cation.  The  memoranda  from  which  he  speaks  is  unusually  full,  having 
kept  up  the  habits  of  his  early  years,  to  which  we  have  referred.  He 
sometimes  offers  the  bench  the  choice  of  a  copy  of  his  own  full  notations, 
or  simply  his  propositions  and  authorities.  The  judges  have  never  been 
known  to  choose  the  latter.  Too  much  labor  is  saved  by  an  accurate 
and  learned  analysis  of  a  long  and  complicated  case,  cited  to  the  support 
of  a  principle  which  it  only  inferentially  supports,  for  any  man  to  reject 
its  aid,  and  voluntarily  assume  the  labor  of  examination  anew ;  and 
whether  the  point  is  positively  decided,  whether  the  case  shakes  some 
reason  only  upon  which  a  hostile  decision  was  grounded,  or  is  of  still 
lower  power  in  argument,  being  merely  one  whose  facts  might  have  jus 
tified,  but  in  which  eminent  counsel  did  not  raise  the  point  relied  on  by 
his  adversary,  or  whatever  use  is  sought  to  be  made  of  a  citation,  that 
use  is,  in  plain  and  unmistakable  terms,  fully  declared.  It  rarely  happens 
that  a  case  is  cited  against  Mr.  E.  in  an  appellate  court,  or  any  other 
where  the  point  has  been  anticipated,  with  which  he  is  not  entirely  fami 
liar.  Nor  does  he  ever,  as  is  too  frequently  the  case,  affect  to  recall  it 
from  the  sjreat  storehouse  of  his  general  reading,  if  it  has  had  in  reality 
a  recent  examination,  but,  sitting  at  the  bar  with  his  brief  of  "  cases 
contra"  in  his  hands,  adds  to  his  already  labored-written  review  which 
it  contains,  such  suggestions  as  the  comments  of  counsel  cause  to  occur. 
In  this  list  of  cases  contra  are  noted  all  the  strongest  grounds  against 
himself  which  he  deems  tenable  from  the  citations,  with  replies  and  re 
ferences  to  his  brief  for  the  court.  Thus  armed,  he  is  ever  ready  in  re 
ply,  as  it  is  termed,  because  ready  when  he  entered  court. 

Mr.  E.  is  not,  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  the  term,  a  party  politician  ; 
and  yet  the  common  judgment  of  his  opponents  is  that  he  is  among  the 


416  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

most  ardent  and  uncompromising  whigs  in  his  state.  He  never  solicits 
office  for  himself  or  others — seeks  no  prominence  or  influence  in  his 
party.  He  never  attends  caucus  nominations,  or  interferes  in  the  man 
agement  of  its  general  affairs  ;  and  yet,  when  particular  issues  excite  his 
interest,  no  man  is  more  zealous  or  efficient.  He  takes  the  field  of  pub 
lic  argument  with  the  same  indefatigable  application  with  which  he  tries 
a  cause.  Jf  he  deems  particular  measures  of  action  expedient  they  are 
proposed,  forced  through,  and  consummated,  just  as  he  would  execute  a 
plan  in  court,  or  in  the  ordinary  affairs  of  life.  There  is  no  halting  for 
forms — no  awaiting  for  other  men's  conclusions,  approbation,  or  assist 
ance  ;  but  the  proposition  is  made,  and  its  execution  entered  upon  with 
a  directness  and  promptness  which  show  that  the  scheme  has  bee»  ma 
tured  in  his  own  mind  before  his  proposition,  and  its  success  generally 
demonstrates  its  justness  and  propriety.  And  this  peculiarity  by  no 
means  attends  his  political  action  alone.  In  every  field  of  public  labor 
in  which  he  acts  at  all,  the  same  definite  action  and  directness  of  princi 
ple  mark  his  course. 

A  few  illustrations  out  of  many  will  illustrate  this  striking  peculiarity 
in  his  political,  moral,  and  benevolent  exertions. 

Some  few  years  since,  one  of  those  extraordinary  and  sudden  changes 
from  heat  to  cold  which  characterize  the  Michigan  winter,  and  send 
misery  and  suffering  to  the  needy  and  fireless  homes  of  the  unclad,  ill- 
sheltered  poor,  aroused  the  attention  of  Mr.  E.  to  their  probable  condi 
tion.  On  retiring  for  the  night  to  his  own  well-warmed  and  comfortable 
room,  he  remarked  to  his  wife,  that  the  sudden  appearance  of  such  intense 
cold  succeeding  many  weeks  of  uninterrupted  warm  weather  could  not 
but  find  the  needy  wholly  unprepared  for  its  severity.  At  that  time,  no 
plank  roads  led  into  the  country,  and  so  nearly  impassable,  by  continu 
ous  rains,  had  the  roads  become,  that  wood,  then  the  sole  fuel  used  in 
the  city,  had  arisen  from  $1  75  to  $5  and  $6  per  cord.  It  was,  indeed, 
entirely  beyond  the  reach  of  the  poor,  and  they  must  be  relieved 
promptly,  immediately,  or  actually  freeze.  It  was  just  the  emergency 
demanding  the  prompt  energy  of  the  man  who  assumed  the  duty  of 
their  relief.  Early  the  following  morning,  immediately  after  a  break 
fast  taken  before  daylight,  Mr.  E.  was  on  the  move.  He  did  not  wait 
for  consultation  or  advice  as  to  the  lest  mode.  He  resolved  forthwith, 
and  within  an  hour,  to  have  the  citizens  together,  and,  in  the  next,  to 
see  the  cars  in  motion  distributing  fuel  to  the  suffering.  The  first  man 
he  met  in  the  city  he  accosted  thus :  "  Are  you  around  notifying  V 
"Notifying  what?"  replied  the  citizen.  "The  meeting  at  the  United 
States  court-room,  to  take  measures  immediately  to  distribute  wood  to 
the  poor,"  said  Mr.  E.  "  It  takes  place  at  nine,  and,  without  instant 
relief,  death  will,  beyond  all  doubt,  occur."  "I  had  not  heard  of  it," 
replied  the  citizen,  "but  will  most  gladly  do  what  I  can."  "Very  good," 
said  Mr.  E.  "  Suppose  you  notify  those  on  your  street  immediately, 
and  hasten  all  you  see  along  to  the  court-house."  Thus  he  served  the 
next,  and  each  succeeding  man  he  met,  engaging,  in  the  work  of  notifica 
tion  and  in  spreading  the  excitement,  (for  such  it  really  became,)  every 
one  whom  he  deemed  efficient  and  earnest.  Never,  in  so  short  a  time, 
were  so  great  a  number  of  earnest  men  called  together,  save  by  the  fire- 
bell  at  midnight.  The  crying  necessity  of  the  case  touched  each  man's 


H.  H.  EMMONSj  OP  MICHIGAN.  417 

heart.  Mr.  E.  says,  in  an  hour,  he  heard  twenty  times  the  hearty  res 
ponse,  "  That's  right ;  I  was  just  thinking  of  that  myself."  The  court 
room  was  filled  to  overflowing.  Thousands  were  subscribed  in  less 
than  an  hour,  and  the  immense  piles  in  the  wood-yard  of  the  Michigan 
Central  Rail-road  were  thrown  open,  at  cost  price,  to  the  committee  of 
the  people.  Within  less  than  ninety  minutes  from  the  time  when  the 
first  man  was  asked  if  he  was  "  around  notifying,"  proclamation  was 
made,  hundreds  of  poor  men,  women  and  children  were  seen  with  wood 
in  their  arms,  issuing  from  the  gates  of  the  company,  all  eagerly  pressing 
homeward  to  kindle  a  fire  upon  the  family  hearth.  The  fund  raised 
was  more  than  double  what  was  needed,  and  it  was  invested  for  future 
use,  and  subsequently  sent  comfort  to  the  homes  of  many  a  needy  suf 
ferer.  The  meeting  itself  was  a  mystery.  No  one  knew  who  called 
it,  and  when  noticed,  as  it  was  most  extensively,  in  the  newspapers  of 
the  whole  country,  it  was  spoken  of  as  the  spontaneous  gathering  of 
the  people  of  Detroit  to  relieve  the  poor.  The  writer  of  this  knew, 
about  the  time  of  the  occurrence,  the  cause  of  the  gathering,  but  beyond 
two  or  three,  none  ever  knew  the  origin  of  the  much- celebrated  "wood 
donation  to  the  poor." 

Mr.  E.  was  on  no  committee.  In  the  published  proceedings  inserted 
in  the  city  papers,  with  all  the  parade  which  the  great  benevolence  and 
extraordinary  success  of  the  movement  merited,  his  name  in  no  way 
appeared.  It  is  but  an  illustration  of  his  whole  life.  He  has  never 
been  known  to  seek  a  public  place  of  the  most  inconsiderable  kind. 

We  have  said  that  he  was  celebrated  for  the  fearless  and  independ 
ent  stand  which,  regardless  of  personal  consequences,  he  so  frequently 
took  in  relation  to  public  and  popular  questions.  Some  years  ago, 
when  Irish  repeal  associations  were  popular,  Mr.  E.  and  a  few  tempe 
rance  friends  started,  as  an  adjunct  and  aid  to  their  abstinence  move 
ments,  a  repeal  association.  It  was  first  small  and  obscure.  It  soon, 
however,  attracted  the  attention  of  the  politicians.  It  grew  to  a  large 
popular  gathering,  when  it  was  useful  and  common  for  demagogues 
to  utter  sentiments  wholly  at  war  with  the  principles  and  constitution 
of  the  association.  Mr.  E.  appeared  there  but  little  after  it  assumed  its 
more  popular  form,  until,  on  an  occasion  of  great  excitement,  the  whole 
Irish  population  of  the  city  had  gathered  to  pass  censure  upon  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Duffield,  a  learned,  widely-known  and  highly-esteemed  Presbyte 
rian  clergyman,  who,  in  one  of  a  series  of  lectures  which  he  was  deliv 
ering  to  his  congregation  against  Catholicism,  was  supposed  to  have 
said  something  derogatory  to  the  character  of  the  Irish  nation  generally, 
and  the  repeal  association  in  particular.  The  meeting  was  among  the 
largest  and  most  excited  ever  convened  in  the  city.  The  Rev.  Catholic 
bishop  of  the  diocese,  and  several  learned  and  talented  priests,  were 
among  the  presiding  officers  of  the  evening,  and  numerous  inflammatory 
speeches  and  denunciatory  resolutions  had  been  introduced,  when, 
somewhat  late  in  the  evening,  Mr.  E.  came  forward,  and,  in  one  of  the 
boldest  and  most  masterly  arguments  to  which  it  has  ever  been  my 
privilege  to  listen,  defended  the  right  of  an  American  Protestant  cler 
gyman  to  preach  against  Catholicism,  Irish  repeal,  temperance,  or  se 
cret  societies,  or  whatever  he  conscientiously  believed  to  be  injurious  to 


418  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

the  welfare,  temporal  or  eternal,  of  his  fellow-citizens.  It  would  lead  to 
unpardonable  prolixity  to  follow  the  ingenious  argument  by  which  he 
committed  his  audience  enthusiastically  and  with  repeated  plaudits  to 
certain  abstract  propositions,  beautifully  and  pathetically  illustrated  by 
a  simple  story  which  went  right  to  the  heart  of  an  Irishman,  and  which, 
by  an  application  clear  and  irresistible,  compelled  the  immense  au 
dience  before  him,  without  one  dissenting  voice,  to  reject  the  whole 
mass  of  censorious  resolutions,  and  adopt,  with  acclamation,  a  mild, 
courteous  resolve,  referring  to  Dr.  D.,  in  terms  of  great  respect,  accord 
ing  fully  the  right  of  discussion  and  opinion,  but  simply  asserting  his 
mistake  of  certain  facts,  and  pointing  out  the  pardonable  and  natural 
cause  of  his  error.  A  clergyman  present  pronounced  it  the  greatest  tri 
umph  he  ever  witnessed  over  the  excitements,  the  prejudices  and  pas 
sions  of  a  public  audience.  Mr.  E.  subsequently  received  the  formal 
thanks  of  many  leading  citizens  for  his  fearless  and  powerful  effort. 
Before  it  was  made,  his  proposed  resolution  was  read  to  an  Irish  friend; 
he  said  to  Mr.  E.,  "  You  can  do  much,  undoubtedly,  with  this  audience, 
they  will  hear  from  you  what  they  would  not  from  very  many  ;  but  I 
fear  you  are  attempting  too  much."  But  the  very  boldness  of  the 
thing  controlled  those  uncultivated  but  really  generous  hearts,  whose 
noble  impulses  might  be  successfully  appealed  to  a  thousand  times 
more  frequently  than  they  are,  with  far  greater  success  and  power,  than 
attends  the  low  arts  of  the  demagogue  and  the  flatterer. 

In  the  cause  of  temperance,  he  has  ever  been  a  leading  and  influential 
man.  His  uncompromising  stand  on  this  subject  has  made  him  some 
bitter  opposers,  and  given  his  attitude,  in  his  own  city,  sometimes  a 
false  appearance  of  unpopularity.  No  man  of  his  age,  however,  stands 
better,  more  strongly  with  the  vast  majority  of  the  citizens  of  his  city 
and  state.  But  there  are  certain  noisy  classes,  the  pot-house  politicians, 
and  the  demagogue  leaders,  who  have  no  peculiar  attachment  to  the 
man  who  lashes  their  habits  and  never  courts  their  good  opinion. 

Mr.  E.  has  for  several  years  frequently  spoken  in  public  upon  the 
impolicy  of  associating  the  idea  of  revenue  with  the  sale  of  ardent  spi 
rits.  He  was  always  in  favor  of  a  prohibitory  law,  and  claims  that  the 
first  step  towards  this  was  to  place  the  traffic  in  alcoholic  drinks,  in  the 
first  instance,  upon  the  same  basis  as  all  other  commodities.  While 
the  state  convention,  to  revise  the  constitution  of  Michigan,  was  in  ses 
sion,  numerous  petitions  were  presented  to  the  body,  praying  the  adop 
tion  of  a  clause  totally  prohibiting  the  sale  of  ardent  spirits  in  the  state. 
These  were  presented  to  Mr.  E.  for  signature,  but  deeming  the  mea 
sure  wholly  impracticable,  that  so  much  was  asked,  that  nothing  would 
be  obtained,  he  refused  to  place  his  name  among  the  petitioners.  To 
the  surprise  of  the  great  masses  of  the  people,  there  was  found  in  the 
new  constitution  a  prohibition  of  the  entire  old-fashioned  license  sys 
tem  ;  the  hobby  of  Mr.  E.,  as  it  had  been  termed,  was  actually  a  part  of 
the  fundamental  law,  a  constitutional  provision  of  the  state.  No  public 
meeting  had  been  called,  he  had  not  figured  as  president,  or  committee- 
man  in  any  public  body.  The  newspapers  had  not  sent  his  name 
abroad  as  a  noisy  agitator  for  the  doctiine  ;  and  yet  it  would  be  idle  to 
impute  to  any  one  else,  than  the  only  man  who  ever  publicly  advocated 


H.  H.  EMMONS,  OF  MICHIGAN.  419 

the  doctrine  before  the  meeting  of  the  convention,  and  who  corres 
ponded  actively  on  the  subject  during  its  sitting,  the  enactment  of  the 
clause. 

The  meaning  of  the  provision,  the  extent  of  its  effect  in  cities  and  in 
corporated  villages,  came  before  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  state  at  the 
January  term,  1852.  And  the  court,  beside  delivering  an  opinion  upon 
the  only  really  necessary  point  in  the  case,  at  the  strong  solicitation 
of  counsel,  the  judges  intimated  the  inclination  of  their  minds  on  seve 
ral  questions  which  had  been  discussed  on  the  argument.  The  result 
was  a  pretty  free  expression  of  opinion,  both  on  the  bench,  and  by  way 
of  inquiry  and  explanations  also  at  the  bar.  Several  remarked  that  the 
general  object  of  the  provision  was  utterly  incomprehensible ;  that  it 
opened  the  sale  to  all,  and  so  could  not  have  emanated  from  temperance 
men;  that  it  prohibited  all  revenue,  and  consequently  could  not  have 
been  asked  by  the  tax-payers.  It  was  pronounced  the  very  acme  of 
folly  and  absurdity.  Mr.  Emmons,  after  having  patiently  listened  to  all 
who  seemed  to  have  anything  to  say,  rose  and  said  that  he  would  relieve 
the  minds  of  learned  gentlemen  from  the  truly  distressing  perplexity  in 
which  they  seemed  laboring  ;  that  he  could  not  speak  of  course  for  a 
majority  of  the  convention,  but  for  those  who  drew  the  provision  and 
originated  its  introduction,  he  could  speak  with  absolute  certainty.  It 
was  fully  anticipated  that  its  first  and  immediate  effect  would  be  an  in 
jurious  one,  by  increasing  that  which  all  admitted  to  be  the  great  lead 
ing  curse  of  the  country,  the  traffic  in  alcoholic  drinks  But  it  had  been 
found  by  experience  that  every  application  to  the  legislature  for  a  totally 
prohibitory  law  had  been  defeated  by  the  pot-house  politicians,  by  those 
little  locally  great  men  of  the  cities  and  villages,  a  large  portion  of 
whose  petty  revenues  were  derived  from  the  power  to  regulate  inns 
and  groceries.  That  while  the  delusion  of  taxation,  the  monstrous 
absurdity  of  the  community  being  paid  for  the  privilege  of  destroying 
its  members,  remained,  it  was  utterly  impossible  to  reach  the  mayors 
and  aldermen  of  the  cities  and  the  boards  of  the  villages.  The  loss  of 
the  revenue  was  an  unanswerable  motive  for  their  action,  if  not  an 
argument  in  their  mouths ;  and  after  the  most  careful  and  solemn  deli 
beration,  believing  that  the  very  best  thing  had  been  done  for  the  ulti 
mate  good  of  the  state,  a  few  leading  and  thoughtful  friends  of  temper 
ance  concluded  it  was  the  best  to  ask  for,  and  the  convention  in  its 
liberality  and  good  sense  had  concluded  to  insert,  a  provision  which 
would  leave  the  evils  or  benefits  of  selling  rum,  gin,  and  brandy  naked 
ly  exposed  to  the  judgment  of  the  people.  If  the  public  good  really 
required  the  sale  there  was  no  reason  under  Heaven  why  a  man  should 
pay  for  the  liberty  of  selling  it  any  more  than  for  that  of  disposing  of 
bread  and  of  beef.  If  it  were  an  unmitigated  wrong,  then  it  was  mon 
strous  to  suffer  under  the  sanction  of  law  any  mar  for  money  to  com 
mit  the  crime.  It  has  been  thought  best  to  leave  the  rum  traffic 
to  stand  or  fall  by  its  own  merits.  The  decision  of  the  bench  accords 
exactly  with  the  actual  motives  of  the  provision.  It  was  simply  to 
sever  the  spirit  traffic  from  revenue.  "And,  gentlemen,"  said  he,  turn 
ing  round  to  the  auditory,  "the  trade  and  society  are  before  you;  per 
petuate  the  former  to  the  injury  of  the  latter  just  as  long  as  you  please, 
tut  you  can  no  longer  add  insult  to  the  infliction  by  telling  us  that  we 


420  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

are  paid  for  our  suffering  and  our  shame.  My  own  opinion  is,  that  the 
insertion  of  that  wise  provision  is  one  of  the  longest  strides  towards 
a  total  prohibition  of  the  spirit  traffic  which  has  ever  been  taken  in  the 
State  of  Michigan.  This  was  the  sole  motive  of  those  who  asked  for  it. 
If  the  provision  still  appears  absurd,  at  least,  gentlemen,  its  motives  will 
no  longer  remain  mysterious  and  incomprehensible." 

But  this  extended  notice  must  be  brought  to  a  close.  The  great  dif 
ficulty  has  been  to  select  from  the  great  mass  of  materials  which  the  active 
and  impulsive  life  of  Mr.  Emmons  affords  for  the  writer.  Few  men  are 
more  felt  in  society.  Few  have  succeeded  more  extensively  in  impress 
ing  upon  it,  and  the  laws  and  institutions,  judicial,  political,  moral,  and 
benevolent  of  his  state  their  own  peculiar  opinions  and  theories,  and  his 
name  nowhere  appears.  There  is  but  one  class  of  men  for  the  last 
quarter  of  a  century  who  figure  in  American  history.  The  party  poli 
tician,  the  dominant  party  politician  alone  is  mentioned.  His  doings, 
sayings,  and  theories  are  chronicled.  He  may  be  but  yielding  to  the 
mighty  influences  which  bold,  energetic  reformers  have  set  in  action. 
But  enacting  into  laws  the  great  theories  and  recommendations  which 
the  discussions  of  the  bar  and  the  bench  have  originated  and  matured, 
and  his  name  alone  is  known  beyond  the  precincts  of  his  state,  Gover 
nor  A.,  Senator  B.,  and  Congressmen  C.,  D.  and  E.,  standing  for  the 
time  being  as  the  governmental  body  through  which  the  soul  and  active 
impulse  of  society  are  manifesting  its  thoughts  and  emotions,  are 
heralded  abroad  as  its  great  men ;  while  the  very  life  of  the  state's 
prosperity,  all  which  gives  it  intellectual  character  and  sustains  its  high 
position  as  a  powerful  and  prosperous  commonwealth  among  the  nations 
of  the  earth;  her  leading,  active,  honest  and  influential  professional 
men,  giant  commercial  managers,  find  no  place  in  public  records  or 
prints.  Our  newspapers  but  seldom  report  a  learned,  eloquent, 
and  masterly  argument  at  the  bar,  though  it  may  touch  a  thousand 
practical  rights  which  lay  close  beside  the  hearthstone,  the  freehold, 
and  the  character.  But  the  most  pitiful  ebullitions  of  the  political 
demagogue  are  hawked  about  in  our  party  papers  as  if  the  salvation 
of  the  nation  rested  upon  their  perusal. 

As  for  fortune,  Mr.  Emmons  has  not,  and  unless  he  greatly  changes 
his  expensive  habits,  he  never  will  become  a  very  wealthy  man.  He 
does  not  know  what  economy  is  when  the  comfort  and  enjoyment  of 
his  family  are  concerned.  In  personal  enjoyments  aside  from  his  home 
he  expends  nothing.  But  his  home  is  spacious  and  even  elegant.  His 
residence  is  among  the  best  in  the  city  in  which  he  resides.  In  the  ex 
tent  and  elegance  of  his  grounds,  the  costliness  of  their  decorations,  they 
surpass  any  in  the  city  and  equal  any  in  the  state.  These  things  for  a 
young  man  who  twelve  years  ago  started  without  a  dollar,  are  wholly 
incompatible  with  great  wealth ;  still  Mr.  Emmons  is  entirely  independ 
ent,  has  a  fortune  between  thirty  and  forty  thousand  dollars.  He  says 
he  has  no  desire  to  leave  his  wife  and  little  ones  with  any  more  than  to 
enable  them  with  economy  to  live  respectably.  He  does  not  desire 
them  to  be  enabled  to  dispense  with  the  one,  or  in  style  exceed 
the  modest  limits  of  the  other. 

His  style  of  living  is  plain  and  democratic,  and  his  whole  family  are 
characterized  for  sentiments  and  practices  which  rebuke  the  affectations 


H.  H.  EMMONS,  OF  MICHIGAN.  421 

of  superficial  and  irrationably  fashionable  society.  They  set  a  -whole 
some  example  of  that  practical  medium  style,  that  judicious  regard  for 
comfort  in  the  midst  of  abundance,  that  familiarity  with  all  around  them, 
which  so  befits  a  prosperous  American  citizen. 

There  are  very  few  to  whom  the  father  could  point  as  an  example 
for  his  son  to  follow  with  more  safety  than  to  him.  When  we  have 
said  this,  the  highest  praise  that  can  be  bestowed  upon  any  man  has 
been  given. 

It  would  be  unjust  to  close  this  memoir  and  the  secrets  and  causes 
of  success  but  half  told,  did  we  withhold  one  of  the  chief  elements  in  the 
happiness  and  consolations  in  the  progress  of  Mr.  Emmons.  The  un 
obtrusive  and  eminently  domestic  tastes  of  his  intelligent  and  beautiful 
lady  would  be  wounded  by  more  than  a  general  reference  to  her  per 
fections  as  a  mother  and  wife.  When  led  to  the  altar  Miss  Williams 
was  among  the  most  beautiful  women  of  her  state,  and  a  thorough, 
sound,  practical  education,  high  religious  principles,  and  naturally  liberal 
and  kind  emotions,  made  her  all  which  the  high  merits  of  the  man  she 
chose  so  richly  deserved.  The  happiness  of  the  married  life  has  been 
wholly  without  alloy.  Even  between  those  bound  together  by  more 
than  ordinary  affection  there  will  sometimes  creep  in  little  matters  of 
difference  to  ruffle  the  temper  and  show  they  are  mortals.  And  though 
no  exemption  from  the  imperfections  of  the  clay  is  claimed,  still  it  is  by 
no  means  common  for  seven  years  of  matrimonial  life  to  pass  without 
one  angry  word  or  a  single  subject  of  unpleasant  difference.  Such  is 
the  fortunate  history  thus  far  of  Mr.  Emmons  and  his  much  respected  as 
well  as  much  loved  wife.  Nor  is  this  peace  around  the  hearthstone  the 
result  of  tyranny  on  the  one  side  and  slavish  servility  on  the  other. 
Mrs.  Ernmons  is  the  uncontrolled  and  supreme  ruler  of  her  house  and 
household.  Her  checks  are  answered  at  the  banker's  and  there  is  no 
supervision  of  accounts.  Mr.  Emmons  insists  that  nine  ladies  in  ten 
would  be  more  economical  than  their  husbands  if  they  were  made  their 
confidants,  trusted  with  responsibilities,  and  knew  they  were  looked  to 
and  treated  as  equals  and  advisers. 

Should  Mr.  Emmons  regain  the  health  which  his  too  indefatigable 
labors  have  now  so  seriously  impaired  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  results 
will  follow  his  continued  activity  which,  when  his  whole  course  is  run, 
will  entitle  the  writer  who  notices  his  life  to  omit  all  that  preliminary 
justification  and  apology  which  was  deemed  appropriate  for  its  notice 
now. 


42*2  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 


HON.  WILLIAM  H.  MILLS, 

OF  BANGOR,  MAINE. 

Hox.  WILLIAM  H.  MILLS,  a  gentleman  of  middle  age,  was  born  in 
the  State  of  Vermont,  and  migrated  to  Portland,  Me.,  when  quite 
young,  where  he  was  for  several  years  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits. 

In  1835  he  removed  to  the  city  of  Bangor  for  the  purpose  of  entering 
upon  the  duties  of  cashier  of  the  EASTERN  BANK,  then  just  chartered, 
which  situation  he  still  holds. 

Colonel  Mills  belongs  with  that  class  of  reliable  men  in  whom  all 
have  confidence,  and  who,  from  a  natural  kindness  of  heart  and  urbanity 
of  manners,  never  have  enemies. 

He  has  been  repeatedly  elected  to  either  branch  of  the  city  council, 
and  twice  unanimously  elected  to  the  office  of  mayor  of  the  city,  which 
office  he  declined  to  hold  longer,  the  public  drafts  being  too  heavy  upon 
the  duties  of  his  profession. 

Colonel  Mills  has  long  been  a  great  admirer  of  the  illustrious  soldier 
and  statesman  who  is  now  the  candidate  of  the  whig  party  for  the  Pre 
sidency,  and  labored  hard  for  his  nomination  in  1848,  and  subsequently 
did  much  to  bring  about  the  great  unanimity  of  sentiment  in  his  state 
in  favor  of  that  great  and  good  man.  He  represented  the  Fifth  Con 
gressional  District  in  the  whig  national  convention  at  Baltimore  in  June 
last,  where  he  evinced  an  untiring  zeal  to  effect  the  nomination  of  his  fa 
vorite  candidate,  and  no  one  rejoiced  more  than  he  at  the  glorious  con 
summation  of  his  wishes.  The  "Maine  Delegation"  will  not  soon  be 
forgotten  by  the  members  of  that  convention  or  the  country  at  large. 


HON.  CHRISTOPHER  C.  SCOTT, 

OF    ARKANSAS. 

IN  presenting  to  the  profession  a  short  sketch  of  the  past  life  of  the 
subject  of  this  article,  now  a  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Arkansas, 
It  may  not,  perhaps,  be  out  of  place  to  state  that  his  family  was  inti 
mately  connected  with  our  struggle  for  national  independence.  His 
father,  John  B.  Scott,  of  Halifax  county,  Virginia,  at  the  age  of  sixteen, 
ran  off  from  Hampden  Sidney  College,  and  volunteered  as  a  private 
soldier  in  Lee's  Legion,  in  whfch  his  elder  brother  was  a  captain.  He 
continued  in  the  Revolutionary  army  until  the  close  of  the  war,  and  by 
his  spirit  and  devotion  to  the  cause  of  liberty  attained  the  grade  of 
lieutenant.  He  was  subsequently  elected  brigadier-general  of  the  militia 
by  the  legislature  of  Virginia,  and,  during  Mr.  Jefferson's  administra 
tion,  served  as  colonel-commandant  at  several  of  the  military  posts  of 
the  United  States.  During  the  late  war  with  Great  Britain  he  organized 


CHRISTOPHER  C.  SCOTT,  OF  ARKANSAS.  423 

a  company,  composed  of  the  old  heroes  of  the  Revolution,  for  the  de 
fence  of  Norfolk,  when  threatened  by  the  enemy.  Of  this  company, 
the  "Silver  Greys,"  he  was  captain  when  he  died  in  February,  1813. 
He  was  also  a  lawyer  of  some  eminence,  at  different  periods  a  member 
of  the  legislature  of  Virginia,  and  was  a  candidate  for  Congress,  without 
opposition,  when  he  died. 

The  Hon.  Christopher  C.  Scott  was  born  on  the  22d  of  April,  1807, 
and  was  only  six  years  old  at  the  period  of  his  father's  death.  He  had 
the  misfortune  to  lose  his  mother  also  at  a  very  early  age;  but  her 
place  wras  in  some  sort  supplied,  for  a  short  time,  by  the  generous  care 
and  affection  of  his  brother  William's  wife.  Upon  her  death,  at  the  age 
of  fourteen,  he  went  into  a  counting-room  at  Prince  Edward  court-house, 
where  he  remained  with  William  Henry  Yenable  two  years;  and  then 
accompanied  his  brothers  and  sister  upon  their  removal  to  Alabama. 
In  the  following  year  he  returned  to  Virginia,  and  entered  Washington 
College,  where  he  completed  his  collegiate  course  in  his  twentieth  year. 
Fully  sensible  of  the  irreparable  loss  that  he  had  sustained  by  the  al 
most  total  neglect  of  his  education  during  the  preceding  three  years, 
he  devoted  himself  with  energy  and  industry  to  the  prosecution  of  his 
studies.  At  this  period  he  bent  all  the  energies  of  his  mind  to  the 
mastery  of  Burlamaqui  on  national  and  political  law;  and  to  that  au 
thor  attributes  his  abandonment  of  the  "  free  opinions"  upon  the  sub 
ject  of  religion,  so  common  at  that  time  to  young  men  of  his  age.  It 
was  not,  however,  until  later  in  life,  that  he  became  a  member  of  the 
Methodist  church,  of  which  he  continues  to  be  a  cherished  and  a  worthy 
member. 

On  leaving  college  he  returned  to  Alabama  and  commenced  reading 
law  with  Mr.  Van  De  Graff,  but  remained  under  his  direction  only  about 
a  year,  when  he  entered  into  a  mercantile  business  and  cotton  specula 
tion,  from  which  he  retired  at  the  expiration  of  about  two  years,  with 
the  loss  of  nearly  all  his  patrimonial  estate.  Thus  thrown  upon  his 
own  exertions,  and  conscious  that  his  future  success  depended  upon  his 
own  efforts,  he  returned  to  Virginia  and  commenced  the  study  of  law 
at  the  Staunton  Law  School,  with  the  determination  of  qualifying  him 
self  for  the  practice.  Here  he  had  access  to  the  fine  library  of  John  H. 
Peyton,  Esq.,  who,  in  a  late  sketch  of1  his  life  in  the  Literary  Messenger, 
is  styled  the  "Model  Lawyer." 

He  had  also  the  advantages  of* a  moot  court,  and  the  lectures  of 
Judge  B.  G.  Baldwin  and  Doctor  Waddell,  of  all  which  he  availed  him 
self  to  the  utmost  effort  of  his  power.  In  speaking  of  this  period  of 
his  life,  and  of  the  industry  and  avidity  with  which  he  pursued  the  study 
of  the  law,  I  have  heard  him  say  that  he  was  absolutely  "  hungry  for 
law  knowledge,"  and  that  Coke  on  Littleton  was  as  interesting  to  him 
as  any  book  that  he  had  ever  read.  He  completed  the  legal  course  in 
July,  1832,  and  early  in  August  married  Elizabeth  Strother  Smith,  then 
in  the  eighteenth  year  of  her  age — a  lady  whose  personal  graces  are 
only  equaled  by  the  higher  and  nobler  virtues  of  the  heart,  and  whose 
intellectual  acquirements  have  won  for  her  the  admiration  and  respect 
of  all  who  know  her  personally,  or  by  her  contributions  to  the  periodi 
cal  literature  of  the  day — the  second  daughter  of  Hon.  Daniel  Smith, 
for  many  years  president  of  the  general  court,  and  at  the  time  of  his 


424  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

death,  in  November,  1850,  President  of  the  Special  Court  of  Appeals  of 
Virginia. 

Immediately  after  his  marriage,  Col.  Scott  went  to  Alabama  for  the 
purpose  of  pursuing  his  profession  in  that  state.  After  spending  a  few 
months  in  Greensborough,  and  attending  a  term  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
where  he  earned  his  first  fee,  he  determined  upon  settling  at  Gainsville, 
Sumpter  county — a  town,  like  most  of  the  new  towns  in  the  south  and 
west,  rather  in  prospect  than  in  being  at  that  time.  Accordingly, 
erecting  a  log-cabin  for  his  family,  and  an  office  for  business,  he  com 
menced  the  practice  of  the  law,  and  by  a  close  and  steady  attention  to 
professional  duty,  was  enabled  to  earn  a  comfortable  support  for  his 
family  at  the  outset. 

It  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  the  younger  members  of  the  profes 
sion  to  learn,  that  at  the  commencement  of  his  professional  career,  Judge 
Scott  accepted  the  office  and  discharged  the  duties  of  justice  of  the 
peace.  And  now,  whilst  occupying  a  seat  upon  the  highest  judicial 
tribunal  of  one  of  the  sovereign  states  of  the  Union,  he  may  with  pride 
look  back  to  the  time  when  he  presided  in  the  most  inferior  court  with 
an  equal  desire  to  administer  the  law,  and  do  justice  between  man  and 
man.  His  practice  increasing  rapidly,  and  being  engaged  in  the  prose 
cution  of  several  important  land  claims  before  the  department  at  Wash 
ington  City,  he  formed  a  partnership  in  January,  1836,  with  Jonathan 
Bliss,  Esq.,  (now  a  wealthy  lawyer  of  Alabama,)  with  whom  he  con 
tinued  in  a  lucrative  and  extensive  business  until  June,  1838.  At  this 
period  occurred  what  may  well  be  termed  a  calamity  to  him  and  his, 
and  which  I  would  pass  over  in  silence,  but  that  it  might  be  deemed, 
by  those  acquainted  with  the  circumstances,  that  his  friends  and  himself 
shrink  from  all  reference  to  it ;  and  I  know  that,  whilst  he  regrets  the 
necessity,  his  judgment  approves  and  his  conscience  condemns  not  his 
participation  in  the  affair. 

Opposed  in  principle  to  the  banking  corporations  that  sprang  into 
existence  about  this  period,  and  deeply  sympathizing  with  the  poorer 
classes  of  the  community,  who  were  suffering  much  from  the  ebbs  and 
flows  of  a  depreciated,  paper  currency  thrown  broadcast  among  them, 
he  strongly  denounced,  in  a  public  meeting  in  which  he  was  invited  to 
speak,  the  entire  banking  system,  state  and  national,  and  especially  the 
operations  of  the  banking  agencies  located  in  the  section  of  country  in 
which  he  lived.  This,  of  course,  raised  up  against  him  the  opposition 
of  all  connected  with,  or  who  had  favors  to  ask  of  these  moneyed  cor 
porations,  and  also  excited  the  enmity  of  principals  and  agents.  The 
result  was  a  personal  difficulty  into  which  he  fell  with  one  of  the  latter. 
Though  prosecuted  to  the  utmost  rigor  that  money  could  command  or 
enmity  excite,  the  penalty  was  simply  a  pecuniary  fine,  from  which  he 
was  relieved,  on  the  petition  of  the  bar,  by  a  full  pardon  by  the  then 
governor  of  Alabama. 

Colonel  Scott  immediately  recommenced  the  practice  of  law,  and  as 
an  evidence  that  he  still  retained  the  confidence  and  respect  of  the  com 
munity  in  which  he  lived,  and  who  were  cognizant  of  the  whole  affair, 
he  at  once  obtained  a  full  share  of  practice ;  and  although  professional 
business  continued  to  decrease  during  the  five  years  afterwards  that  he 
remained  at  Gainsville,  he  was  fully  sustained  whilst  he  resided  there. 


CHRISTOPHER  C.  ECOTT,  OF  ARKANSAS.  425 

He  had  determined,  however,  to  remove  as  soon  as  he  felt  that  it  would 
seem  as  if  he  acted  of  his  own  free  will ;  and  therefore  proceeded  quietly 
to  close  his  extensive  unsettled  business.  Having  done  so,  he  moved  to 
Arkansas,  and  in  May,  1844,  settled  at  Camden,  in  the  vicinity  of  which 
town  he  still  resides,  where  he  again  commenced  the  practice,  which 
yielded  a  sufficient  support  for  his  family.  In  the  following  year  he 
formed  a  partnership  with  Major  Abner  A.  Stith,  which  continued, 
with  gradually  increasing  profits,  until  November,  1848,  when  Colonel 
Scott  was  unanimously  elected  by  the  legislature  judge  of  the  eighth 
judicial  circuit,  the  duties  of  which  office  he  discharged  to  the  general 
satisfaction  of  the  bar.  until  July,  1848,  when  he  was  appointed  by  the 
governor  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court,  to  fill  the  vacancy  occasioned  by 
the  resignation  of  the  Hon.  W.  S.  Oldham.  At  the  following  Novem 
ber  session  of  the  legislature,  Judge  Scott  was  elected  for  the  unexpired 
term  of  Judge  Oldham,  by  a  vote  which  almost  evinced  the  absence  of 
opposition.  At  the  November  session,  1850,  he  was  unanimously  re- 
elected  by  the  legislature  for  the  full  term  under  the  constitution,  and 
has  since  continued  to  discharge  the  duties  pertaining  to  the  office  with 
general  satisfaction  to  the  bar  and  country.  This  is,  perhaps,  neither 
the  time  nor  occasion,  to  attempt  an  analysis  of  the  decisions  emanat 
ing  from  one  now  in  the  active  discharge  of  his  judicial  functions.  A 
difference  of  opinion,  as  to  the  result  in  particular  cases,  may  well  exist 
among  the  members  of  the  profession  who  are  familiar  with  and  partial 
to  the  decisions,  often  conflicting,  of  the  different  states  from  which  they 
come  ;  yet  all,  I  doubt  not,  are  willing  to  concede  to  him  honesty  of  pur 
pose,  and  impartiality  and  ability  in  the  discharge  of  his  judicial  duties. 
The  labors  of  an  appellate  court  in  a  new  state,  the  construction  of  whose 
constitution  is,  in  many  respects,  unsettled,  and  whose  code  of  laws  is 
confessedly  a  legislative  anomaly,  are  much  more  arduous  than  in  the 
older  states.  The  subject  of  this  article,  however,  brings  to  his  aid,  in 
his  judicial  labors,  as  well  the  results  of  a  matured  judgment  and  ex 
tensive  legal  research,  as  the  patient  industry  so  necessary  to  a  correct 
exposition  of  the  law ;  and  has  already,  by  his  decisions,  made  an  impress 
upon  the  constitution  and  laws  of  the  state,  which  will  remain,  with  the 
acquiescence  of  the  abler  members  of  the  bar,  as  long  as  the  constitu 
tion  and  laws  themselves  shall  stand.  If  I  were  inclined  to  specify  a 
fault  in  his  opinions,  it  would  be  the  metaphysical  train  of  thought 
which  sometimes  runs  through  them,  and  which  leads  him,  too  often 
perhaps,  to  disregard  the  blind  yet  convenient  rule,  stare  decisis,  and  in 
quire  into  first  principles,  or  the  foundation  upon  which  adjudications 
rest. 

As  to  his  private  life — he  is  keenly  sensitive  to  the  quiet  happiness 
of  the  domestic  hearth,  enjoys  much  the  pleasures  of  the  social  circle, 
has  proved  himself  ever  ready  to  spend  and  be  spent  in  the  service  of 
his  friends,  and  meets  all  who  approach  him  with  that  frankness,  cour 
tesy,  and  kindness,  which  ever  attend  the  union  of  the  cultivated  mind 
and  generous  heart. 


423  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

WILLIAM  MASON, 

OF   TAU1TTON,    MASSACHUSETTS. 

IT  h;is  been  often  questioned  with  a  good  deal  of  seriousness  whether 
the  times  make  eminent  men  or  eminent  men  the  times.  After  all  the 
argumentation,  hov;ever,  upon  the  matter,  we  have  come  to  no  very  de 
cisive  result,  sines  it  is  one  so  nicely  balanced  that  it  is  difficult  to 
tell  which  way  the  beam  inclines.  Certain  it  is  that,  since  the  opening 
of  the  present  century,  there  has  been  a  marked  development  of  practi 
cal  science,  and  practical  skill.  Every  year  has  increased  this  develop 
ment.  The  demand  for  men  who  can  concentrate  their  minds  or  turn 
their  hands  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  out  a  desired  result  has  been  un 
paralleled  in  the  history  of  our  race.  The  supply  has  been  as  wonder 
ful  as  the  demand.  The  times  have  called  for  the  men,  and  the  men 
have  met  and  hurried  forward  the  times. 

Next  to  the  fact  that  the  New-England  States  have  furnished  more 
men  of  eminence  in  the  liberal  professions  than  any  other  of  the  United 
States  of  the  same  relative  number  of  inhabitants,  is  the  interesting 
fact  that  they  stand  in  singular  prominence  as  the  rearers  of  inventive 
genius,  and  the  producers  of  cunning  and  curious  workmanship.  Of  these 
New-England  States,  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  decidedly  take  the 
lead  in  these  respects.  The  stern  character  of  their  soil,  and  the  liberal 
provision  made  in  both  for  common-school  education,  drive  the  sons  of 
these  two  neighboring  territories  to  the  exercise  of  their  wits,  and  teach 
them  how  to  use  them.  In  illustration  of  this,  let  me  carry  you  to  the 
little  village  of  Mystic,  in  the  latter  state,  and  from  thence  trace  the  his 
tory  of  one  who,  in  his  residence  within  both  these  states,  has  exerted 
a  well-known  and  far-reaching  influence  on  a  prominent  branch  of  in 
dustry. 

William  Mason  was  born  in  the  just-named  village,  A.  D.  1808,  of 
poor  but  respectable  parentage.  When  he  was  three  years  of  age,  the 
family  removed  to  a  small  island  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mystic  River,  now 
known  as  Bradford's  Island,  where  he  lived  three  years.  Here  there 
was  no  school,  nor  was  there  any  opportunity  of  acquiring  even  those 
simple  rudiments  of  education  which  are  usually  imparted  to  children  at 
this  tender  age.  The  strong  bent  of  his  taste  displayed  itself  neverthe 
less  in  a  very  interesting  way.  He  busied  himself  in  watching  the  ma 
noeuvres  of  the  vessels  which  plied  on  the  river,  and  experimented  very 
successfully  till,  from  time  to  time,  he  sent  out  quite  a  fleet  to  seek  their 
fortune.  None  of  these,  it  is  believed,  have  ever  been  reported  either 
at  a  native  or  a  foreign  harbor  ;  but  the  fact  of  their  having  been  so  long 
missing  has  never  given  the  builder  any  serious  anxiety.  From  this  re 
tired  island  he  removed  to  North  Stonington,  where  his  father  cultivated 
a  little  farm,  and  worked  at  his  trade  as  a  blacksmith.  During  the  se 
ven  years  of  his  being  in  this  town,  he  attended  school  in  the  winter,  and 
worked  at  home  in  spring,  summer,  and  autumn.  But,  like  other  boys, 
he  managed  to  have  a  portion  of  his  time  devoted  to 'childish  sports. 
These  pastimes,  however,  were  not  conducted  in  the  usual  way  for  boys 


WILLIAM  MASON,  OP  MASSACHUSETTS.  427 

of  his  age,  but  generally  took  a  mechanical  or  artistic  turn — such  as 
making  and  sailing  miniature  vessels,  making  drawings  on  paper,  &c. 
Owing  to  the  very  limited  circumstances  of  the  family,  he  could  not 
procure  the  toys  which  are  so  liberally  shoT.72red  rpon  the  children  of 
our  day  ;  but  if  his  parents  could  not  buy  he  could  make  them.  Any 
thing  that  he  saw  that  interested  him  he  would  at  once  set  out  to  make, 
and,  considering  the  disadvantages  under  which  he  labored,  his  success 
was  wonderful.  His  principal  tool  in  wood- work  was  his  father's  jack- 
knife,  which  he  could  wield  with  great  precision  ;  but  it  was  a  long  time 
before  he  could  have  one  that  he  could  call  his  own.  This  important 
instrument  he  finally  procured  by  making  pen-and-ink  drawings,  and 
selling  them  for  pennies. 

"  He  hoarded  every  cent  till  he  could  get  it, 
And  leUt  no  stone  unturned  till  he  could  whet  it." 

He  also  worked  in  iron  like  a  young  "  Vulcan."  This  part  of  his  opera 
tions  was  carried  on  in  his  father's  smithy.  A  jews-harp  is  a  difficult 
thing  to  manufacture,  requiring  nice  skill  in  the  whole  process  ;  .yet  at 
eight  years  of  age  he  made  the  article  with  his  own  hands;  and  he  made 
not  only  one  but  quite  a  number,  and  they  were  capital  good  ones  too. 
He  had  seen  them  in  the  hands  of  other  boys,  and  heard  them  played 
upon.  He  could  not  purchase  one,  but  he  set  out  and  made  it  by  his 
own  handicraft.  He  always  had  better  skates  and  nicer  sleds  than  any 
of  his  playmates,  and  they  were  always  of  a  unique  pattern,  and  of  his 
own  manufacture.  Musical  instruments,  of  various  kinds,  he  attempted 
to  manufacture,  and  often  with  good  success.  At  twelve  years  of  age 
he  made  a  drum.  Taking  an  inch-thick  whitewood  board,  and  planing  it 
down  thin,  for  the  barrel,  he  steamed  it  over  the  kitchen  kettle,  and 
bent  it  round  over  his  mother's  weaving-beam ;  then  he  bought  a  couple 
of  sheep-skins  for  the  heads,  cured  them,  made  the  hoops,  put  it  together, 
and  varnished  it.  This  drum  was  a  well-toned  instrument,  and  was 
"  swapped  of,"  as  the  yankee  boys  say,  to  a  regular  drummer. 

At  thirteen  years  of  age  he  entered  a  cotton  factory  in  Canterbury, 
Connecticut.  This  was  one  of  those  old-fashioned  establishments  which 
a  few  of  us  can  remember,  and  those  who  have  seen  them  can  easily 
contrast  them  with  the  magnificent  structures  which  are  now  reared  for 
this  branch  of  business.  It  was  literally  a  day  of  small  things  with  this 
form  of  industry.  To  our  young  friend,  however,  it  seemed  quite  an 
affair  to  become  a  cotton-spinner.  Although  associated  with  a  class  of 
fellow-operatives  which  would  compare  as  unfavorably  with  the  tidy 
workers  in  Lowell  and  Lawrence  as  would  the  mill  in  Canterbury  with 
the  "  Bay  State"  or  the  "  Atlantic"  mills,  he  was  quite  proud  of  his 
elevation.  The  four  years  spent  at  this  work  were  doubtless  as  in 
teresting  as  any  of  his  afier  days,  and  self-development  went  on  as  much 
as  at  any  period  of  his  life.  No  time  lay  idle  on  his  hands.  When  the 
necessity  of  repairs  stopped  the  wheel,  or  when  he  could  snatch  a  few  hours 
or  minutes  of  an  evening  or  a  holiday,  he  was  always  busy.  As  a  proof 
of  this,  as  well  as  of  his  constantly  increasing  ingenuity,  we  may  mention 
the  fact  that  he  made  a  "hurdy-gurdy,"  that  is  considered  a  very  curious 
piece  of  workmanship.  He  had  seen  but  one,  and  that  was  in  the  hands 
of  a  musician  in  a  traveling  caravan,  and  he  was  not  permitted  to 


428  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

examine  it  except  at  a  distance.  This  instrument  of  course  could  not 
be  made  without  a  pattern,  or  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  fundamental 
principles  of  music.  At  least,  the  maker  must  be  so  far  acquainted  with 
the  philosophy  of  music  as  to  be  able  to  "  stop"  a  single  string  in  all 
the  places  required  to  produce  all  the  tones  in  the  "  scale"  twice  over, 
which  is  a  very  nice  point.  Young  Mason  was  not  long  in  possessing 
himself  of  all  the  knowledge  necessary  in  order  to  make  his  hurdy- 
gurdy  "discourse  sweet  music;"  and  if  any  of  our  readers  have  any 
doubt  as  to  this  fact,  they  can  be  introduced  to  the  veritable  instrument 
by  its  original  maker  and  proprietor,  at  his  house  in  the  good  old  town 
of  Taunton. 

One  year  of  these  cotton-spinning  days  was  spent  at  Lisbon,  Connec 
ticut,  where  was  a  thread  factory.  A  little  incident  which  happened 
here  tells  its  own  story.  One  of  the  machines  became  entirely  disar 
ranged  and  no  one  could  manage  it,  save  our  young  friend.  He  saw  the 
difficulty  at  once  and  remedied  it.  This  instance  of  skill  was  heard  of 
at  East  Haddam,  where  they  were  setting  up  a  thread-mill,  and  he  was 
sent  for,  though  only  fifteen  years  old,  to  start  their  machines. 

When  seventeen  years  of  age  he  left  the  cotton  manufactory  to  familiar 
ize  himself  with  the  work  of  a  machine-shop.  One  of  these  was  attached 
to  the  cotton-mill  at  Canterbury,  and  employed  some  ten  or  a  dozen 
hands.  This  was  rather  a  limited  school  for  a  young  man  of  ingenuity, 
but  it  was  about  as  good  as  any  in  those  days.  He  confined  himself 
very  closely  to  his  work,  and  mastered  all  the  elements  of  education 
necessary  to  a  practical  machinist.  With  his  stay  there  closed  his  period 
of  apprenticeship,  and,  for  the  rest  of  our  space,  we  must  look  at 
him  as  working  his  way  forward  in  the  world,  with  the  skill  thus  far 
acquired  and  constantly  increased  by  experience  and  observation. 
While  in  the  cotton-mill  he  acquired  the  reputation  of  a  first-rate  spin 
ner — in  the  machine-shop  he  was  esteemed  a  master  of  his  tools. 

At  twenty  years  of  age  he  made  his  first  excursion  from  his  native 
state.  Regarding  New- York  as  the  great  centre  of  enterprise,  he  went 
there  in  search  of  work.  Owing  to  the  depressed  state  of  business  at 
that  time  he  got  nothing  to  do,  and,  in  three  weeks,  went  to  New-Hart 
ford,  near  Utica,  New-York,  where  he  made  an  engagement  in  a 
machine-shop.  A  month  after  making  this  arrangement  the  company 
failed  and  closed  the  establishment  for  a  short  time.  Upon  the  re 
opening  of  it  on  a  more  limited  scale,  he  was  at  once  re-engaged  as  one 
of  their  best  workmen.  After  he  had  been  here  about  six  months  his 
old  master,  D.  Packer,  sent  to  inquire  about  the  manufacture  of  diaper 
linen  which  they  had  heard  was  carried  on  in  the  vicinity  of  Utica.  He 
answered  them  that  he  could  find  no  manufactory  of  that  article,  save, 
by  hand,  but  that,  if  they  wished  to  have  machines  for  this  kind  of  work, 
he  could  build  them  some.  On  this  they  sent  for  him  back  to  Canterbury, 
where  he  made  and  set  up  the  first  power-looms  in  this  country, 
and,  it  is  believed,  the  first  in  the  world,  for  this  kind  of  work.  Some 
of  them  are  even  now  running.  They  answered  the  purpose  admirably; 
He  also  constructed  and  set  up  a  very  beautiful  and  involved  machine 
for  weaving  damask  table-cloths,  figured  and  figure-bordered,  but,  being 
thought  rather  complicated,  it  was  stowed  away  in  the  garret  for  a 
while,  and,  when  taken  out  through  the  front  upper  window  of  the  build- 


"WILLIAM  MAJ302T,  C7  MASSACHUSETTS.  429 

ing,  the  gearing  gave  way  and  the  whole  was  broken  to  atoms  on  the 
pavement  below.  All  this  skill  and  ingenuity  were  here  doomed  to  sad 
and  early  disappointment.  The  establishment  failed,  and  with  it  went 
the  hard  earnings  of  the  young  machinist,  jj'or  a  while  the  misfortune 
was  well  nigh  changing  his  whole  future  course. 

In  one  of  his  vacations,  while  in  Canterbury,  a  strolling  artist  had  ap 
peared  there,  and  greatly  excited  his  curiosity  and  interest.  Mr.  Mason 
has  said,  in  the  hearing  of  the  writer,  that  he  had  always  had  a  taste 
for  art,  especially  for  the  art  of  painting ;  and  that,  if  he  had  followed 
his  natural  bent,  he  should  have  been  an  artist.  Whether  this  be  so,  or 
not,  when  the  said  painter  set  up  his  instruments  for  reflecting  the  hu 
man  face  divine,  Mason  was  determined  to  see  what  he  could  do  with 
paint  and  brush.  With  a  little  assistance  from  the  painter,  and  with 
what  he  had  learned  before,  he  set  up  for  portrait-painter  during  the 
rest  of  his  vacation,  and  so  far  excelled  the  itinerant,  that  he  made  "him 
evacuate  the  place  in  a  very  sudden  and  crest-fallen  manner.  When  this 
failure  of  his  employers,  and  its  accompanying  misfortunes  overtook 
him,  he  instinctively  turned  to  his  easel  as  a  favorite  friend,  and  as  a 
means  of  honorable  support.  Fortunately,  however,  as  we  must  re 
gard  it,  when  he  had  reached  the  age  of  23  or  24,  Mr.  John  Hyde,  of 
Mystic,  sent  to  him  an  order  for  some  diaper-looms.  He  had  no  shop. 
He  had  no  means  of  taking  the  contract,  but  he  got  an  advance  on  his 
job,  made  a  contract  for  the  necessary  frames  at  Willimantic,  secured 
the  privilege,  for  himself  and  another  man,  of  working  in  the  shop 
where  the  frames  were  building,  so  that  he  might  do  the  nicer  work, 
and  thus  made  a  very  encouraging  job,  in  which  he  realized  his  ten  dol 
lars  per  day.  Here  we  have  him  again  as  a  machinist,  and  the  idea 
of  turning  artist  was  abandoned  after  he  reached  the  age  of  25. 

The  success  of  his  job  for  Mr.  Hyde  gave  him  at  once  a  reputation, 
and  he  was  invited  by  Mr.  A.  Lampher  to  Killingly,  a  little  town  on 
the  eastern  border  of  Connecticut.  At  an  establishment  in  this  place 
they  were  engaged  on  what  was  called  the  "  ring-traveler,"  but  they 
could  not  make  it  work.  The  thing  had  become  a  by-word.  Just  as 
Mr.  Mason  was  beginning  to  make  the  thing  succeed,  Mr.  Lampher 
failed,  and  Mr.  Mason  took  the  concern  in  charge  on  behalf  of  the  cre 
ditors,  he  to  have  a  specified  per-centage  on  each  frame.  He  now  made 
thorough  work.  The  old  "  travelers"  had  been  of  a  poor  kind  and 
poorly  made  by  hand.  He  now  got  up  a  machine  for  making  a  new  ar 
ticle,  and  on  this  new  article  and  its  arrangement  there  has  never  been 
any  improvement,  nor  is  it  thought  there  can  be.  The  old,  uncouth 
form  of  the  frame  was  changed,  and  a  new  and  very  tasteful  one  was 
designed.  For  these,  at  first,  there  was  but  a  limited  demand,  owing 
to  the  prejudice  attached  to  the  former  machine  built  in  this  shop,  but 
he  was  indefatigable  in  his  efforts  to  introduce  them,  promising  to  re 
ceive  them  back  wherever  there  was  any  dissatisfaction.  None  were 
ever  returned,  and  none  were  ordered,  in  a  single  instance,  without  a 
second  or  more  frequent  order.  It  still  occupies  a  high  place  in  the 
confidence  of  skilful  men,  and  is  decidedly  the  most  popular  instru 
ment  for  what  is  called  "  throstle,"  or  "  frame  spinning." 

After  two  years'  stay  in  Killingly,  Mr.  Mason  received  an  invitation 
from  the  then  flourishing  firm  of  Crocker  &  Richmond,  to  go  to  Taun- 


430  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

ton,  in  Massachusetts.  An  offer  of  $1,000  per  annum,  with  some  other 
considerations,  were  presented  to  induce  him  to  come.  This  invitation 
he  accepted  in  the  spring  of  1836,  considering  the  field  as  much  more 
favorable  for  progress  than  that  which  he  occupied.  For  the  first 
year  he  worked  steadily  on  his  ring-frames,  his  inventive  faculties 
all  the  while  wide  awake,  and  constantly  developing.  In  1837,  there 
was  a  crash,  the  whole  concern  going  by  the  board,  and  owing  him 
heavily.  Here  he  was  again  crushed  under  the  disasters  of  others. 

This  was  a  sad  disappointment,  but  he  did  not  sit  down  and  cry  over 
it.  His  energies  were  only  the  more  stirred  up.  He  at  once  devised 
a  "  speeder,"  or  "  roving  machine,"  and  secured  a  patent  for  it.  Shortly 
afterward,  Leach  &  Keith  took  the  old  machine  shop,  and  Mr.  Mason. 
was  employed  by  them,  as  a  sort  of  foreman,  to  build  this  speeder. 
The  building  of  this  soon  gave  way  to  the  manufacture  of  the  great  in 
vention  of  his  life,  the  "  self-acting  mule."  On  this  he  experimented  two 
years,  and  took  out  a  patent,  October  8,  1840.  About  this  time,  the 
so-called  "  Scotch  mule"  was  patented  in  America,  but  it  was  no  rival 
worth  noticing  to  that  built  at  Leach  &  Keith's.  Many  of  these  original 
mules  are  running  in  some  of  our  nicest  mills  at  this  moment,  as,  for 
instance,  in  the  Bartlett  mills,  Newburyport.  A  more  formidable  rival 
appeared,  1841,  in  the  mule  of  Sharp  &  Roberts,  imported  from  Eng 
land  by  the  Fall  River  Machine  Company,  and  patented  for  America. 
It  was  supposed  by  some  of  Mason's  best  friends  that  he  was  now  out 
done.  But  not  so.  He  immediately  went  to  work  and  made  an  entire 
new  mule,  different  from  his  own  first  make,  from  the  Scotch  and  from 
the  English  mule,  for  which  he  got  a  new  patent.  In  the  winter  of 
1842,  when  just  completing  this  new  machine,  and  at  the  most  critical 
point  of  his  labors,  he  was  taken  seriously  ill,  and  Leach  &  Keith  failed, 
owing  him  pretty  much  all  he  was  worth.  On  his  recovery,  he  went 
forward  once  more  with  an  indomitable  will.  Securing  enough  from 
the  wreck  to  start  a  few  of  his  new  mules,  he  has  gone  forward,  from, 
that  time  to  the  present  date,  in  a  remarkable,  if  not  an  unbroken  cur 
rent  of  success.  Soon  after  the  failure  just  alluded  to,  he  was  invited 
to  Lowell,  with  flattering  prospects,  but  he  had  become  attached  to 
Taunton,  and,  moreover,  he  wished  to  set  up  in  business  for  himself, 
where  he  could  work  after  his  own  way,  and  for  his  own  best  advan 
tage.  The  machine-shop  of  Leach  &  Keith  being  for  sale  low,  a  Taun 
ton  friend  suggested  to  J.  K.  Mills,  Esq.,  of  Boston,  the  expediency  of 
aiding  Mr.  Mason  to  purchase  it  and  take  charge  of  it.  An  interview 
took  place  between  the  gentlemen,  which  resulted  in  the  establishment 
of  Mr.  Mason,  as  controller  and  manager  of  the  whole  works.  The 
prosperous  times,  commencing  in  1842,  carried  everything  forward  on 
the  flood-tide.  During  the  summer  of  1845,  a  noble  set  of  buildings, 
arranged  according  to  his  own  notions  of  convenience,  was  reared  on 
an  area  of  six  acres.  The  main  building,  which  is  three  stories,  besides 
the  attic,  for  half  its  length,  and  two,  with  the  attic,  for  the  other  half, 

315  feet  long.  The  foundry,  especially  its  furnaces — the  smithy — the 
large  building  for  setting  up  machines,  are  all  worthy  of  a  careful  ex- 
animation.  The  man  of  skill  in  mechanics,  or  of  taste  in  that  depart 
ment,  will  find,  in  a  thousand  little  niceties  of  arrangement  and  com 
bination,  the  presence  of  a  master  mind  that  knows  well  what  it  is 


WILLIAM  MASON,  OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  431 

about.  There  is  a  perfect  exuberance  of  the  inventive  faculty  manifest. 
ed  at  every  point.  No  one  who  knows  anything  about  these  matters 
should  spend  a  day  in  Taunton  without  giving  a  part  of  it  to  a  visit  of 
inspection.  Whoever  happens  in,  when  a  set  of  machines  is  getting 
ready  for  delivery,  will  admire  the  fine  taste  of  their  outlines,  as  well 
as  the  beauty  of  the  exact  and  delicate  workmanship.  No  more  ap 
propriate  temple  of  industry  could  be  reared  than  that  of  one  of  our 
first-class  factories  fitted  out  with  them. 

We  may  here  add,  that  when  Mr.  Mason  completed  these  works,  he 
found  himself  half  owner  of  them,  and  owing  no  man  anything.  Some 
times  he  has  had  as  many  as  four  hundred  men  in  his  employ.  He  is 
now  laying  the  foundation  of  a  large  building,  to  be  devoted  to  locomo 
tive-building.  We  should  riot  be  at  all  surprised  should  he  do  as  much 
for  the  branch  of  mechanics  as  he  has  for  cotton  machinery.  He  is  yet 
in  the  very  prime  and  vigor  of  his  faculties,  and  he  cannot  do  anything 
in  a  humdrum,  routine  way.  His  mind  and  taste  will  be  strcngly 
concentrated  upon  the  subject  before  him,  raid  he  will,  most  assuredly, 
bring  forth  new  things  constantly.  One  thing  is  certain  ;  we  shall,  at 
least,  have  some  better-Zoo/fct'm;  locomotives — some  in  which  the  lines 
of  beauty  will  be  more  prominent.  We  want  them,  of  course,  strong 
workers,  but  we  want  them  also  good  lookers.  We  have  too  much 
respect  and  admiration  for  the  iron  horse  to  allov/  his  legs  to  be  all 
straightened  out  and  his  lines  all  angularized.  As  good  taste  has  been 
successfully  at  work  on  cotton  machinery,  we  shall  hope  to  see  some 
thing  soon  on  the  rails  that  does  not  look  exactly  like  a  "  cooking-stove 
on  wheels." 

We  may  also  add,  that,  as  a  fruit  and  reward  of  his  skill  and  devotion 
to  business,  the  subject  of  this  brief  memoir  is  in  possession  of  a  resi 
dence,  which,  taken  all  in  all,  may  be  pronounced  the  finest  specimen 
of  domestic  architecture  in  the  state.  It  is  built  of  brick,  painted  in 
imitation  of  the  Portland  stone,  with  a  massive  base,  portico,  rustic- 
work  corners,  window-sills,  &c.,  &c.,  of  the  Jersey  freestone.  When 
we  say  it  is  the  work  of  Richard  Upjohn,  Esq.,  and  built  for  a  man  who 
knows  how  to  let  an  architect  build  for  him  without  spoiling  his  designs 
by  impertinent  and  ignorant  dictation,  we  are  sure  that  the  admirers  of 
that  pre-eminent  artist  will  be  satisfied  that  all  is  right.  The  appoint 
ments  of  the  place  throughout  are  characterized  by  simplicity  and 
marked  elegance.  Long  may  the  owner  live  to  enjoy  it.  In  wishing 
him  this  wish,  we  do  but  echo  the  sentiment  of  his  many  friends. 
Friends  he  has  many,  for  his  prosperity  has  never  inflated  him.  He 
bears  it  modestly  and  strongly.  May  that  prosperity  continue !  While 
he  and  all  of  us  should  remember  that  it  is  traceable  to  a  kind  over 
ruling  Providence,  none  can  deny  that,  so  far  as  second  causes  are  con 
cerned,  it  has  been,  also,  the  legitimate  result  of  great  inventive  genius, 
of  unceasing  industry,  and  of  unconquerable  perseverance. 

The  life-record  of  such  a  man  as  this  reads  to  our  young  men  a  lesson 
that  cannot  easily  be  mistaken  or  set  aside.  While,  in  its  prominent 
outlines,  it  is  parallel  with  the  history  of  all  men  who  have  reached  en 
viable  eminence  in  any  department,  it  is  also,  in  some  of  its  details, 
singularly  inspiring  to  young  men  of  genuine  talent  in  America,  and 
especially  in  New-England.  In  the  Old  World,  say  the  best  that  can 


4.32  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

be  said,  inventive  genius  and  practical  skill  are  generally  cramped  and 
crowded  down  by  the  fores  of  circumstances  and  the  ill-balanced  organ 
isms  of  society,  but  here  it  is  not  so.  Every  one  who  has  the  power 
and  the  will  to  make  anything  of  himself  can  do  so.  We  can  all  reach 
the  level  to  which  we  are  entitled  by  our  own  intrinsic  or  acquired  qua 
lifications.  Mere  fancy-men,  mere  theorists,  mere  cabin-window  cap 
tains,  can  do  nothing,  for  they  are  nothing.  There  is  nothing  in  them, 
and  consequently  nothing  can  come  out.  But  all  that  is  real,  all  that  is 
valuable,  especially  in  this  day,  all  that  is  practical,  can  command  re 
spect,  command  place,  and  command  remuneration.  Let  no  young 
American,  then — especially  no  young  son  of  New-England — ever  de 
spond,  so  long  as  he  feels  that  he  has  anything  rital  and  vigorous  about 
him.  With  the  single  example  which  has  been  here  set  before  you  in 
your  eye,  go  forward  with  a  stout  heart,  a  sturdy  patience,  an  active 
hand  and  a  steady  purpose.  With  these  you  will  conquer  every  obsta 
cle,  and  become  what  hundreds  have  become  before  you — self-made 
men.  And  be  assured  that  a  self-made  man  is  the  highest  style  of 
man. 


JOHNPOPE, 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNION  BANS  OF  TENNESSEE  AT  MEMPHIS. 

THE  individual  who  devotes  his  time  and  talents  to  such  pursuits  as 
render  him  useful  to  his  country,  while,  at  the  same  time,  they  accom 
plish  for  him,  personally,  the  objects  of  honorable  employment,  is  "  per 
forming  well  his  part  in  the  drama  of  life."  To  succeed  in  such  designs 
is  to  deserve  the  gratitude  and  admiration  of  the  world.  Such  conduct, 
under  any  circumstances,  is  highly  commendable.  But  when  we  find 
one  of  polished  education,  surrounded  with  all  the  means  of  gratifying 
his  tastes  in  the  most  elegant  and  refined  manner,  and  indulging  his  love 
of  social  intercourse,  voluntarily  abandoning  such  pleasures  to  mingle 
in  the  toils,  and  share  the  dangers  and  privations  incident  to  settling  in 
a  new  country,  that  he  might  take  a  leading  position  in  developing  its 
hidden  resources,  he  has  tenfold  claims  to  our  admiration.  Neither  the 
novelty  of  life  in  a  cabin  in  a  wilderness,  nor  the  excitement  of  the 
chase,  lured  him  away  from  the  land  of  his  birth ;  but  the  nobler  im 
pulses  of  that  ambition  which  led  him  to  participate  in  the  labors  and 
hardships  of  subduing  the  wilderness  and  converting  the  forests,  brakes 
and  swamps  of  the  margin  of  the  Mississippi  into  grain-fields  and  cot 
ton-plantations — a  work  of  but  little  less  peril  to  health  and  life  than 
the  vicissitudes  of  war — the  beneficial  results  of  which,  however,  are  of 
equal  importance  in  a  national  point  of  view.  Yet  such  has  been  the 
tendency  of  human  applause  towards  military  leaders,  that  the  talented, 
devoted,  self-sacrificing  artisan,  the  adventurous  pioneer,  and  the  enter 
prising,  laborious  agriculturist,  have  been  overlooked  and  forgotten  as 


JOTIN  POPE,  OF  TENNESSEE.  433 

benefactors,  in  the  eagerness  of  the  multitude  to  give  everything  to  the 
bloody  and  clamorous  renown  of  the  warrior. 

COLONEL  JOHN  POPE,  the  subject  of  this  memoir,  is  a  native  of  Georgia, 
and  son  of  Leroy  Pope,  a  prominent  merchant  of  that  state,  and  received 
the  early  part  of  his  education  at  the  distinguished  academy  of  Dr. 
Moses  Waddell,  in  South  Carolina.  He  was  a  particular  favorite  of 
the  old  Doctor,  and  it  was  under  his  admirable  discipline  that  he  ac 
quired  his  studious  and  moral  habits  of  character.  It  was  a  proverbial 
saying  of  the  Doctor  that  he  had  a  golden  head.  He  stood  at  the  head 
of  his  class,  and  particularly  in  composition.  On  leaving  the  institution 
at  sixteen  years  of  age,  on  the  occasion  of  the  annual  exhibition,  the 
highest  honor  for  composition  was  awarded  him  by  his  class. 

In  his  youth  he  manifested  a  decided  penchant  for  punning.  As  an 
evidence  of  which  the  following  may  be  cited.  It  occurred  while  a 
boarder  in  Dr.  Waddell's  family  at  the  Wellington  Academy.  It  was  a 
practice  with  the  old  Doctor  to  put  out  Latin  phrases  to  the  students  at 
table,  to  translate  impromptu.  On  one  occasion,  coming  to  little  Pope's 
turn,  the  Doctor  challenged  him  with,  "  Dum  vivimus  vivamus."  Good 
butter  was  a  luxury  with  which  the  students  were  but  seldom  indulged. 
Prompted  by  an  irresistible  impulse  to  give  the  words  a  free  and 
pointed  translation,  he  quickly  replied:  "  Whilst  we  have  butter,  let  us 
have  it."  Accordingly,  at  the  next  meal,  Aunt  Betsey — the  familiar 
soubriquet  by  which  all  the  students  called  the  Doctor's  wife — pre 
sented  them  with  a  plate  of  fresh  butter  by  the  positive  dictum  of  the 
old  Doctor. 

It  was  a  custom  with  the  old  Doctor  to  catechise  his  boarders,  on 
every  Sunday  evening,  on  the  Scriptures,  the  students  standing  in  array 
in  the  room  of  his  family  worship.  On  one  of  these  occasions,  he  put  the 
question  to  a  youth,  who  had  taken  his  stand  for  the  first  time  (and  who 
from  appearances  was  fresh  from  the  purlieus  of  a  negro  quarter)  : — 
"  Who  made  you  ?"  "  The  devil,  Sir."  "  Out  of  what  were  you  made?" 
"Out  of  a  log  of  wrood,  Sir."  The  solemn  countenance  of  the  old  Doc 
tor  was  suddenly  startled,  and  he  exclaimed  :  "  John  Pope,  what  do 
you  think  of  such  a  Hottentot  of  a  boy  f  Pie  replied,  "I  think  he 
would  make  excellent  fuel  for  old  Nick." 

It  may  be  well  to  recall  to  public  recollection  the  internal  administra 
tion  of  this  celebrated  academy.  That  great  conservative  feature  of 
criminal  jurisprudence — the  trial  of  offenders  by  a  jury  of  their  peers — 
was  adopted  and  successfully  practised  by  President  Waddell.  Moni 
tors  or  inspectors  were  appointed  weekly,  and  every  Monday  evening, 
in  the  presence  of  the  students  assembled  in  the  Academy  Hall,  they 
made  a  public  expose  of  all  the  transgressions  and  delinquencies  ob 
served  during  the  preceding  week.  Whereupon,  a  jury  of  seven  stu 
dents  were  appointed  by  the  president,  and  the  case  of  the  offenders 
referred,  with  instructions  to  bring  in  their  verdict  the  next  afternoon. 
And  no  criminal  judge  on  record  was  ever  more  stern  and  inflexible  in  the 
prompt  execution  of  the  verdict  of  the  jury.  In  the  performance  of  this 
duty  an  amusing  incident  is  related  of  the  subject  of  this  memoir.  The 
monitor  had  reported  an  allegation  against  one  of  the  students  that 
he  was  "  guilty  of  lying,  and  dodging  from  his  recitations."  He  was 
foreman  of  the  jury,  brought  in  a  true  bill,  and  recommended,  as  a 

28 


434  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

remedy  for  his  almost  incurable  malady,  that  the  president  administer  28 
grs.  of  hickory  powder,  in  broken  doses,  at  intervals  of  five  minutes,  by 
the  stimulating  application  of  the  same  to  the  naked  calves  of  his  legs, 
and  that  he  be  deprived  of  his  daily  rations  at  twelve  o'clock,  for  a  week, 
by  two  hours'  close  confinement  in  the  dungeon  (alias  the  Academy 
Hall.)  A  few  days  after  this,  Augustus  B.  Longstreet,  then  a  student, 
and  the  distinguished  author  of  the  "Georgia  Scenes,"  wrote  a  very 
humorous  parody  on  the  whole  transaction. 

About  this  time  his  father  removed  to  Huntsville,  Alabama,  and  he 
was  sent  to  Cumberland  College,  (now  the  University  of  Nashville,)  at 
that  time  under  the  presidency  of  Dr.  Priestly,  a  celebrated  scholar  and 
divine,  who  devoted  many  of  the  best  years  of  his  life  to  teaching.  The 
Hon.  E.  H.  Foster  and  John  Bell  were  his  classmates,  with  whom 
mutual  feelings  of  strong  personal  regard  were  formed,  which  have  been 
•warmly  cherished  to  the  present  day.  After  remaining  about  one  year 
he  was  transferred  thence  to  Yale  College,  where  he  completed  his  edu 
cation,  after  a  term  of  three  years.  His  residence  in  Yale  was  charac 
terized  by  studious  habits,  and  a  devoted  attention  to  the  cultivation  of 
his  literary  taste  apart  from  his  classical  studies:  hence  the  high  reputation 
he  acquired  in  his  class  in  the  department  of  composition.  The  class 
was  large,  and  distinguished  for  its  many  talented  members.  Among  the 
number  were  the  Hon.  John  M.  Clayton,  and  Isaac  Holmes,  of  South 
Carolina.  It  was  during  his  residence  in  college  a  literary  periodical 
was  established,  edited  by  the  three  best  writers  from  the  senior  class. 
When  the  time  arrived  for  making  these  selections,  the  honor  was  con 
ferred  on  him  with  two  others — the  most  distinguished  writers  of  the 
class — the  Hon.  Thomas  A.  Marshall,  of  Kentucky,  and  John  D.  Eckles, 
of  North  Carolina,  who  took  the  first  honors  of  the  class. 

In  the  distribution  of  commencement  honors  he  was  among  the 
highest  participants.  On  leaving  college  he  promptly  commenced  the 
study  of  law  in  Georgia.  But  in  this  he  was  suddenly  checkmated  by 
the  marriage  of  a  Miss  Louisa  Rembert,  the  daughter  of  a  wealthy  and 
a  highly  respectable  planter — a  lady  no  less  remarkable  for  her  per 
sonal  beauty  than  for  all  the  amiable  and  accomplished  qualities  of  her 
sex. 

Becoming  possessed  of  an  independent  estate,  his  vocation  was  sud 
denly  and  permanently  changed  into  that  of  a  cotton-planter.  His  loca 
tion  was  in  the  vicinity  of  Huntsville.  No  man  is  more  fascinating  in 
his  manners — entertaining  or  instructive  in  his  conversation — lively, 
but  never  frivolous — happily  mingling  dignity  with  easy  familiarity. 
His  disposition  naturally  inclined  to  the  facetious ;  with  a  playfulness  of 
manner  that  made  him  a  favorite  in  every  circle  in  whichh  e  moved, 
he  possessed  in  a  high  degree  the.artof  infusing  into  others  the  joyous- 
ness  of  his  own  feelings.  The  frankness  of  his  deportment  and  the 
purity  of  his  morality  have  exercised  over  his  youthful  associates  a  last 
ing  and  beneficial  influence. 

On  the  third  year  of  his  residence  he  was  elected  to  the  legislature. 
During  the  session  several  questions  of  important  state  policy  were 
discussed.  In  the  debates  he  took  a  prominent  part.  He  was  conspicu 
ous  for  his  efforts  to  change  the  system  of  voting  by  balloting  into  viva 
voce,  and  lost  the  measure  by  only  two  votes.  His  speeches  on  this 


JOHN  POPE,  OF  TENNESSEE.  435 

subject  were  published,  and  highly  lauded  at  the  time.  After  the  close 
of  the  session,  on  his  return  to  his  family,  he  was  warmly  received  by  his 
constituents,  and  urged  to  become  a  candidate  for  Congress  in  opposi 
tion  to  the  Hon.  Gabriel  Moore,  an  old  and  popular  politician.  But  he 
declined,  excusing  himself  on  the  ground  that  he  was  too  young  a  man 
to  take  the  field  against  such  an  old  political  stager.  The  following 
year  he  removed  to  an  adjoining  county,  where  he  zealously  devoted 
himself  to  his  favorite  pursuit,  in  which  he  was  always  emulous  of  that 
prominent  success  that  has  marked  his  career.  After  a  few  years'  resi 
dence  in  his  new  abode,  the  voice  of  the  people  urged  him  to  become  a 
candidate  for  the  legislature,  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  reforming  the 
odious  practice  of  treating,  according  to  the  fashionable  system  of 
electioneering,  at  that  time  prevalent  throughout  the  southwest. 

Upon  him  devolved  the  duty  of  denouncing  the  practice  from  the 
stump.  This  he  did  in  a  bold  and  fearless  manner,  and  was  triumph 
antly  elected.  The  demoralizing  tendency  of  treating  was  so  glaring, 
and  regarded  as  such  a  school  of  intemperance,  that  good  and  patriotic 
men  doubted  whether  the  country  had  not  better  give  up  the  right  of 
suffrage,  provided  the  exercise  of  it  could  not  be  separated  from  a  practice 
so  fruitful  of  evil.  It  was  a  common  declaration,  that  no  man  could  be 
elected  to  office  who  did  not  resort  to  it.  Yet  Col.  Pope  not  only  refused 
to  treat,  but  during  the  whole  electioneering  campaign  denounced  the 
custom  as  improper — pernicious  to  morals — the  whole  tendency  of 
which  was  to  corrupt  and  trammel  the  freedom  of  the  ballot-box.  The 
power  and  eloquence  with  which  he  assailed  this  pernicious  custom  were 
such,  that  from  that  time  the  practice  has  fallen  into  disuse. 

During  the  session  he  was  a  prominent  advocate  of  all  works  of  in 
ternal  improvement.  He  also  prepared  an  able  report  on  the  subject 
of  disposing  of  the  public  lands,  granted  by  the  Federal  Government  to 
the  State  of  Alabama,  for  removing  the  obstructions  in  the  Muscle 
Shoals  in  the  Tennessee  River.  The  wisdom  of  the  suggestions  of  that 
report  time  has  proved,  though  the  legislature  rejected  the  most 
prominent  of  them.  He  also  made  zealous  and  spirited  efforts  to 
change  the  common  law,  so  as  to  give  to  married  women  a  vested 
interest  in  property,  independent  of  their  husbands — a  measure,  the 
wisdom,  the  equity,  and  the  utility  of  which  has  been  recognized  by 
the  action  of  the  legislatures  of  most  of  the  states.  On  this  occasion, 
however,  though  his  efforts  were  sustained  by  the  best  talent  of  the 
legislature,  yet  the  "  lordly  pride  of  man"  was  invincible,  and  its  defeat 
stood  as  a  blot  on  the  legislative  escutcheon  of  the  state,  until  within  a 
year  or  two  past  the  gallantry  and  justice  of  her  sons  revived  the  mea 
sure,  and  passed  it  into  a  law. 

The  claims  of  a  growing  family,  and  his  still  increasing  fondness  for 
agricultural  pursuits,  caused  him  to  turn  a  deaf  ear  to  the  urgent  solici 
tations  of  his  numerous  personal  and  political  friends  to  continue  longer 
in  public  life.  The  following  year  he  moved  to  the  western  district  of 
Tennessee,  at  a  period  when  the  new,  undeveloped  condition  of  the 
country  presented  a  fine  field  for  the  enterprising  devotee  of  agriculture 
Here  he  resolved  to  devote  his  individual  attention  to  his  favorite  voca 
tion  of  cotton  planting,  in  which  he  was  not  only  emulous  to  increase  his 
fortune,  but  to  elevate  the  dignity  of  the  pursuit,  by  bringing  to  its  aid  not 


436  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

only  practical  science,  but  skill  and  observation,  and  all  the  appliances 
of  personal  emulation.  With  this  view  he  was  prominently  instru 
mental  in  organizing  an  agricultural  association  in  the  vicinity  of  Mem 
phis.  The  beneficial  results  which  this  association  has  effected  for  the 
cotton-growing  interest  of  West  Tennessee  and  North  Mississippi,  are 
best  told  by  the  fact,  that  before  the  improvements  introduced  by  it, 
Memphis  cottons  were  in  low  repute ;  but  since  that  period  they  have 
been  so  much  improved  in  quality,  as  to  command  the  highest  prices 
given  for  short-staple  cotton.  Yet  Memphis  is  near  the  limit  of  the 
cotton-growing  region.  A  further  evidence  of  the  value  of  these  im 
provements,  and  of  the  superiority  of  the  Memphis  cottons,  is  to  be  found 
in  the  fact  that,  at  the  "  World's  Fair,"  it  stood  at  the  head  of  the  list 
of  short-staple  cotton — received  three  medals,*  and  the  highest  com 
mendations  from  the  vast  multitudes  that  inspected  them. 

There  is,  perhaps,  no  man  in  all  the  southwest  to  whom  more  justly 
belongs  the  high  merit  of  having  shown  how  two  blades  of  grass  might 
be  grown  where  but  one  grew  before  than  Colonel  Pope.  He  was  not 
only  industrious,  enterprising,  and  successful  as  a  planter  himself,  but 
was  the  exciting  cause  of  the  same  elements  in  others.  Many  of  the, 
most  valuable  hints  for  the  improvement  of  the  quality  of  cotton  (the> 
chief  object  to  which  his  attention,  as  an  agriculturist,  has  been  directed; 
are  of  his  suggestion.  Mechanics  have  availed  themselves  of  his  valua 
ble  opinions  as  to  the  construction  of  gins  and  other  machinery  for  cleans 
ing  cotton.  Nor  have  his  thoughts  on  the  best  mode  of  tillage  been  less 
valuable.  He  stands  this  day  a  living  example  of  the  superiority  of  a\ 
educated  mind  when  directed  to  agricultural  pursuits. 

When  he  located  his  cabin  in  the  beautiful  and  fertile  "  Western 
District"  of  Tennessee,  the  whole  country,  for  a  hundred  miles  around 
Memphis,  in  every  direction,  was  an  unbroken  wilderness.  What  ia 
now  the  city  of  Memphis  was  then  but  little  more  than  an  Indian  trad 
ing  post,  the  staple  commodity  of  which  was  deer-skins  and  venison 
hams.  The  country  was  almost  without  roads — streams  without 
bridges — churches  and  schoolhouses  few  and  far  between.  All  these 
wants  were  to  be  supplied,  not  by  money,  but  by  the  labor  of  the  pio 
neer.  In  these  labors  he  was  an  active  and  zealous  co-operator.  But 
his  efforts  in  the  way  of  improvement  did  not  stop  here.  As  the  re 
sources  of  the  country  developed,  he  early  foresaw  the  necessity  and 
value  of  a  higher  and  more  extended  system  of  improvement.  He  was 
among  the  very  first  ever  to  speak  of  the  practicability,  importance,  and 
necessity  of  connecting  the  Mississippi  Valley  with  the  Atlantic  sea 
board  by  a  railway.  The  writer  of  this  sketch  remembers  an  animated 
conversation  between  General  E.  P.  Gaines  and  Colonel  Pope  on  this 
subject,  nearly  twenty  years  ago.  Indeed  the  scheme  of  the  Memphis 
and  Charleston  Railroad  was  first  concocted  at  an  internal  improvement 
convention  held  at  Bolivar,  Tennessee,  in  1834.  General  Gaines,  John 
Pope,  and  Robertson  Topp,  were  appointed  by  the  convention  to  address 
memorials  to  Congress,  and  to  the  legislatures  of  the  states  directly  in 
terested,  and  also  to  the  people  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  generally.  It 


*  John  Pope,  G.  L.  Holmes  and  Samuel  Bond. 


JOHN  POPE,  OF  TENNESSEE.  437 

devolved  upon  Colonel  Pope  to  address  the  memorials  to  the  states. 
The  memorials  were  handsomely  responded  to  by  the  governors  of 
Georgia,  South  Carolina,  Alabama,  and  Mississippi. 

With  the  sagacity  of  an  educated  mind,  he  early  foresaw  the  great 
geographical  advantages  possessed  by  his  new  location,  and  set  himself 
to  work  with  vigor  to  avail  himself  of  them.  His  spirited  example  was 
followed  by  others,  and  the  result  has  been  a  revolution  in  the  appear 
ance  and  the  productions,  as  magical  as  ever  the  transforming  wand  of 
industry  performed  in  any  other  part  or  era  of  the  world.  In  every  en 
terprise,  from  marking  out  and  opening  the  most  obscure  road  to 
the  giant  scheme  of  the  Memphis  and  Charleston  Railway,  Colonel  Pope 
has  taken  an  active,  willing,  and  conspicuous  part.  Nothing  was  too 
high  or  too  low  for  his  active  zeal  if  its  tendency  was  to  develop  the  re 
sources  or  add  to  the  conveniences  of  the  country.  And  one  of  the  chief 
beauties  of  all  these  excellencies  of  private  character  and  public  spirit 
is,  that  it  has  all  been  done  without  his  seeming  to  know  or  think  that  he 
had  done  anything  more  than  every  one  else,  or  that  he  has  more  than 
half  discharged  what  his  feelings  told  him  was  his  duty. 

In  1832  he  was  invited  by  a  public  meeting  to  become  a  candidate 
for  the  convention  to  revise  the  state  constitution,  and  repeatedly  after 
wards  to  represent  the  county  in  the  state  legislature.  He  was  also 
named  as  a  candidate  for  Congress — all  of  which  he  respectively  de 
clined.  In  November,  1845,  the  great  internal  improvement  conven 
tion,  of  which  the  Hon.  John  C.  Calhoun  was  president,  assembled  in 
Memphis.  For  general  intelligence  and  acknowledged  ability  this  con 
vention  has  certainly  never  been  surpassed  by  any  similar  body  of  men 
assembled  in  the  Union,  Colonel  Pope  was  chairman  of  a  committee  on 
agriculture,  and  submitted  a  luminous  and  elaborate  report  on  the  condi 
tion  of  the  agricultural  interests  of  the  country,  and  particularly  pointed  out 
the  causes  of  the  depressed  condition  of  the  cotton  trade.  The  remedies 
which  were  then  indicated  for  the  evils  so  ruinous  to  southern  interests 
are  now  acknowledged  to  be  true — to  diversify  labor  by  a  more  extensive 
growth  of  provisions,  and  the  introduction  of  manufacturing  establish 
ments. 

The  city  of  Memphis  conferred  on  him  the  honor  of  addressing  Gen. 
Taylor  on  his  way  to  Washington  to  be  inaugurated  President. 

In  1837  he  experienced  a  severe  misfortune  in  the  death  of  his  first 
wife.  Two  years  after  her  decease  he  married  Miss  Elizabeth  Hem- 
phill  Jones,  of  Wilmington,  Delaware,  during  a  visit  to  her  sister,  Mrs. 
Mary  P.  Govan,  in  Marshall  county,  Miss.,  widow  of  the  late  Honorable 
Andrew  R.  Govan,  and  a  lady  of  distinguished  personal  and  intellectual 
accomplishments.  Of  all  the  fortunate  incidents  of  his  life  he  accounted 
his  marriage  with  this  lady  one  of  the  most  auspicious.  With  a  mind 
of  the  first  order,  and  uncommonly  well  cultivated,  she  united  those  ad 
mirable  virtues  in  the  character  of  wife  and  mother — that  tender  affec 
tion  and  devoted  solicitude  that  shed  such  a  cheerful  light  upon  the  path, 
and  upon  all  the  domestic  joys  of  life.  But,  in  the  twelfth  year  of  his 
marriage  with  this  estimable  woman,  the  severe  calamity  fell  upon  him  in 
her  death  on  the  23d  June,  1852. 

For  the  last  eight  years  he  has  been  president  of  the  Branch  Union 
Bank  of  Memphis,  Tennessee — a  station  which  he  has  filled  to  the  entire 


438  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

satisfaction  of  the  public,  and  the  officers  and  stockholders  of  that  insti 
tution.  He  is  also  president  of  the  Memphis  and  Somerville  Plank- 
road  Company.  This  enterprise  is,  perhaps,  of  more  importance  to  the 
city  and  surrounding  country  than  any  other  work  of  internal  improve 
ment  yet  projected,  except  the  great  Memphis  and  Charleston  Rail-road. 
This  work  owes  more  to  his  zeal,  personal  influence,  and  diligent  atten 
tion  than  to  any  one  else.  Indeed  he  is  justly  called  the  father  of  this 
road. 

In  1851  the  whig  party  of  Shelby  county  had  great  difficulty  in  uni 
ting  on  a  candidate  to  represent  them  in  the  legislature.  Very  much 
against  his  wishes,  for  the  purpose  of  reconciling  the  differences  among 
his  political  friends,  and  in  answer  to  one  of  the  most  flattering  calls  ever 
made  upon  a  citizen  for  the  use  of  his  name,  he  became  a  candidate. 
By  one  of  those  shameful  tricks  but  too  often  resorted  to — betting  on 
elections — to  the  disappointment  even  of  his  political  opponents,  and  to 
the  unmitigated  chagrin  of  his  friends,  he  was  defeated  by  fifteen 
votes. 

Upon  a  review  of  his  course,  though  it  has  been  mainly  in  the  capa 
city  of  a  private  citizen,  we  see  sufficient  reasons  to  claim  for  him  the 
character  of  a  public  benefactor.  Nor  is  there  any  reason  for  regret 
that  he  withdrew  so  early  from  public  life ;  for,  although  by  talent  and 
education  he  was  fully  competent  for  the  highest  political  positions,  it 
may  nevertheless  be  justly  questioned  whether  his  services  in  a  public 
capacity  would  have  been  more  beneficial  to  his  country.  Indeed  but 
few  politicians  of  this  day  have  equal  claims  upon  the  gratitude  of  their 
country. 


HON.  ALFRED  WHEELER, 

OF  CALIFORNIA. 


SAN  FRANCISCO,  CALIFORNIA, 

April,  1852. 


THE  statesmanship  of  a  Webster,  and  the  eloquence  of  a  Clay ;  the 
learning  and  wisdom  of  a  Marshall,  a  Story,  or  a  Kent — these  would 
make  pages  of  life  for  the  philosopher  to  admire,  and  the  student  to 
emulate.  Their  greatness  has  been  accomplished,  and  their  histories 
have  become  immortal ;  but  men,  who  have  as  yet  but  begun  to  do, 
might  prove  weak  guides  and  uninteresting  examples  to  those  who  aim 
at  greatness  and  have  the  genius  to  achieve  it. 

Such  as  my  life  has  been,  I  have  concluded  to  send  it  to  you  ;  and,  as 
no  one  so  well  as  ourselves  can  know  the  motives  that  guide  us  in  our 
career,  or  which  instigate  the  prominent  incidents  of  our  own  histories, 
I  have  thought  it  better,  for  the  sake  of  truth  and  frankness,  to  write  it 
myself  than  to  trust  th©  task  to  a  friend,  whose  prejudice  might  dimin 
ish  the  faults  and  magnify  the  virtues.  Should  it  seem  to  you,  as  it 


ALFRED  WHEELER,  OF  CALIFORNIA.  439 

does  to  me,  tame  and  uninteresting,  consign  it  to  the  flames,  and  make 
light  of  it. 

I  was  born  in  New-York  city,  on  the  30th  day  of  April,  1822.  My 
father  was,  at  that  time,  and  for  many  years  afterwards,  a  merchant  of 
considerable  business  in  New- York,  and  a  descendant  of  one  of  the  pil 
grims  of  Plymouth  Rock  memory,  and  an  officer  in  the  war  of  1812. 
My  mother  was  the  grand-daughter  of  John  Suftern,  Esq.,  of  Rockland 
•county,  New- York,  for  many  years  first  judge  of  that  county.  I  have 
never  traced  out  a  pedigree  of  great  and  heroic  ancestors,  and  I  believe 
that  the  only  nobility  to  which  they  could  aspire  was  that  of  worth  and 
honesty,  and  to  have  served  their  country  during  the  days  of '76.  My 
parents  had  married  for  love — I  was  the  eldest  son,  and,  as  they  have 
told  me,  the  one  of  whom  they  had  much  hope.  I  would  probably 
have  been,  like  most  of  eldest  sons,  a  spoiled  child,  were  it  not  that, 
fearing  the  unwholesome  air  of  a  city  life  might  cut  short  my  career 
and  their  hopes,  they  sent  me  down  east,  as  soon  as  I  could  leave 
a  nurse's  charge,  to  receive  the  foundation  of  an  education,  and  breathe 
the  invigorating  air  of  a  country  life. 

It  is  with  the  town  of  Greenwich,  State  of  Connecticut,  that  my  ear 
liest  associations  and  recollections  are  blended.  The  old  school-house, 
where  I  first  learned  Latin  from  my  teacher,  and  love  from  a  little 
blue-eyed  sweetheart;  the  old  church  with  a  tall,  straight  spire,  that 
seemed  to  me  to  scrape  the  sky ;  the  old  hill,  called  "  Putnam's  Hill," 
and  down  which  General  Putnam  rode  at  full  gallop,  when  the  British 
soldiers  chased  him,  and  where  I  used  to  look,  with  boyish  wonder,  for 
some  stray  footprint  of  his  horse's  hoof;  and  the  old  house  on  top  of 
the  hill  which  stood  there  when  he  ran  down,  and  which,  they  said,  was 
a,  hundred  years  old,  and  in  which  I  lived,  while  there  at  school,  every 
summer  for  six  or  seven  years.  These  are  the  chief  recollections  of  my 
boyhood,  until  I  was  brought  home  to  New-York  to  prepare  for  college 
and  for  manhood.  The  earliest  ambitions  which  I  cherished  were  to  be 
twenty-one  years  of  age  and  a  lawyer.  The  first,  to  my  boyish  mind, 
constituted  a  man,  the  second,  a  great  man. 

My  father  aimed  at.  giving  me  as  good  an  education  as  money  and 
care  could  bestow,  and,  being  of  strict  religious  principles  and  belief, 
hoped  to  direct  my  inclination  to  the  church ;  but  the  purpose  and  hope 
never  found  favor  nor  consent  with  me,  as  I  did  not  feel  fitted  for  the 
station,  cither  in  my  heart  or  my  head.  I  loved  gayety  and  mirth,  and 
was  ambitious. 

At  sixteen,  I  entered  the  freshman  class  of  the  New- York  University. 
The  books  which  I  loved  the  most  were  rhetoric,  oratory  and  the  poets. 
I  had  a  remarkable  memory,  and  had  exercised  it  from  childhood.  I 
could  readily  commit  to  memory  whole  pages,  and  could  retain  the  re 
collection  as  easily.  1  was  quick  of  apprehension,  and  could,  with  half 
the  study  that  many  would  require,  accomplish  the  same  task.  Fun. 
was  my  delight.  I  omitted  no  opportunity  to  let  off  sallies  of  wit  to 
my  professors,  when  it  could  be  done  with  respect  to  them,  and  to  excite 
the  mirthfulness  of  the  class.  Being  naturally  ready  with  the  pencil,  I 
caricatured  everything.  The  black-boards  were  filled  with  my  illustra 
tions,  and  the  walls  about  the  building  had  my  pencil-mark  upon  them, 
I  read  volumes  of  poetry  and  scribbled  pages  of  rhyme,  and  every  text- 


440  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

book  which  I  used  had  on  every  fly-leaf  doggerel  rhyme  and  improvise 
sketches.  There  was  no  portion  of  college  routine  in  which  I  took  so 
much  interest  as  I  did  in  that  of  oratory.  On  every  Saturday  represen 
tatives  from  each  class  appeared  in  the  chapel,  before  the  faculty  and 
students,  to  exercise  and  exhibit  their  oratorical  powers.  To  this  reci 
tation  I  always  looked  forward  with  pleasure.  The  histories  of  the 
Greek  and  Roman  orators,  and  no  less  those  of  modern  times,  were  to 
me  a  delightful  study.  I  read  and  committed  to  memory  their  best 
orations,  and  daily  recited  them  to  myself  in  my  own  room.  I  studied 
elocution,  to  the  neglect  of  Greek  and  Latin,  and  thought  that  to  be  an 
orator  was  to  be  the  greatest  of  men. 

I  had  not  been  long  in  the  University  before  a  great  change  took 
place  in  the  pecuniary  circumstances  of  my  father.  The  reverses  and 
convulsions  of  '36  swept  from  him  a  moderate  fortune,  which  he  had 
acquired  by  his  own  industry  and  talent,  and  he  was  compelled  to  aban 
don  a  style  of  city  life  which  had  been  elegant  and  independent,  for  one 
of  strict  economy  in  the  country.  Till  this  time  he  had  lived  in  New- 
York  city,  but  having  a  large  family  to  educate  and  rear,  he  removed 
to  a  small  village  upon  the  Hudson,  where  my  mother  had  a  farm  which 
she  had  inherited  from  her  father.  I  had  thus  far  lived  at  home.  Now, 
if  I  remained  at  the  University  my  expenses  would  be  increased,  and 
situated  as  my  father  was,  he  felt  compelled  to  tell  me  that  he  could 
not  afford  to  keep  me  at  college.  He  proposed  to  me  to  go  to  the 
country  with  the  rest  of  the  family,  and  pursue  the  study  of  law  in  a  coun 
try  lawyer's  oflice  there  and  board  at  home,  or  to  enter  a  lawyer's  office 
in  New- York  city  as  a  clerk,  and  thus  earn  sufficient  to  pay  my  own 
expenses.  This  was  at  first  a  great  blow  to  me  and  a  damper  to  my 
hopes ;  but  I  revolved  the  matter  in  my  mind  and  came  to  the  conclu 
sion  to  adopt  neither  of  his  suggestions,  but  to  remain  at  college,  sup 
port  myself  as  I  best  could,  and,  if  necessary,  rough  it  out.  I  had  never 
earned  a  dollar  in  my  life  and  did  not  know  how  to  go  about  it,  but  I 
had  the  determination  to  persevere  and  the  hope  to  succeed,  and  trusted 
to  my  ingenuity  for  assistance.  I  told  my  mother  of  my  resolve,  and 
she,  with  a  mother's  anxiety  and  affection,  asked  me  what  I  should  do 
for  a  livelihood,  to  which  I  replied,  that  others  had  found  opportunities 
to  make  a  living  and  I  did  not  know  why  I  could  not ;  that  I  had  some 
leisure  hours  which  I  could  devote  to  labor  of  some  kind,  and  that,  at 
least,  I  was  determined  to  try.  She  begged  me  to  go  with  the 
family  to  the  country,  but  I  said  no,  and  asked  her  to  leave  me  such 
furniture  as  would  be  necessary  to  make  a  room  in  college  comfortable, 
and  to  prepare  for  me  a  small  stock  of  provisions,  sufficient  to  supply 
me  for  a  week  or  two,  as  I  would  not  go  to  board  until  1  had  business 
that  would  enable  me  to  pay  my  expenses,  and  meanwhile,  would  keep 
bachelor's  hall.  She  accordingly  stored  a  large  two-bushel  basket  with 
all  the  good  things  that  a  mother  would  think  of — a  few  cold  roast 
chickens,  a  boiled  ham,  some  pies,  bread,  butter,  cheese,  and  not  for 
getting  such  delicacies  as  cake  and  sweetmeats — and  with  this  hamper 
of  things  for  the  inner  man  and  furniture  for  my  room,  a  good  stock  of 
clothing  and  five  dollars  in  my  pocket,  I  parted  with  my  family  as  they 
sailed  away,  and  I  started  on  my  own  career. 

I  hired  a  room  in  the  University  building,  paid  one  dollar  out  of  my 


ALFRED  WHEELER,  OF  CALIFORNIA.  441 

five  for  cartage  of  my  goods  and  chattels  to  it,  and  having  taken  posses 
sion,  swept  it  out  and  arrayed  my  furniture,  I  spread  a  table  and  took 
a  solitary  meal.  It  was  rather  lonesome  and  depressing  to  my  spirits 
at  first,  but  I  felt  the  pride  of  determination  and  independence,  and  I 
thought  of  the  future.  My  little  stock  of  stores  lasted  me  nearly  a 
month,  and  I  began  to  fear  that  when  they  had  gone  I  should  be  in  a 
predicament — with  but  four  dollars  in  my  pocket,  and  too  honest  to  in 
cur  a  debt  without  the  means  of  paying,  too  spirited  to  borrow,  and  too 
proud  to  tell  a  solitary  friend  of  my  situation. 

One  day,  as  I  sat  before  my  fire,  (it  was  only  at  meal-time  that  I  in 
dulged  in  the  extravagance  of  a  fire,)  toasting  a  slice  of  ham  upon  a  fork 
preparatory  to  my  afternoon  meal,  a  rap  at  the  door  started  me  from  a 
reverie  into  which  I  had  fallen  while  gazing  upon  the  glowing  coal  and 
enjoying  in  anticipation  the  relish  that  appetite  gives  to  food.  I  hastily 
hid  within  the  pantry  the  evidence  of  my  occupation,  and  taking  a  book 
in  my  hand,  with  the  look  of  one  absorbed  in  study,  opened  the  door. 
My  visitor  was  an  early  college  friend  and  companion,  who  had  often 
visited  me  at  my  father's  house  in  town,  and  had  eaten  peaches  and 
other  delightful  fruit  from  our  beautiful  garden,  and  knew  nothing  of 
the  change  that  had  happened  to  me.  "  Wheeler,"  said  he,  as  he  en 
tered,  "  what  an  intolerable  smell  of  cooking  there  is  of  Jate  about  this 
building.  I  fancy  our  janitor  must  have  brought  his  kitchen  into  the 
college."  "  I  have  noticed  it,"  said  I  in  reply.  "  Perhaps  some  one  of 
our  professors  is  about  to  give  us  a  lecture  with  practical  illustrations 
in  the  art  of  cuisine.  I  am  sure  I  should  take  great  interest  in  it."  He 
remained  but  a  few  moments  and  left  without  discovering  the  secret 
that  I  would  not  have  had  him  know  for  a  thousand  dollars. 

As  the  provisions  grew  less,  so  I  made  my  appetite  conform,  but  at 
last  they  were  all  gone,  and  the  few  dollars  I  had  were  resorted  to. 
After  dark  I  used  to  take  a  little  basket  in  my  hand  and  go  to  the  near 
est  grocery  and  purchase  a  loaf  of  bread,  some  slices  of  bacon  or  dried 
beef,  a  few  crackers  with  some  cheese,  and  with  this  simple  fare  keep 
body  and  soul  together,  feeding  upon  hope  to  make  up  what  I  lacked  in 
provisions.  During  this  little  period  of  darkness,  I  lived  for  one  week 
upon  less  than  fifty  cents,  indulging  in  no  luxury  other  than  bread  for 
that  period,  and  eating  this  with  a  relish  that  I  had  never  enjoyed  be 
fore.  The  secret  of  my  life  was  my  own.  I  told  it  to  no  one;  and  my 
replies  to  my  mother's  fond  inquiries  of  how  I  was  getting  along,  were, 
that  I  was  accomplishing  my  purpose.  I  daily  read  all  through  the  ad 
vertisements  in  the  papers  in  search  of  some  want  which  my  capacity 
could  fill  during  such  hours  of  the  day  as  I  was  not  occupied  at  the  uni 
versity.  I  found  none  to  my  purpose;  but  just  as  my  scanty  purse  was 
empty,  I  was  so  fortunate  as  to  get  employment  with  the  pencil,  for  the 
afternoon  hours,  in  the  office  of  an  architect  in  town,  who  had  been  an 
old  acquaintance  of  my  father,  and  who,  during  my  father's  prosperity, 
had  received  his  patronage.  My  pay  was  small,  but  so  were  my  wants, 
and  1  was  content  to  get  just  enough  compensation  to  support  me  with 
economy.  I  remained  in  his  employ  until  I  graduated ;  each  day  after 
the  recitations  were  through,  plodding  my  way  to  his  office,  and  passing 
the  time  till  dark  in  architectural  drawing. 

Situated  as  I  was,  I  could  not  and  did  not  take  any  of  the  honors  of 


442  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

our  class  when  we  graduated.  Oftentimes,  on  the  commencement  of  a 
new  text-book,  I  was  for  weeks  without  a  book  for  want  of  means  to 
buy  it,  and  my  only  time  and  opportunity  for  study  was  an  hour  before 
recitation  in  the  morning,  when  the  library  was  open.  But  1  had  a 
satisfaction  which  no  one  could  take  from  me.  I  was  battling  out  my 
purpose  and  succeeded  ;  and  when  I  took  my  degree,  no  one  knew  how 
hard  1  had  worked  and  how  much  I  had  suffered  to  earn  it. 

After  graduating  I  found  an  opportunity,  by  teaching  a  class  in  Latin 
and  mathematics  and  drawing,  in  a  select  school,  to  earn  better  compen 
sation  than  before ;  and  in  this  manner  supporting  myself,  while  I  pur 
sued  rny  legal  studies  in  the  office  of  an  eminent  practitioner  in  New- 
York  city,  until,  at  the  May  term  of  1845, 1  was  admitted  to  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  state. 

I  threw  myself  at  once  upon  my  profession,  abandoning  all  other 
labors,  although,  during  the  last  year  of  my  law  studies,!  had  earned  six 
hundred  dollars  by  teaching,  and  could  not  expect  to  do  so  well  at  once 
in  my  profession.  But  I  had  gained  the  lever  with  which  I  was  to  work 
in  future,  and  I  determined  to  use  it  at  once. 

The  first  year's  labor  brought  me  four  hundred  dollars ;  the  next  seven 
hundred  and  fifty  ;  the  next  twelve  hundred,  and  the  next  two  thousand. 
This  brought  me  to  the  May  of  1849.  During  my  law  studies,  and 
during  these  four  years  of  my  practice  in  New-York  city,  I  had  entered 
somewhat  into  political  life.  1  had  always,  from  my  first  investigation 
of  the  political  questions  at  issue  in  the  country,  chosen  the  whig  school 
as  the  faith  of  my  adoption,  and  I  felt,  when  I  had  made  my  first  politi 
cal  speech,  which  was  for  "  Tippecanoe  and  Tyler  too,"  as  though  I  had 
taken  the  first  step  on  the  ladder  of  fame,  and  might  ascend. 

The  excitement  that  pervaded  every  part  of  the  country  on  the  dis 
covery  of  gold  in  California  did  not  at  first  interest  my  mind  nor  direct 
my  aspirations  towards  this  region.  I  was  making  money  and  friends. 
I  was  happy,  and  surrounded  with  congenial  objects.  Those  too  whom 
I  loved  were  there,  and  the  thought  of  severing  all  these  ties  at  first 
never  entered  my  mind.  But  as  the  tide  of  emigration  swelled  onward 
from  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  and  as  friend  after  friend, 
taking  his  departure  for  this  El  Dorado,  came  to  bid  me  good-by,  I  be 
gan  to  look  at  the  subject  with  more  careful  calculation.  I  sa\7  in  the 
future  a  great  state  that  should  rival,  during  the  present  generation,  her 
most  prosperous  sister  states. 

I  saw  that  the  silent  solitude  of  the  Pacific  Ocean  was  to  be  at  last 
broken  by  the  genius  of  American  enterprise,  and  that  its  commer 
cial  wealth  was  to  pour  through  this  golden  gate  a  tide  of  treasure 
as  precious  as  the  gold  that  was  tempting  half  the  country  to  emigra 
tion.  I  saw  that  there  was  a  future  for  California  that  no  man  could 
picture,  and  that  to  grow  with  her  growing  and  to  be  prosperous  with 
her  prosperity,  to  become  identified  with  her  interests,  and  to  be  a 
part  of  herself,  was  worthy  of  my  ambition.  1  saw  around  me  at  home 
men  of  genius  and  ambition  who  had  toiled  for  years  struggling  against 
ill-fortune,  and  who,  though  worthy,  had  yet  come  no  nearer  to  wealth 
or  renown. 

The  field  at  home  was  wide  and  splendid,  but  the  aspirants  and  con 
testants  for  position  were  many,  and  the  race  for  fame  and  pre-eminence 


ALFRED  WHEELER,  OF  CALIFORNIA.  443 

was  to  be  against  those  skilful  and  experienced,  and  there  was  but  little 
chance  for  advancement  save  by  the  slow  and  steady  perseverance  of 
years  of  toil.  I  had  already  begun  to  acquire  some  little  fame.  I  had 
scribbled  rhyme  and  prose  for  the  journals  of  the  day,  and  was  known 
somewhat  as  a  poet  and  a  man  of  literary  taste,  but  Parnassus  was  not  the 
hill  to  which  I  aspired.  I  had,  too,  for  sundry  political  speeches,  been  puff 
ed  in  the  newspapers,  and  on  several  occasions  had  received  the  praise 
of  professional  brethren,  and  the  congratulations  of  clients  for  efforts  at 
the  bar.  I  was  making  money  besides,  but  I  was  restless  at  the  tardi 
ness  with  which  fame  and  wealth  were  to  be  won,  and  so  I  resolved,  in  the 
face  of  expostulations  and  warnings  of  friends,  to  emigrate  to  California. 
Packing  up  a  select  law  library  of  about  a  hundred  volumes,  I  took 
passage,  and  on  the  19th  of  May,  1849,  sailed,  via  Cape  Horn. 

I  landed  at  San  Francisco  on  the  13th  day  of  November  following, 
the  day  of  the  adoption  of  the  constitution  of  the  new  state,  and  had  the 
gratification  of  depositing  my  vote  in  its  favor  as  the  first  act  of  my  citi 
zenship  here.  Having  taken  breath,  after  a  long  and  tedious  sea  voyage, 
I  looked  about  to  familiarize  myself  with  the  anomalous  condition  of 
affairs.  Business  was  done  without  care  and  without  system,  and  money 
flowed  about  from  hand  to  hand  as  though  it  had  no  value.  "  Go  it 
blind'1''  was  the  maxim  that  ruled.  Buy  to-day  and  sell  to-morrow — 
anything,  no  matter  what;  real  estate  or  merchandise — everything  was 
in  demand.  Gold-dust  was  the  currency,  and  everybody  had  his  pocket 
full.  I  was  amazed,  and  so  was  each  new-comer.  The  condition  of  af 
fairs  was  indescribable.  One  fact  was  apparent — industry  was  here  the 
mother  of  wealth;  and  as  to  fame,  nobody  thought  of  it.  It  was  an 
empty  bubble  which,  though  you  might  buy,  you  could  not  sell,  and  was 
not  worth  keeping. 

As  to  the  courts,  there  were  two,  one  called  the  Court  of  First  Instance, 
and  the  other  the  Alcalde's — names  preserved  from  the  former  dis 
pensation  under  Mexican  rule.  These  ran  a  sort  of  opposition  business, 
each  claiming  to  be  superior  to,  and  independent  of  the  other.  About 
a  dozen  lawyers,  all  young  men,  and  most  of  them  shrewd  and  intelli 
gent,  practised  before  the  courts.  Every  system  of  practice  prevailed, 
and  every  kind  of  jurisprudence  known  to  the  common  or  the  civil  law, 
and  much  which  would  have  been  found  in  neither,  was  in  force  ;  and 
the  great  and  ruling  doctrine  seemed  to  be  that  the  plaintiff  must  be  en 
titled  to  his  case,  or  he  would  not  have  brought  suit.  The  pay  of  the 
judges  was  in  the  shape  of  fees  ;  and  on  the  rostrum  of  the  judge,  where  the 
scales  of  justice  should  have  been,  the  scales  for  gold-dust  were  in  sight. 
Of  course,  business  was  dispatched  with  alacrity.  Summing  up  a  case 
to  the  jury  was  not  to  be  permitted  except  in  extraordinary  circum 
stances.  The  jury  having  heard  the  evidence,  were  presumed  to  know 
just  as  much  about  the  case  as  the  counsel,  and  were  not  permitted  to 
be  mystified  by  any  legal  sophistry ;  besides,  the  docket  was  growing 
in  length  hourly.  Counsel  fees  were  of  that  extraordinary  amount 
which  would  have  been  horrible  to  clients  anywhere  else.  Forty-eight 
pounds  of  gold-dust  an  acquaintance  told  me  he  paid  to  one  lawyer  for 
only  a  few  days'  services  in  a  single  matter. 

But  all  these  things  have  been  now  a  hundred  times  repeated,  and  are 
familiar  matters  of  history. 


444  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

I  looked  at  my  purse,  and  found  that  my  outfit  and  expenses  had  re 
duced  it  to  about  five  hundred  dollars.  An  office,  not  much  larger  than 
a  good-sized  packing-box,  demanded  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  a 
month  rent  in  advance.  Board  was  for  forty  dollars  a  week,  and  furni 
ture  higher  than  anything  else.  I  looked  about  for  a  partner  in  busi 
ness  and  in  expenses,  not  daring  to  venture  on  such  a  sea  of  outlay  alone. 
I  found  one  who,  like  myself,  had  just  arrived,  with  a  small  library  and 
a  small  purse,  and  who  had,  like  myself,  large  hopes  and  great  deter 
minations.  We  agreed  to  try  the  field  together.  We  hired  an  office, 
bought  a  couple  of  chairs,  (more  were  unnecessary,  as  clients  had  no 
time  to  sit  down,)  and,  finding  that  a  common  table  would  cost  from 
fifty  to  a  hundred  dollars,  we  bought  a  pine  board  for  fifteen  dollars, 
and,  with  hammer  and  saw  and  our  own  ingenuity,  made  a  table  for  our 
selves.  The  next  day  our  shingles,  with  golden  letters,  brought  all  the 
way  from  home,  where  they  had  not  done  us  a  great  deal  of  service, 
were  most  invitingly  and  conspicuously  nailed  upon  the  outside  of  the 
building.  A  week  passed  away,  and  we  had  made  a  thousand  dollars. 
We  felt  that  our  star  had  begun  to  shine,  and  that  we  might  breathe 
freely  when  looking  at  the  future.  Party  politics  at  this  time  were  at  a 
low  ebb,  though  the  democratic  party  had  got  the  start,  and  had  filled 
all  the  offices  that  were  to  be  filled  with  men  from  their  own  ranks. 
Those  of  us  who  felt  an  interest  in  the  whig  party  saw  that,  to  guard  the 
future,  we  must  look  out  for  the  present.  We  met,  and  organized  a 
whig  committee  as  a  nucleus  for  the  gathering  of  whig  forces  in  time  of 
need.  After  I  had  been  here  six  weeks  making  money  and  acquain 
tances,  a  vacancy  occurred  in  the  house  of  assembly  of  the  state  legisla 
ture.  An  election,  to  fill  the  vacancy,  was  called,  and  the  prominent 
whigs  of  the  city  proposed  that  I  should  accept  the  nomination  of  the 
party.  It  is  no  vanity  to  say  that  I  reluctantly  consented.  I  was  mak 
ing  too  much  money  to  go  to  the  legislature  for  sixteen  dollars  a  day. 
However,  it  was  agreed  upon,  and  my  name  was  put  in  the  field  as  the 
whig  candidate,  and  Mr.  O'Grady  as  the  democratic.  His  name  de 
feated  him,  and  1  was,  as  they  said,  triumphantly  elected. 

I  took  my  seat,  and  became  an  active  and  I  hope  useful  member. 
After  the  adjournment  I  returned  to  my  professional  duties,  and  was 
soon  after  appointed,  by  the  council  of  the  city  of  San  Francisco,  com 
missioner  to  investigate  the  tenure  by  which  real  estate  within  the  city 
was  held,  and  the  title  of  the  city  to  land  within  its  limits.  I  was  en 
gaged  for  some  months  on  this  matter,  and  took  great  pains  to  make  a 
report  which  should  become,  as  it  has,  a  standard-book  of  reference  with 
every  real-estate  lawyer  in  the  city.  For  these  services  the  city  paid  me 
ten  thousand  dollars,  though,  considering  the  labor  performed,  and  the 
prices  of  professional  labor,  they  were  in  reality  worth  more. 

Fortune  favored  me  with  prosperity  and  her  most  substantial  favors. 

On  the  22d  of  August  last,  I  had  the  honor  to  be  appointed,  by  his  Ex 
cellency  Millard  Fillmore,  United  States  Attorney  for  the  Southern 
District  of  California.  The  death  of  James  M.  Jones,  United  States 
Judge  for  the  same  district,  and  the  non-appointment  of  any  new  incum 
bent,  has  prevented  the  organization  of  that  court,  and  I  have  not  been 
able,  therefore,  to  enter  upon  my  official  duties.  I  hope,  however,  soon 
to  do  so,  and  shall,  in  my  career  there,  aim  to  tread  that  path  which  my 


THOMAS  COOPWOOD,  OF  MISSISSIPPI.  445 

early  hopes  pictured,  and  to  which  all  my  aspirations  in  life  have  been 
directed. 

You  will  see  that  in  this  brief  biography  there  is  no  brilliant  achieve 
ment  that  can  call  forth  admiration — there  is  no  remarkable  career  that 
might  not  have  happened  to  every  reader.  I  claim  no  genius  that  is  not 
common  to  all  men.  I  started  in  life  with  a  purpose,  and  the  determi 
nation  to  achieve  it.  If  I  have  been  blessed  with  fortune's  substantial 
tokens  and  some  worldly  honors,  perseverence  and  industry  are  the  only 
talismanic  charms  that  I  have  used. 

I  am,  very  respectfully,  yours, 

ALFRED  WHEELER. 


CAPTAIN  THOMAS  COOPWOOD, 

OF  ABERDEEN,  MISSISSIPPI. 

BENJAMIN  COOPWOOD,  the  father  of  the  subject  of  the  ensuing  sketch, 
was  an  Englishman  by  birth  and  education,  but  having  emigrated  to 
the  colonies  prior  to  the  commencement  of  revolutionary  hostilities,  he 
espoused  the  liberty -side  of  the  quarrel  between  the  oppressor  and  the 
oppressed ;  and  when  the  contest  waxed  warm,  and  to  the  unnatural 
oppression  was  added  the  physical  force  of  the  mother  against  the 
daughter  to  enforce  the  wrong,  he  entered  with  heart  and  hand  into  the 
conflict  in  favor  of  freedom  and  independence.  He  joined  the  colonial 
army,  and  remained  in  the  service  of  his  adopted  country  throughout 
the  active  operations  of  the  war,  in  which  he  was  severely  wounded 
three  different  times.  After  the  last  great  decisive  battle  had  been 
fought  and  won  at  Yorktown,  and  the  revolutionary  storm  had  measur 
ably  subsided,  and  the  thunders  of  the  last  great  guns  in  the  struggle 
were  dying  away  in  the  distance,  the  war-worn  soldier  retired  from  the 
fields  of  blood  and  of  victory  in  company  with  George  Tho mason,  his 
future  brother-in-law,  to  join  the  father  of  the  latter  in  Goochland 
county,  Virginia,  and  to  supply,  as  best  they  might,  the  parent's  loss 
of  his  four  sons,  who,  from  time  to  time,  had,  one  by  one,  fallen  by  the 
side  of  their  brother  while  fighting  the  battles  of  their  country.  The 
kindred  sufferings  of  the  two,  and  the  kindly  offices  of  the  one  to  the 
other  while  in  the  army,  evoked  a  sympathy  and  cemented  a  friendship 
between  them  which  terminated  not  with  the  closing  scenes  of  the  dan 
gers  they  had  shared  and  through  which  they  passed,  but  were  culti 
vated  and  increased  with  the  return  of  peace,  until  a  still  closer  bond 
of  union  bound  them  together.  The  former  married  the  sister  of  the 
latter,  and  the  daughter  of  William  Thomason,  whose  four  sons  the 
two  young  men  had  left  dead  on  the  battle-ground. 

Mr.  Coopwood  and  his  wife  settled  in  Albemarle  county,  and  culti 
vated  a  small  farm,  where,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  rich  and  varied  moun 
tain  scenery  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  and  amid  the  golden  pomp  of  autumn, 
on  the  llth  day  of  September,  1793,  Thomas  Coopwood,  whose  name 
heads  this  article,  was  born. 

In  the  year  1801,  his  parents  emigrated  from  the  Old  Dominion  and 


446  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

settled  in  Granger  county,  Tennessee,  whence  they  removed  to  the 
county  of  Smith,  in  1806.  Here  they  purchased  and  paid  for  a  large 
quantity  of  land  for  their  moderate  means,  and  thought  themselves  set 
tled  for  life;  and,  doubtless,  would  have  been  but  for  the  fraud  prac 
ticed  upon  them  by  their  vendor,  who  sold  them  possessions  to  which 
he  had  no  title.  They  were  shortly  after  evicted  by  those  having  titles 
paramount,  and  with  the  loss  of  the  entire  purchase-money  and  nearly 
all  of  their  little  property,  they  again  removed,  and  settled  in  1809,  in 
Madison  county,  Alabama,  then  the  Mississippi  territory,  where,  as 
though  to  verify  the  oft-repeated  proverbial  saying,  that  troubles  never 
come  singly  and  alone,  but  always  in  crowds — the  husband  and  father 
died  in  the  month  of  October  of  that  year.  And  now,  in  deep  distress 
and  poverty,  in  the  midst  of  the  wilderness  wilds  of  a  new  and  almost 
entirely  uninhabited  country,  save  by  the  savage  tribes  of  lawless  In 
dians  that  roamed  through  the  deep  forests  that  shaded  their  hunting- 
grounds,  or  swarmed  on  the  banks  of  the  neighboring  creeks  and  rivu 
lets,  far  away  from  friends  and  relations,  the  widowed  mother  with  her 
nine  children  was  left  to  struggle  against  the  cold,  chilling  tide-winds  of 
adverse  circumstances,  which  with  so  bold  a  current  had  thus  strongly 
set  in.  In  this  trying  emergency  there  was  no  time  to  lose  in  unneces 
sary  and  unavailing  lamentations  over  the  dead,  while  the  wants  and 
necessities  of  the  living  were  pressing  around  about  and  within  the  very 
family  circle  of  which  the  deceased  had  so  lately  been  the  head,  the 
front  and  the  protection.  To  hesitate  was  to  yield  to  the  pressure,  and 
to  yield  was  ruin. 

As  soon  as  the  humble  funeral  rites  of  sepulture  were  performed,  a 
family  council  was  held,  and  it  was  finally  determined,  and  definitely 
agreed,  to  retrace  their  traveled  steps  and  return  to  the  county  of  Smith, 
in  the  State  of  Tennessee.  And  although  the  future  was  shrouded  in 
gloom  and  beset  with  difficulties,  before  which  the  proudest  might  have 
bent  and  the  boldest  might  have  quailed,  yet  young  Thomas,  then  but 
a  small  boy,  with  his  mother,  two  sisters  and  six  brothers,  hesitated  or 
failed  not.  He  pressed  on,  and  on  he  went  to  the  place  destined  to 
witness  the  opening  scenes  of  his  noble  self-reliance  and  youthful  exer 
tions,  accompanied  by  a  determination  and  energy  seldom  equaled  and 
perhaps  never  surpassed  by  any  of  his  species. 

But  now  his  energies  were  all  fully  aroused  and  he  had  confidence  in 
himself,  and  all  had  confidence  in  him;  for  his  management  in  the  ar 
rangement,  and  skill  and  energy  in  the  execution  of  his  plans  had  been 
fairly  and  fully  tested,  but  a  few  months  before,  in  being  sent  by  his 
father,  prior  to  the  removal  thither,  with  a  drove  of  cattle  to  their  in 
tended  location  in  the  Mississippi  territory,  where,  with  a  younger 
brother,  he  by  accident  got  out  of  provisions,  and  although  fresh  meats 
were  readily  attainable,  yet  during  many  weeks  they  must  have  suffered 
in  the  extreme  for  bread,  but  for  the  ready  plans,  prompt  exertions  and 
active  energy  of  young  Thomas.  His  brother  wanted  to  abandon  their 
flocks  and  return  home.  But  this  was  inconsistent,  and  at  war  with  the 
inclination  and  every  feeling  of  the  nature  of  Thomas.  And  he  resolved 
neither  to  abandon  the  enterprise  nor  to  suffer  much  in  maintaining  his 
position.  He  forthwith  opened  a  trade  with  the  Indians,  although  he 
had  nothing  to  trade  on.  But  he  went  it  on  reciprocal  credit,  and 


THOMAS  COOPWOOD,  OF  MISSISSIPPI.  447 

bought  and  sold  on  time,  and  soon,  in  the  speculation,  he  had  an  ample 
supply  of  dried  venison,  hams  and  corn,  which,  according  to  the  most 
approved  methods  of  the  culinary  art  amongst  the  red  merchants  with 
whom  he  traded,  he  reduced  to  bread.  And  thus  plenty  was  restored 
to  the  two  young  and  otherwise  starving  herdsmen. 

As  necessity  is  the  mother  of  invention,  and  the  infant  germ  springs 
from  the  parent  seed  in  the  rising  or  sinking  scale  of  gradation  from 
cause  to  effect,  so  the  character  of  the  man  is  heralded  forth  by  the  con 
duct  of  the  boy  under  trying  circumstances,  and  based  upon  it  like 
a  statue  rested  on  and  fitted  to  its  pedestal  by  the  plastic  hand  of  the 
master  artist.  And  so  it  will  be  seen  by  subsequent  developments,  it 
has  emphatically  been  in  the  career  of  him  who  is  the  subject  of  this 
notice.  He  has  carried  with  him  the  disposition  here  discovered,  as  a 
basis  of  his  movements,  in  every  change  through  which  he  has  passed 
in  a  long  and  eventful  career. 

Himself  young,  and  the  prospects  of  the  whole  family  overshadowed 
with  melancholy  forebodings  of  evils  to  come,  they  returned  to  the 
county  of  Smith,  where,  according  to  the  plan,  they  were  all  to  be  kept 
together,  and  the  younger  children  raised,  educated  and  supported  in 
comfort,  decency  and  respectability.  And  the  reader  has  seen  what 
there  was  to  do  it  with.  Thomas  was  their  chief  reliance — their  main 
stay.  Nothing  daunted,  however,  on  their  arrival  in  the  vicinity  of 
their  former  residence,  he  rented  a  farm,  and  unaided  by  any  assistance, 
save  of  course  the  advice  and  care  of  his  mother,  and  the  labor  of  such 
of  his  brothers  as  were  able  to  work,  he  toiled  almost  day  and  night  for 
three  years,  during  which  time  he  had  not  only  plentifully  and  com 
fortably  supported  the  family,  and  punctually  paid  his  rents,  but  he  had 
purchased  and  paid  for  a  sufficient  quantity  of  good  land,  which  he 
converted  into  a  well  stocked  farm  for  his  mother,  on  which  she  moved, 
and  lived  and  raised  her  children  in  comfort,  respectability  and  plenty, 
and  all  of  them  with  a  good  business  education.  In  the  mean  time, 
and  during  the  winters,  when  he  could  be  spared  from  the  crops,  he 
earned  the  money  with  which  the  land  was  paid  for  by  cutting  cord- 
wood  at  Harbert's  iron  works,  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  state  in  which 
he  lived. 

All  the  while,  every  moment  that  could  by  possibility  be  spared,  or 
stolen,  from  the  pressing  labors  and  duties  that  rested  upon  him,  Tho 
mas  devoted  to  the  perusal  of  such  books  as  were  within  his  power  to 
procure — such  as  history,  treatises  on  political  economy,  government 
and  international  law — Montesquieu,  Voltaire,  Paine,  Volney.  and  the 
English  poets,  were  the  chief  works  which  fell  in  his  way.  He  read 
some,  however  little,  if  it  was  only  one  page  every  day,  at  meal-times 
and  nights,  which  supplied  food  for  reflection  and  study  while  engaged 
at  his  labors,  when  his  mind  had  sufficiently  contemplated  the  condition 
of  things  around  him,  and  revolved  his  plans  for  the  future.  This, 
however,  was  done  without  any  view  to,  or  expectation  of  ever,  either 
studying  a  profession  or  filling  any  responsible  station  in  political  life. 

By  this  time,  the  last  war  with  Great  Britain  was  declared,  and  the 
fighting  had  commenced.  When  the  call  for  soldiers  was  made  on  his 
state,  Thomas,  now  that  he  had  provided  well  for  his  mother  and  family 
while  he  might  be  absent,  entered  as  a  volunteer  in  the  service  of  his 


448  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

country,  in  the  second,  as  his  father  had  done  in  the  first  war  with  Bri 
tain's  haughty  monarch.  He  accompanied  General  Jackson  to  the 
Creek  nation,  and  was  with  him  throughout,  until  after  Weatherford,  one 
of  the  first  and  boldest  of  the  chiefs  of  the  nation,  but  the  last  to  come 
in,  voluntarily  surrendered  himself  at  the  Hickory  Grounds  to  the 
mercy  of  the  general,  and  proudly  sued  for  peace.  He  was  in  most 
of  the  battles  fought  in  this  service,  in  which  he  acquired  considerable 
reputation  as  a  private,  and  popularity  among  the  men,  so  much  so, 
that  he,  young  as  he  was,  on  his  return  home,  was  elected  captain  of 
the  company  in  which  he  had  served  in  the  war,  over  one  of  its  most 
popular  and  deserving  members ;  and  it  will  be  remembered  that,  at 
the  time  of  which  mention  is  now  made,  the  position  was  a  high  station 
of  both  honor  conferred  and  trust  reposed.  The  contest  was  animated, 
but  conducted  with  propriety ;  for  to  the  victor  was  to  be  awarded,  by 
the  voice  of  the  company,  the  glory  of  being  the  better  soldier  ;  and  on 
his  brow  was  to  be  worn  the  warrior's  wreath.  And,  as  it  was  consi 
dered  that  it  was  necessary  sometimes  for  a  commander  to  be  able  to 
speak  as  well  as  willing  to  fight,  it  was  thought  expedient  that  to  their 
military  prowess  and  skill  in  marshaling  men,  they  should  add  an  ex 
hibition  of  their  oratory  and  skill  in  the  arrangement  of  words  ;  so  the 
two  aspirants  took  the  stump  at  the  precinct  on  the  day  of  the  election. 
This  last  feature  in  the  programme  of  the  canvass  wras  supposed  to  have 
been  introduced  at  the  instance  of  his  opponent,  as  he  was  a  somewhat 
experienced  public  speaker,  and  Mr.  Coopwood,  it  was  known,  had 
never  made  the  first  attempt  in  that  direction.  Be  this  supposition, 
however,  as  it  may,  Mr.  C.  was  not  the  man  to  permit  his  opponent  to 
lead  where  he  dared  not  follow.  He  mounted  the  stump  on  the  spur  of 
the  occasion,  and  then  and  there  instantly  made  his  first  experiment  in 
speech-making,  which  so  far  transcended  the  expectations  of  all,  as  well 
as  the  eloquence  of  his  adversary,  that,  at  the  close  of  his  remarks,  the 
crowd,  by  its  applause,  gave  clear  indication  of  his  election,  by  a  consi 
derable  increase  on  what  had  been  supposed  to  be  his  previous  proba 
ble  majority.  And  so  it  turned  out.  The  voters  went  straight  to  the 
polls,  and  Mr.  C.  was  elected  by  a  handsome  majority  ;  whereas,  but 
for  the  speech,  it  would  have  been  a  very  close  election,  the  result  till 
then  being  regarded  by  all  as  somewhat  doubtful.  This  speech,  doubt 
less,  had  considerable  influence  over  his  course  through  subsequent  life. 
This  event  for  him  marked,  perhaps,  the  proudest  day  and  the  brightest 
spot  in  a  whole  life -long,  varied  and  checkered  career ;  for  the  designa 
tion  of  honor  then  acquired  he  has  studiously  avoided  parting  with  ever 
since  ;  never,  at  any  time,  or  under  any  circumstance,  seeking  any  office 
in  the  military  which  would  rank  him  nigher  in  point  of  title.  And,  al 
though  but  a  small  dot  in  comparison  with  the  many  more  important 
marks  his  own  perseverance,  industry  and  talents  have  set  up  along 
the  course  he  has  traveled,  why  should  it  not  be  the  proudest  day, 
and  the  most  memorable  event  of  his  life  1  It  was  the  first  step  to  dis 
tinction  among  men  in  the  career  of  a  youth  struggling  with  adverse 
circumstances  through  darkness  up  to  the  light.  It  was  his  taste  ;  and 
his  good  sense,  too,  as  well  as  his  taste,  in  this  respect,  is  admirable, 
for  even  the  general,  the  commander-in-chief,  at  last,  is  but  the  magni 
fied  captain. 


THOMAS  COOPWOOD,  OF  MISSISSIPPI.  449 

This  new  position  gave  rise  in  his  mind  to  new  thoughts  and  new 
labors.  The  military  became  the  object  of  his  studies,  combined  with 
Roman  and  Grecian  history,  and  the  modern  wars  and  modern  tactics 
of  Europe. 

Shortly  after  this,  Captain  Coopwood  intermarried  with  the  daughter 
of  a  neighboring  farmer,  settled  a  small  plantation,  and  turned  his  at 
tention  mainly  to  the  cultivation  of  the  soil ;  but  not  abating  in  his  zeal 
for  the  acquisition  of  knowledge,  he  pursued  his  studies,  as  heretofore, 
at  convenient  times  and  on  suitable  occasions,  when  to  do  so  would  not 
interfere  with  his  regular  business. 

An  anecdote,  not  generally  known,  which  has  been  related  to  the 
writer,  for  the  authenticity  of  which,  however,  no  avouchment  is  made, 
is  here  inserted,  as  being  characteristic  of  the  man  who,  though  poor, 
was  content  with  his  lot,  and  determined  to  be  comfortable  in  it,  while 
at  the  same  time  he  was  pressing  all  the  surrounding  circumstances, 
and  even  the  laws  of  nature,  into  his  service  to  increase  his  fortune  and 
elevate  him  above  the  station  he  then  occupied.  In  one  point  of  view, 
it  may  be  regarded  as  a  remarkable  development  of  a  rare  combination  of 
strongly  marked  and  happily  clustering  mental  endowments.  The  moral, 
however,  it  is  believed,  is  an  admirable  one,  in  many  points  of  view ; 
but  particularly  for  its  striking  illustration  of  the  adage,  that  where 
"  there's  a  will  there's  a  way,"  and  the  laws  of  nature  will  assist  us  in  it. 

The  story  goes,  that  about  the  time  of  his  marriage  he  purchased  his 
land,  first,  because  the  soil  was  good,  and,  secondly,  because  on  it  there 
was,  as  he  said,  the  most  convenient  and  suitable  building-spot  for  the 
dwelling  of  a  new-married  poor  man  that  he  had  ever  seen.  On  the 
site  thus  indicated,  he  determined  to  fix  his  residence,  and  there  he  col 
lected  his  timbers  for  the  building,  and  then  invited  his  neighbors  to 
his  house-raising.  None  of  them  had  seen  the  place  selected,  not  even 
his  brothers.  They  knew  where  the  land  lay  ;  they  came  on  that ; 
but  the  site  for  the  house  they  had  to  hunt  for.  It  was  not  on  that 
beautiful  little  circular  hill,  sloping  off  so  gently  in  every  direction  and 
losing  itself  in  the  extended  plains  around.  It  was  not  on  the  road -side 
in  front ;  nor  was  it  on  the  gentle  declivity  of  the  little  range  of  hills, 
falling  off  and  wasting  away  into  the  fertile  little  valley  beyond.  It  was 
not  in  the  valley  itself.  These  places  had  all  been  examined,  and  there 
were  no  logs,  no  timbers  there.  Where  could  it  be  1  These  were  all 
the  places  fit  for  building  on,  anywhere,  upon  the  whole  tract  of  land. 
Where  could  be  the  place  ?  asked  his  neighbors  and  brothers  one  of  ano 
ther.  It  was  agreed  that  the  captain  was  sometimes  a  little  disposed  to 
quiz  his  friends ;  but  then  it  was  not  April-day ;  and  what  was  more,  they 
all  knew  that  he  needed  a  house.  They  had  not  quite  agreed  to  give  up 
the  hunt,  disperse  and  return  home,  when  the  well-known  crack  of  a 
rifle  was  heard  in  the  distance  from  the  direction  of  the  hills  in  the  east. 
The  report  was  a  familiar  one.  They  knew  it  at  once.  It  was  the  re 
port  of  the  captain's  gun.  They  instantly  made  for  the  woods  which 
led  off  to  the  hills  in  the  direction  whence  the  sound  had  emanated  ;  and 
then  another — and  another  shot  was  heard,  and  away  in  the  direction 
the  company  hastened  in  double-quick  time,  fearing  that,  perhaps,  the 
gunner  might  be  too  closely  pressed  in  dangerous  conflict  with  some  of 
the  many  beasts  of  prey  that,  at  that  time,  infested  the  forest.  At  last 

29 


450  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

they  arrived  at  the  place ;  and  there,  to  the  utter  astonishment  of  every 
one,  away  down  in  the  deepest  hollow  between  two  of  the  highest  hills, 
uniting  and  blending  into  one  above,  and  forming  the  most  beautiful 
level  plain  on  the  west,  and  running  off,  dividing,  widening  and  wasting 
away  into  the  cane-brake  and  swamp  on  the  east ;  below,  there  lay  the 
logs  and  there  lay  all  the  timbers  for  the  buildings,  and  there,  on  a  stump 
in  the  midst  of  all  sat  the  captain,  with  his  gun  by  his  side.  He  had 
been  shooting  signal  guns  for  the  guidance  of  his  invited  and  expected 
companions  at  the  house-raising,  as  they  might  be  gathering  in.  He 
looked  like  a  man  who  had  started  to  market  with  a  load  of  plunder 
somewhat  too  wide  for  the  road  he  traveled,  and  had,  unfortunately, 
got  wedged  in  between  the  side-walls  that  pressed  the  narrow  moun 
tain-pass,  and  was  resting  over  his  burthen  and  reflecting  upon  the  best 
means  to  extricate  it  from  the  difficulty.  Almost  breathless  and  half- 
exhausted,  they  all  at  once  demanded  to  know,  what  on  earth  was  the 
matter.  That  was  the  site  for  his  building.  It  was  no  joke.  Some 
laughed  and  made  fun  of  his  location,  others  remonstrated,  and  used  all 
the  arguments  they  could  against  the  impropriety  and  downright  folly 
of  building  in  such  a  place  as  that.  His  brothers  got  mad,  and  scolded, 
and  swore  they  would  go  home — they  would  help  to  build  in  no  such 
place.  But  there  lay  the  logs  and  other  timbers  all  around,  as  they 
had  rolled  down,  on  either  side,  from  th«  top  of  the  hills  above  to  the 
bottom  below,  and  there  was  no  getting  them  away  in  any  direction. 
The  hills  were  too  steep  on  every  side  but  one,  and  there  the  cane-brake 
and  the  swamp  presented  their  impassable  barriers — there  they  were 
closed  in,  and  there  they  had  to  stay. 

While  his  friends  remonstrated,  the  captain  demonstrated.  He 
laid  down  his  premises,  as  follows :  It  makes  but  little  difference  where 
the  rich  build ;  but  that  the  poor  man  had  a  duty  to  perform  in  this 
respect.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  latter  to  build  at  that  point  on  his  own 
land,  where  concentrate  the  greatest  number  of  converging  advantages. 
That  he,  the  captain,  was  not  rich,  but  poor;  and  that  the  place  whereon 
he  stood,  in  the  hollow,  was  the  point  on  his  own  land,  where  concen 
trated  the  greatest  number  of  converging  advantages,  of  any  building 
spot  on  the  whole  tract.  The  major  premiss  was  admitted.  The  minor 
denied.  He  was  required  to  prove  it.  He  showed  first  that  he  was  a 
poor  man.  This  was  easily  done.  Then  he  showed  that  on  perfect 
levels,  everything  stood  stagnant,  and  still.  It  neither  run  to  you,  nor 
rolled  away.  There  was  a  fair  set-off:  no  advantage  there.  That  on 
hills,  nothing  run  to  you,  but  everything  rolled  away :  there  was  less 
than  no  advantage;  there  was  a  positive  disadvantage.  He  then  show 
ed  that,  at  the  base  of  a  hill,  every  thing  on  that  side,  from  the  heights 
above,  would  run  to  you.  Here  was  an  advantage — this  advantage 
was  more  than  doubled,  where  the  point  selected  was  at  the  base  of  two 
hills  on  opposite  sides,  because  the  one  acted  as  a  check  to  the  force  of 
gravitation,  imparted  by  the  rapid  descent  of  the  other.  But  this  was 
not  all;  at  the  point  then  selected  concentrated  all  the  advantages  of 
three  hills,  it  being  walled  in  on  every  side,  save  one,  which  afforded  an 
outlet  for  the  refuse  matter,  which  being  once  used,  was  no  longer 
needed,  but  pushed  off  into  the  swamp.  This  was  a  plain  case — the 
minor  was  proved. 


THOMAS  COOPWOOD,  OF  MISSISSIPPI.  451 

The  case  then  stood  :  The  major  admitted,  the  minor  proved  ;  and 
the  conclusion — followed — as  a  matter  of  course,  the  place  where  the 
timbers  lay,  was  the  place  to  build  on.  He  had  gained  his  point,  his 
friends  yielded.  The  house-raising  went  on,  and  the  buildings  were 
speedily  erected. 

By  means  of  troughs,  properly  arranged,  he  conducted  the  purest 
water,  fresh,  cold  and  clear,  from  the  beautiful  little  spring  that  gushed 
out  of  the  side  of  the  hill  above,  as  it  rolled  along  within  its  wooden 
bed  prepared  for  it,  sparkling  and  gurgling  to  the  very  door  of  their 
cabin  below.  There  it  was  to  drink,  to  cook,  to  wash,  to  cool  the 
butter  and  milk,  and  to  put  out  fire  in  case  of  need.  He  cut  his  wood 
on  the  side  or  top  of  the  hill,  and  it  rolled  right  to  the  place  where  it 
was  wanted.  Here,  with  half  the  trouble,  and  double  the  convenience, 
he  lived  in  more  comfort  than  his  neighbors,  by  making  the  laws  of 
gravitation  labor  for,  and  subserve  his  interests,  and  minister  to  his 
wants.  But  was  this  location  not  sickly  1  asked  one  of  his  friends  from  a 
distance,  who,  when  on  a  visit,  was  admiring  the  beauty  and  convenience 
of  the  improvements  of  the  homestead.  Sickness!  No:  There  was 
nothing  there  to  make  sickness  out  of.  Every  thing  there  was  clean, 
neat,  clear  and  bright,  and  cool  and  comfortable.  But  that  swamp? 
But  that  swamp  was  east  of  the  residence,  and  made  it  more  healthy. 
It  drained  off  every  thing  noxious,  while  the  rays  of  the  rising  sun  every 
morning  called  up  all  the  effluvia  and  miasmatic  vapor  from  the  lagoons 
and  low-grounds  in  the  bottom  below,  in  an  opposite  direction  from  the 
house.  But  still,  the  captain  said  when  he  got  rich,  he  would  build  on 
the  hills.  And  lest  it  should  hereafter  be  forgotten,  it  may  be  as  well 
here  to  remark  that  at  the  time  when  this  account  is  being  written  his  plan 
tation  covers  over  seven  hills,  and  his  dwelling  stands  in  the  centre, 
upon  the  most  elevated  of  them  all,  with  hundreds  of  acres  of  the  rich 
est  soil,  in  a  high  state  of  cultivafion,  spread  in  the  distance  around. 

He  was  born  in  the  vale  of  obscurity,  his  youth  was  beset  with  diffi 
culties,  and  his  building  his  first  house  in  the  humble  hollow  between 
the  hills,  was  a  fit  emblematic  memento  of  his  then  condition  in  life,  as 
his  present  residence  on  the  hill  is  and  will  be  of  the  heights  to  which  he 
has  climbed.  He  commenced  at  the  foot  of  the  ladder,  and  if  he  has  not 
reached  the  top,  he  has  certainly  climbed  high,  and  reached  an  elevated 
position,  which  is  heightened  in  comparison,  when  to  remembrance  is 
called  the  ponderous  load  he  has  carried  on  his  journey. 

But  to  return.  While  living  in  the  hollow,  he  cultivated  his  farm, 
and  made  money  on  the  capital  invested,  until  he  engaged  in  the  pro 
duce  trade,  as  a  more  speedy  method  of  increasing  his  fortune,  in  which 
he  accumulated  rapidly,  for  a  time,  when  all  of  a  sudden  there  came  a 
derangement  in  the  money  market,  a  crash  in  the  business  transactions 
of  the  country,  and  a  panic  ensued,  while  heavy  purchases  were  on  his 
hands,  and  the  result  was  that  it  took  all  that  he  had  to  pay  what  he 
owed.  But  he  paid  it  to  the  last  cent,  and  without  suit,  as  he  believed 
it  was  better  to  sell  his  own  property  without  costs,  than  to  permit 
another  to  do  it  for  him  with  costs,  and  at  a  sacrifice. 

Reduced  to  poverty  again,  with  barely  enough  to  subsist  upon,  Capt. 
Coopwood  removed  with  his  family  to  Lawrence  county,  Alabama, 
then  a  territory,  where  he  settled  in  the  woods,  built  cabins,  and  im- 


452  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

proved  lands,  and  bought  and  sold  as  usual;  and  in  the  course  of  a  few 
years  he  had  a  good  farm,  well  improved,  and  hands  enough  to  work  it. 
In  the  mean  time,  having  pursued  his  studies  as  formerly,  and  at  the 
same  time  mixing  and  mingling  much  among  the  people,  always  in  the 
line  of  business,  however,  and  being  desirous  to  keep  the  law,  and  not 
to  break  it,  he  turned  his  attention  to  the  science  which  embodied  its 
principles.  He  read  Blackstone's  Commentaries,  Chitty's  Pleadings, 
Coke  upon  Littleton,  Starkie  on  Evidence,  and  various  other  books, 
merely  for  information  and  improvement,  without  any  intention  at  the 
time  of  ever  commencing  its  practice  as  a  profession. 

Having  accumulated  a  competent  property,  and  not  being  required, 
from  the  necessity  of  the  case,  longer  to  perform,  in  person,  any  portion 
of  the  labor  of  his  farm,  and  being  inspired  with  a  laudable  ambition, 
as  well  as  patriotic  motives  to  serve  his  country,  he  was  induced,  in  the 
year  1824,  to  become  a  candidate  to  represent  the  county  in  which  he 
lived,  in  the  lower  branch  of  the  state  legislature.  He  ran  against  the 
Hon.  John  White,  a  gentleman  of  fine  talents,  excellent  qualifications, 
and  high  reputation,  and  was  beaten  by  him,  by  a  majority  of  about 
seventy  votes.  This  only  served  to  arouse  his  ambition,  and  he  there 
fore  resolved  to  present  himself  to  the  people  again. 

In  1825  he  was  again  a  candidate,  and  was  elected  by  a  large  majority 
over  all  opposition.  He  served  his  first  session,  and  made  his  first  ex 
periment  as  a  legislator  at  Cahawba,  then  the  seat  of  government  of  the 
state.  Having  mixed  extensively  with  the  people,  he  was  one  of  them, 
knowing  their  wants,  arid  understanding  their  interests,  while,  to  a  com 
plete  identity  with  them  in  their  inclinations  and  wishes,  he  added 
talents  for  commanding  and  controlling  the  services  of  those  with 
whom,  in  his  new  career,  he  was  called  upon  to  act,  rarely  equaled,  if 
ever  surpassed,  by  any.  He  served  them,  with  their  highest  approba 
tion  of  his  course,  six  regular  sessions  in  the  House  of  Representatives, 
when  he  was  promoted  by  the  voice  of  the  people,  his  former  constitu 
ents,  to  the  Senate.  As  senator,  he  served  them  three  regular  annual 
sessions,  and  one  called  session,  when,  in  1836,  he  removed  from  the 
state,  and  took  up  his  residence  in  the  county  of  Monroe,  in  the  State 
of  Mississippi,  where  he  is  now  living. 

It  is  not  intended  here  to  speak  in  lengthened  narrative  of  the  capacity 
of  Capt.  Coopwood  as  a  legislator.  To  do  so  would  be  an  unnecessary 
consumption  of  time  and  space.  It  is  enough  to  say  that  he  seldom 
failed  to  carry  his  point,  in  whatever  respect  he  chose  to  present  his 
views  and  preferences,  to  the  body  of  which  he  was  a  member.  Study 
ing  to  be  useful,  he  always  informed  himself  of  the  wants  and  interests 
of  his  constituents ;  and  to  subserve  these,  being  the  end  in  view,  he 
always  made  the  attack,  or  came  to  the  rescue,  prepared  and  fortified 
with  the  necessary  support  from  above,  below,  around,  to  secure  suc 
cess  in  the  undertaking.  In  the  accomplishment  of  his  purposes,  he 
looked  mainly  to  the  adaptation  of  the  means  to  be  employed,  to  the 
ends  to  be  attained;  and  as  he  selected  them,  so  they  served  him.  But 
the  indorsement  of  his  course,  by  the  approbation  of  the  people,  who  so 
long  retained  him  in  their  service,  and  doubtless  would  have  continued 
him  still  longer,  but  for  his  removal  from  their  midst,  is  the  best 
eulogium  which  can  be  bestowed  upon  him  as  a  faithful  representative. 


THOMAS  COOPWOOD,  OF  MISSISSIPPI.  453 

In  1830,  while  a  member  of  the  legislature/at  the  earnest  persuasion 
of  his  friends,  added  to  the  frequent  calls  made  upon  him  for  legal  ad 
vice,  Captain  Coopwood  applied  for,  and  obtained  a  license  to  practise 
law,  and  opened  an  office  in  the  town  of  Moulton,  the  seat  of  justice  for 
Lawrence,  the  county  which  he  represented.  This,  to  him,  was  rather 
a,  change  of  scene,  than  the  opening  of  another  act  in  the  great  drama 
of  life's  onward  current;  for  so  long  had  he  been  a  close  observer  of  the 
apparent  movements  in  the  business  transactions  of  the  court-house 
pageantry,  that  there  was  but  little  for  him  to  learn,  save  in  what  lay 
deep-hidden  in  the  background,  behind  the  front  view  of  the  scenery, 
obscured  by  the  webbed  intracacies  of  the  science  itself,  having  little  or 
nothing  to  do  with  the  modus  operandi  of  the  practice  of  the  profession. 
A  peep,  however,  behind  the  scenery,  into  the  green-room  preparations 
of  the  more  distinguished  actors,  disclosed  at  once  to  the  keen  eye  and 
penetrating  vision  of  the  captain,  much  of  the  valuable  material  benefi 
cial  to  the  service  in  which  he  had  embarked,  confusedly  mixed,  how 
ever,  with  much  more  that  was  rather  deleterious  than  productive  of 
good :  that  the  pure  grains  lay  so  scattered  and  intermingled  with  the  mere 
dross  and  rubbish,  that  it  was  scarcely  worth  the  labor  to  extract  what 
was  acquired  in  the  gathering  :  that  \vhile  all  aspired  to  the  honors  and 
professed  to  wear  them,  but  few  performed  the  drudgery  necessary  to 
the  accumulation  of  the  treasure ;  and  that  fewer  still  waved  the  magic 
wand  that  brought  the  unalloyed  particles  together  in  quantities 'appre 
ciable  to  the  popular  gaze,  or  even  to  the  vision  of  the  judge  himself,  and 
that  even  these  were,  many  times,  meanly  rewarded  and  poorly  paid ; 
and  therefore  he  now  as  before  wisely  determined  to  do  as  the  world 
did  in  which  he  lived ;  and  not  to  be  eccentric,  where  eccentricity  did 
not  pay  well.  So  he  bit  his  lip,  held  his  tongue,  exchanged  a  wink  for 
a  nod,  seized  upon,  and  appropriated  whatever  of  the  practical  came 
within  his  reach,  lightly  skipped  and  passed  over  the  abstruse,  and 
discarded,  in  toto,  all  that  could  be  classed  in  the  category  of  the 
abstract.  In  short,  he  was  at  once,  and  almost  by  intuition,  as  he  has 
been  ever  since,  the  bold,  plain,  direct,  firm-minded,  self-willed,  practical 
lawyer. 

Discarding  mere  matters  of  form,  he  seized  with  rapidity,  and  held 
with  a  firm  grasp,  the  substance  of  his  client's  cause;  and  very  philoso 
phically  concluding  that  the  world  would  pass  judgment  that  he  was 
the  best  lawyer  who  gained  the  most  cases,  he  brought  all  his  energies 
and  all  his  talents  to  the  attainment  of  that  end,  without  stopping  to 
satisfy  himself,  whether  the  principles  brought  to  bear  were  well  estab 
lished  by  precedent  or  not.  And  in  this  he  has  been  generally  success 
ful.  Few  lawyers  have  ever  enjoyed  a  larger  run  of  business,  in  a 
country  practice,  under  like  circumstances,  than  he  did,  from  the  very 
commencement  of  his  professional  career  to  its  termination.  And  fewer 
still  have  succeeded  so  well,  with  a  like  amount  of  other  business 
matter  pressing  on  their  hands  to  claim  their  attention. 

In  the  argument  of  his  cases,  preferring  the  chances  before  the  jury, 
on  the  merits  of  the  facts  and  circumstances,  under  what  he  regards  as 
the  great  principles  of  natural  justice,  to  questions  of  technicality  before 
the  court,  his  habit  has  generally  been  to  remain  quiet  until  the  evi 
dence  has  closed,  and  then  to  seize  the  strong  points  presented  by  the 


454  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

testimony,  and  to  throw  -them  in  a  solid  form,  with  the  boldness  of  an 
unbounded  confidence  in  the  prevailing  justice  of  his  client's  cause,  right 
at  the  best  guarded  and  most  strongly  fortified  point  of  his  adversary's 
ground  of  defence,  or  point  of  attack,  and  by  main  force,  and  the  short 
est  and  most  direct  route  possible,  take  the  field,  and  gain  the  victory, 
or  lose  the  battle.  Seeming  always  thoroughly  to  understand  his  case, 
his  boldness  has  seldom  failed  to  inspire  his  own  side  with  confidence, 
while  it  intimidated  the  opposition,  and  has  done  much  in  aid  of  his  suc 
cess,  and  not  unfrequently  has  it  made  to  the  mind  of  the  jury  the 
worse  appear  the  better  cause.  As  he  has  disregarded  mere  matters  of 
form  in  pleading,  so  he  has  eschewed  all  attempt  at  ornament  in  his 
style  of  speaking;  and  with  matters  of  substance  before  him,  he 
has  always  progressed  with  the  argument,  from  his  premises  to  his 
conclusion,  in  the  briefest  possible  time.  His  speeches  at  the  bar  have 
always  been,  as  elsewhere,  remarkable  for  their  pith,  point,  force  and 
brevity. 

In  the  examination  of  witnesses  his  manner  has  been  modest,  mild, 
courteous,  and  kind  ;  or  bold,  blufF,  dogmatical,  and  severe,  as  the  occa 
sion  seemed  to  require,  according  to  the  behavior  of  the  party  testify 
ing  ;  always  shaping  his  questions  according  to  the  emergency,  to  elicit 
the  answers  desired  to  sustain  whichever  side  of  the  issue  joined  he  might 
chance  to  occupy  ;  and  when  the  testimony  has  once  been  detailed,  he 
has  always  recollected  it;  with  remarkable  accuracy. 

Generous  and  kind  in  his  disposition,  courteous  and  urbane  in  his  de 
portment,  with  much  of  the  "  suaviter  in  modo  et  for  liter  in  re"  he  has 
ever  been  pleasant  and  agreeable  in  his  intercourse  with  both  the  bench 
and  the  bar,  except  on  occasions  when  persuaded  in  his  own  mind  that 
intended  wrong  was  about  to  be  perpetrated,  and  then  he  has  been  re 
markable  for  the  facility  with  which  he  could  change  the  even-flowing 
current  into  boisterous  and  angry  waves,  overriding  by  storm  whatever 
barriers  presented  themselves  in  his  way. 

To  the  younger  members  of  the  profession  he  has  always  been  ready 
to  lend  countenance,  afford  encouragement,  and  give  assistance  to  their 
efforts,  and  advance  their  prospects  in  their  professional  career. 

His  wife  died  in  1832.  While  a  member  of  the  Senate,  and  engaged 
in  the  practice  of  the  law,  he  embarked  to  some  extent  in  the  land  specu 
lation  then  opening  in  North  Mississippi,  and  examined  much  of  the 
Chickasaw  cession,  in  which  he  became  involved,  with  nine  others,  and 
bound  for  one  hundred  and  fifteen  thousand,  three  hundred  and  sixty 
dollars.  All  of  his  co-operators  and  co-obligors  in  this  transaction,  but 
one,  failed,  which  left  the  heaviest  responsibility  upon  him ;  but  every 
dollar  has  been  paid,  besides  something  upward  of  fifty  thousand  more 
for  various  friends,  in  consequence  of  his  indorsement  of  paper  for  their 
accommodation.  And  with  all  these  liabilities  hanging  over  him,  while 
almost  every  one  much  indebted  was  breaking  and  hiding  out  his  pro 
perty,  his  "  goods  and  chattels,  lands  and  tenements,"  were  all  standing 
there,  fair  to  view,  reachable,  and  sometimes  reached  by  execution,  but 
never  sold.  In  these  financial  difficulties  he  sometimes  had  to  take  the 
benefit  of  such  stays  and  delays  as  the  regular  and  often  lengthened 
course  of  the  law  allowed  him,  but  it  was  always  with  the  boast  that,  un 
til  every  dollar  for  which  he  was  liable  was  paid,  the  last  dime's  worth 


THOMAS  COOP  WOOD,  OF  MISSISSIPPI.  455 

of  his  property  should  remain  without  cloud  over  his  title,  subject  to 
the  payment  thereof.  He  is  now  worth,  at  a  fair  valuation,  clear  of  all 
liabilities,  about  fifty  thousand  dollars. 

In  1836,  having  lived  about  four  years  a  widower,  since  the  death  of 
his  wife,  he  again  determined  to  marry,  and  led  to  the  altar  Miss 
Minerva,  the  daughter  of  Dr.  John  Ellis,  a  native  of  Virginia,  who  had, 
years  before,  emigrated  with  his  family,  and  settled  in  Lawrence  county, 
Alabama.  He  immediately  afterward  removed  to  Aberdeen,  in  Mon 
roe,  county,  as  above  stated,  where,  the  following  year,  he  resumed  the 
practice  of  his  profession,  with  renewed  ardor  and  his  usual  success,  in 
which  he  has  been  engaged,  pretty  generally,  ever  since,  until,  in  1850, 
he  announced  his  determination  to  abandon  the  practice  and  retire  from 
the  bar ;  since  which  time  he  has  taken  little  or  no  new  business,  and 
now  only  appears  in  such  of  the  old  and  complicated  cases  in  which  he 
had  been  retained  as  still  linger  upon  the  docket. 

Within  the  last  year  he  has  sold  his  town  residence  and  his  plantation 
in  the  prairies,  and  purchased  land,  and  moved  his  negroes  as  well  as  his 
white  family  to  it  in  the  hills,  where  he  now  resides,  for  the  sake  of  the 
calm  retirement  it  affords  from  the  noise  and  bustle  of  a  town  life,  and 
the  active  business  pursuits  which  he  has  so  long  been  accustomed  to. 
But  ere  he  had  done  so,  and  while  he  was  making  his  preparations  for 
that  purpose,  he  received  the  nomination  from  the  Union  party,  in  1851, 
for  a  seat  in  the  lower  branch  of  the  state  legislature,  and  was  prevailed 
on  to  accept  the  appointment  and  run  for  the  station,  as  a  means  to 
wards  securing,  amongst  other  important  measures,  a  charter  for  the 
great  New-Orleans  and  Nashville  Rail-road  running  through  the  town 
of  Aberdeen. 

He  was  elected  by  a  large  majority,  and  was  warmly  solicited  and 
pressingly  urged  by  his  friends,  both  before  and  after  his  arrival  at 
Jackson,  in  consideration  of  his  long  and  tried  experience  in  matters 
pertaining  to  legislation,  and  his  known  familiarity  with  parliamentary 
rules  and  usages,  to  accept  the  speaker's  chair ;  but  he  firmly  declined 
the  proffered  honors  of  the  station,  upon  the  ground  that  he  could  better 
promote  the  immediate  interests  of  his  constituents  by  occupying  a  place 
on  the  floor ;  besides  that,  it  would  be  more  congenial  to  his  feelings  and 
wishes  to  be  ready  and  at  liberty  at  all  times  to  participate  in  the  de 
bates  as  they  might  arise  on  the  various  subjects  presented.  In  this,  as 
in  most  other  things,  he  had  his  own  way,  and  made  one  of  the  most 
attentive,  active,  laborious,  and  useful  members  of  the  last  session,  and 
succeeded,  by  good  management,  in  obtaining  a  charter  for  the  road  in 
question  in  conformity  with  the  wishes  of  his  constituents,  and  in  doing 
as  much,  and  even  more,  in  other  respects,  to  meet  their  approbation, 
than  was  expected  under  all  the  circumstances. 

A  whig  in  principle,  he  was  untrammeled  by  party  shackels,  support 
ing  whatever  his  judgment  approved,  and  opposing  all  that  he  regarded 
as  objectionable.  Bold  and  independent  in  the  discharge  of  the  duties 
assigned  him  as  representative  from  the  county  of  Monroe,  as  he  had 
ever  been  when  representing  a  different  county  in  another  state,  he  fear 
lessly  grappled  with  whoever  and  whatever  assailed  him,  or  in  anywise 
impeded  his  progress  in  the  just  vindication  and  proper  support  of  the 
rights  of  his  constituents.  It  remains  to  be  seen  whether  they  will  ap- 


456  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

prove  his  course,  and  reward  his  labors  with  the  same  high  appreciation 
that  had  been  awarded  to  his  efforts  during  his  previous  legislative 
career. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  whig  central  convention  for  that 
year  nominated  him,  and  run  his  name  for  governor  of  the  State  of  Mis 
sissippi  in  1 845.  Of  course  he  was  not  elected,  for  at  that  time  the  de 
mocratic  party  was  largely  in  the  ascendency  throughout  the  state  ;  and 
besides  he  never  left  his  home  on  an  electioneering  expedition,  nor  took 
any  active  part  in  the  matter,  one  way  or  the  other,  during  the  canvass. 
He  did  not  even  formally  accept  the  nomination,  and  neither  sought  nor 
desired  the  position.  It  has  never  been  the  absorbing  and  predomina 
ting  desire  of  his  heart  to  acquire  political  distinction,  and  judicial  sta 
tions  he  has  never  sought. 

Captain  Coopwood  is  about  five  feet  ten  inches  high,  well  set,  broad 
shoulders,  full  chest,  and  of  full,  round,  fleshy  proportions,  but  by  no 
means  corpulent.  He  has  a  large,  well-proportioned  head,  measuring 
•well  in  every  direction,  and  particularly  so  in  the  basilar  region,  with 
originally  dark  hair,  bordering  on  black,  but  now  quite  bald,  and  slightly 
gray.  His  eyes  are  of  a  dark-blue  color,  rather  small,  but  full  of  ani 
mal  vigor;  large,  full,  round  face,  high,  prominent  cheek-bones,  full 
and  elevated  forehead. 

He  is  a  true  believer  in  all  the  proprieties  and  precepts  of  the  Chris 
tian  religion,  but  not  in  the  remotest  degree  tinctured  with  fanaticism. 
If  he  does  not  always  tread  the  narrow  path,  walking  in  the  command 
ments,  keeping  them  blameless,  it  is  because  to  err  is  human,  and  he 
knows  that  to  forgive  is  divine. 

He  is  warm,  cordial,  and  kind  to  his  friends,  and  severe,  harsh,  and 
bitter  towards  his  enemies. 

He  has  strong  family  predilections  and  attachment  to  wife  and  chil 
dren,  with  the  principle  of  "self,  me  and  mine"  greatly  predominating 
in  his  organization  ;  he  makes  a  kind  master,  good  neighbor,  with  much 
benevolence  to  the  poor ;  and  what  is  remarkable  for  one  organized  as 
he  is,  whose  life  has  been  one  continued  struggle  for  property,  under 
adverse  circumstances,  he  spends  his  money  freely  and  liberally. 

Now  in  his  fifty-ninth  year,  the  captain  is  as  full  of  energy,  activity, 
life  and  vigor,  as  a  boy  of  twenty ;  and  is  one  of  the  most  .companion 
able  men  alive.  To  hear  him  talk,  and  see  his  movements,  on  a  long, 
tedious,  dull,  traveling  journey,  far  away  from  home,  is  to  be,  in  spite 
of  his  thinned  locks  and  bald  head,  almost  half  convinced  that  his  iron 
frame  and  elastic  spirits  will  never  wear  out  nor  fail  him ;  but  that  his 
primal  manhood  is  traveling  round  in  circles,  and  he  is  to  live  and  re 
live  his  whole  life  over  and  over  again. 

In  this  brief  sketch,  if  the  leading,  prominent  traits  of  a  well-formed 
character,  through  a  long,  busy,  checkered,  and  most  active  career,  have 
been  sufficiently  marked  out  to  bring  to  the  mind  of  the  reader  the 
faint  and  general  resemblance  in  outline-picture  of  the  genuine  arche 
type,  there  will  be  found,  doubtless,  much  to  condemn,  but  much  to 
admire  and  to  imitate — there  will  be  found  patterns  for  the  youth  in  ad 
versity,  who  has  the  mind  to  comprehend  what  is  around  and  above 
him,  and  the  will  to  direct  his  course  through  the  one  up  to  the  other, 
determined  on  his  way  to  reap  the  reward  of  his  labor  in  the  transit — 


THOMAS  COOPWOOD,  OF   MISSISSIPPI.  457 

there  will  be  found  models  for  the  man  of  the  world,  who  lives  not  in 
the  studied  creations  of  his  own  genius,  but  who  seizes  upon  whatever 
he  finds  already  created  and  prepared  for  the  purpose  by  the  heads  and 
the  hands  of  others,  and  reduces  it  to  practice  and  appropriates  it  to  his 
own  use,  as  well  as  to  the  benefit  of  the  millions  moving  along  life's 
great  thoroughfare  in  company  with  him — there  will  be  found  much  for 
the  study  and  imitation  of  him,  who,  born  under  the  presiding  influence  of 
a  more  propitious  star  than  he,  has  made,  amid  the  storms  that  raged, 
shipwreck  of  his  fortune,  but  who  desires  to  rise  again,  and  is  will 
ing  to  exert  his  energies  to  do  so — there  will  be  found  advice  for 
the  poor,  seeking  wealth ;  example  for  the  obscure,  aiming  at  distinc 
tion  ;  lessons  for  the  ignorant,  in  the  pursuit  of  wisdom,  and  counsel 
for  the  wise,  who  desire  to  be  useful.  Whether  at  this  point  of  time 
he  is  viewed  away  in  the  background  lying  in  the  distance,  as  the  mere 
child,  feeding  his  father's  cattle,  and  trading  with  the  Indians  for  bread; 
toiling  on  the  farm  through  "  summer's  heat  and  winter's  cold"  for  the 
support  of  his  sisters  and  younger  brothers ;  cutting  cord- wood  at  the 
iron-works  to  purchase  his  mother  a  farm — or,  as  the  youth,  fighting  in 
defence  of  his  country  ;  on  the  stump,  making  his  first  speech  to  his 
comrades  in  support  of  his  own  promotion — or,  as  the  man,  building 
his  house  in  the  hollow  of  the  hills  to  suit  the  convenience  of  his 
family  ;  trading  in  produce  and  losing  his  property  ;  or,  in  the  woods, 
taking  a  new  start  in  a  new  country  ;  or,  in  the  more  prominent,  but  not 
more  laudable,  position  in  the  councils  of  his  country,  making  laws  for 
the  government  of  the  people,  or  playing  the  lawyer  before  the  tribu 
nals  created  for  the  administration  of  the  laws,  in  the  dispensation  of 
justice ;  or,  trading  in  lands,  walking  in,  or  working  out  of  embarrassing 
moneyed  difficulties — in  all — through  all,  the  character  of  the  man  pre 
sents  a  rich  theme — a  curious  and  interesting  problem — for  the  con 
templation  and  solution  of  the  mental  and  moral  philosopher. 

It  is  not  pretended  that  he  has  no  faults.  It  would  be  hard  labor — 
a  dry,  dull  and  monotonous  task,  indeed,  to  sketch  the  life  of  one,  whose 
character  was  composed,  entire,  of  one  straightforward,  even,  smooth  cur 
rent  of  uninterrupted  good,  with  no  relief,  in  light  or  shade,  of  compara 
tive  or  superlative  degree,  to  enliven  and  animate  the  picture.  The 
writer  would  loathe  the  task,  though  he  might  love  and  attempt  to  copy 
the  virtues  of  the  original.  Faults  are  magnified  and  objected  to  main 
ly  by  those  having  much  greater  ones,  and  committing,  in  consequence, 
much  more  heinous  enormities — but  faults,  to  the  philosophic  mind,  are 
not  objectionable ;  for  in  man  it  is  true,  and  the  principle  runs  through 
all  nature,  that  the  capacity  for  evil  must  exist  in  order  to  the  accom 
plishment  of  good.  Man's  conduct  does  not  always  square  with  his 
sentiments.  In  conduct,  Julian  developed  the  virtues  of  a  Christian, 
Constantino  the  vices  of  a  pagan.  But  the  sentiments  of  Julian  led 
back  thousands  to  paganism,  and  those  of  Constantine,  under  Heaven's 
rule,  helped  to  bow  to  Christianity  the  nations  of  the  earth.  In  con 
duct,  the  humblest  votary  to  the  service  of  Leo,  who  believed  in  the 
miraculous  efficacy,  in  the  cure  of  souls,  of  the  indulgencies  sold  by 
Tetzel,  may  have  been  a  better  man  than  Luther.  To  the  sentiments 
of  Luther,  however,  the  mind  of  Christendom  is  indebted  for  the  grand 
est  revolution  the  world  has  ever  known. 

The  writer  is  no  eulogist,  but  he  would,  when  called  upon  to  decide, 


458  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

sit  equipoised  in  the  judgment-seat,  and  simply,  and  independently  of 
friends  and  foes,  the  living  and  the  dead,  "render  unto  Csesar  the  things 
that  arc  Caesar's."  This  is  believed  to  be  the  true  object  of  history ; 
and  in  this  alone  can  it  be  properly  said  that  it  is  "philosophy  teach 
ing  by  example."  The  writer  is  well  awarf  of  the  difficulties  that  con 
front  the  historian  at  every  step  of  his  progress,  in  attempting  to  trans 
fer  to  paper  by  the  use  of  language  the  exact  picture  of  the  character 
to  be  drawn.  To  the  mere  sketch- writer,  perhaps,  the  difficulties  are 
in  nowise  diminished.  And  it  has  been  well  said  by  one,  on  whose  ca 
pacity  to  decide  the  world  has  long  since  passed  judgment,  that  *'  in  every 
human  character  and  transaction  there  is  a  mixture  of  good  and  evil ; — 
a  little  exaggeration,  a  little  suppression,  a  judicious  use  of  epithets,  a 
watching  and  searching  skepticism  with  respect  to  the  evidence  on  one 
side,  a  convenient  credulity  with  respect  to  every  report  or  tradition  on 
the  other,  may  easily  make  a  saint  of  Laud,  or  a  tyrant  of  Henry  the 
Fourth."  Jn  the  pages  before  the  reader,  the  writer  has  endeavored  to 
keep  his  pen  on  the  exact  line  in  the  equi-distance  between  the  two  ex 
tremes.  How  far  he  has  succeeded,  in  this  respect,  must  now  be  left 
for  others  to  determine. 


HON.   JOHN    W.  NASH, 

OF  VIRGINIA. 

JOHN  W.  NASH,  the  subject  of  the  present  memoir,  is  one  of  the 
judges  of  the  General  Court  of  Virginia,  and  the  judge  of  the  Second 
Judicial  Circuit  of  that  state.  The  Second  Judicial  Circuit  comprises 
the  city  of  Petersburg  and  seven  of  the  adjoining  counties,  extending 
from  the  James  River  to  the  North  Carolina  border,  and  is  inhabited 
by  an  enlightened  and  highly  cultivated  population.  Judge  Nash  is  by 
birth  a  Virginian,  and  a  native  of  the  county  of  Fauquier,  and  is  of 
purely  Virginian  and  English  descent.  He  is  now  in  the  59th  year  of 
his  age,  and  resides  in  the  county  of  Powhatan.  His  education,  though 
classical,  was  not  complete ;  but  this  deficiency  was  in  a  great  measure 
supplied  by  subsequent  reading  and  study.  He  studied  law  in  1812 
and  1813,  with  John  Love,  Esq.,  a  distinguished  lawyer  in  the  county  of 
Prince  William,  and  commenced  his  professional  career  in  the  county 
of  Cumberland,  on  the  south  side  of  James  River,  in  1813.  The  United 
States  was  at  that  time  engaged  in  the  war  with  Great  Britain,  and  Mr. 
Nash,  who  was  then  a  very  young  man,  with  the  characteristic  ardor  of 
men  of  his  age,  earnestly  espoused  the  cause  of  the  war,  and  gave  to 
Mr.  Madison's  administ'ration  his  hearty  support.  This  necessarily 
placed  him  in  opposition  to  that  brilliant,  but  eccentric  politician,  the 
late  John  Randolph,  of  Roanoke,  within  whose  congressional  district  he 
then  resided  ;  and  in  the' memorable  contest  of  that  day  between  the 
late  John  W.  Eppes  and  Mr.  Randolph,  he  gave  to  Mr.  Eppes  a  cordial 
support.  To  this  circumstance,  perhaps,  is  to  be  attributed  his  early 
attention  to  politics :  for  in  1818  we  find  him  returned  as  a  delegate 


JOHN  W.  NASH,  OF  VIRGINIA.  ^  459 

from  the  county  of  Cumberland  to  the  legislature  of  the  state;  and  it 
was  during  the  session  of  1818  and  1819,  that  the  statute  laws  of  Vir 
ginia  (which  had  been  previously  revised  and  compiled  by  Mr. 
Leigh  and  others)  were  acted  on  by  the  legislature,  and  we  find  Mr. 
Nash  one  of  the  members  of  the  committee  in  the  House  of  Delegates 
to  whom  those  bills  were  referred.  He  was  thus  afforded  an  opportunity 
of  becoming  still  more  familiar  with  the  statute  laws  of  the  state, 
which  were  in  after-life  to  engage  so  much  of  his  attention.  He  served, 
however,  only  one  session  as  a  delegate  from  the  county  of  Cumberland, 
but  voluntarily  resigned  his  seat  for  the  purpose  of  devoting  himself 
more  exclusively  to  his  profession.  In  1820  he  removed  to  the  county 
of  Amelia,  where  he  united  the  pursuits  of  agriculture  with  the  practice 
of  the  law,  a  thing  not  unusual  with  the  country  lawyers  of  Virginia 
and  the  other  southern  states.  In  1825  he  was  elected,  with  the  late 
Governor  Giles,  to  represent  the  county  of  Amelia  in  the  legislature, 
for  the  express  purpose  of  opposing  the  call  of  a  convention  to  alter  the 
then  constitution  of  Virginia,  which,  with  the  aid  of  others,  they  suc 
ceeded  in  preventing  at  that  time.  He  served  for  the  next  two  sessions 
in  the  legislature,  but  again  voluntarily  resigned  for  the  purpose  of  pur 
suing  his  profession.  It  was  during  his  residence  in  Amelia  that  he 
became  involved  in  a  discussion  in  the  public  papers  with  the  late  Wm. 
H.  Fitzbugh,  of  Fairfax,  in  relation  to  the  American  Colonization 
Society,  who  was  one  of  the  Vice-Presidents  of  the  Parent  Society  at 
Washington,  and  a  most  accomplished  gentleman  and  elegant  writer. 
Mr.  Nash  admitted  the  philanthropy  in  which  the  society  originated, 
but  with  many  others  of  that  day,  distrusted  the  success  of  the  enterprise, 
and  feared  the  influence  which  the  indiscreet  efforts  of  its  advocates 
might  produce  upon  the  peace  and  tranquillity  of  a  southern  commu 
nity.  Mr.  Fitzhugh  was  its  unqualified  advocate.  Mr.  Nash  wrote 
under  the  signature  of  Caius  Gracchus,  and  Mr.  Fitzhugh  under  that  of 
Opimius.  Their  controversy  attracted  much  of  the  public  attention  at 
the  time,  and  was  subsequently  republished  by  Ralph  Randolph  Gur- 
ley,  the  resident  agent  of  the  parent  society  at  Washington,  in  the 
African  Repository,  and  again  in  pamphlet  form.  The  publication 
may  be  referred  to  as  furnishing  specimens  of  Mr.  Nash's  style  as  a 
writer,  and  we  refer  to  it  only  for  that  purpose ;  for  we  have  been  in 
formed  that  subsequently  his  opinions  underwent  much  change  upon  the 
subject,  and  that  he  is  at  this  time  a  sincere  well-wisher  of  the  colony 
in  Liberia,  and  to  the  objects  of  the  institution  generally.  In  1830  he 
sold  out  his  plantation  in  Amelia,  and  removed  to  the  county  of  Pow- 
hatan,  the  place  of  his  present  residence.  He  had  not  long  been  a  resi 
dent  of  Powhatan  before  he  was  again  elected  to  the  legislature,  in  the 
spring  of  1832.  He  continued  a  member  of  the  House  of  Delegates 
until  the  spring  of  1835,  when  he  was  elected  to  the  Senate  of  Virginia, 
of  which  body  he  continued  a  member  for  the  next  seven  years.  While 
a  member  of  the  Senate  he  was  elected  to  preside  over  its  deliberations, 
and  acted  as  its  speaker  for  the  last  three  years  of  his  service.  In  1842 
he  voluntarily  resigned  his  office  as  speaker  of  the  Senate,  and  member 
of  that  body,  being  heartily  tired  of  public  life,  and  the  strife  and  tur 
moil  of  party  politics. 

The  period  which  elapsed  from  1832  to  1842,  which  embraced  the 


460  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

last  term  of  General  Jackson's  administration  and  that  of  Mr.  Van  Bu- 
ren,  is  known  to  have  been  one  of  deep  interest  and  excitement  in  the 
political  history  of  the  country.  In  1833,  the  State  of  South  Carolina 
put  forth  an  ordinance  of  Nullification,  -which  drew  from  General  Jack 
son  his  famous  Proclamation  of  that  day,  in  which  he  denounced  the 
proceedings  of  South  Carolina  as  revolutionary  in  their  character,  and 
declared  the  determination  of  the  Federal  Government  to  execute  its 
laws  by  force,  if  it  should  become  necessary.  This  proclamation,  and 
the  Force  Bill,  which  was  passed  by  Congress  by  a  large  majority, 
although  they  had  the  effect  of  putting  an  end  to  the  heresy  of  Nullifica 
tion,  were  regarded  by  many  of  the  politicians  of  Virginia,  and  others, 
as  erroneous  in  principle,  and  otherwise  objectionable;  and  being  fol 
lowed,  in  October,  of  the  same  year,  by  the  removal  of  the  United 
States  deposits  from  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  led  to  a  serious 
division  among  the  friends  of  the  administration,  and  laid  the  founda 
tion  for  the  present  division  of  the  political  parties  of  the  country  into 
"Whigs  and  Democrats.  Mr.  Nash  sided  upon  these  questions  with  the 
administration.  The  doctrine  which  claims  for  a  single  state  the  power 
to  declare  a  law  of  Congress  void,  and  to  prohibit  its  execution  within 
her  limits,  at  the  same  time  that  she  remains  a  member  of  the  Union, 
was  too  gross  an  absurdity  ever  to  be  admitted  by  him.  He  attached 
too  high  a  value  to  the  Union,  and  understood  too  well  the  principles  of 
the  Federal  Constitution,  to  hesitate  a  moment  in  support  of  the  principle 
of  the  Proclamation  and  the  Force  Bill,  which  affirmed  the  constitutional 
obligation  of  the  President  to  execute  the  laws  of  Congress,  although 
resistance  thereto  might  be  made  under  the  authority  of  a  state.  The 
kindred  doctrine,  of  the  right  of  any  state,  at  pleasure,  peaceably  to 
secede  from  the  Union,  finds  no  better  favor  with  him  than  the  doctrine 
of  Nullification.  He  believes  them  to  be  revolutionary  in  their  charac 
ter,  and  belong  to  that  class  of  moral  and  political  rights,  the  exercise  of 
which  can  only  be  justified  when  it  is  necessary  to  resist  oppression  by 
political  revolution.  Entertaining  these  opinions,  and  having  been 
through  life  attached  to  the  democratic  party  of  the  country,  he  gave  to 
General  Jackson's  administration,  and  that  of  his  successor,  a  cordial 
support.  He  is  decided  in  his  politics.  But  he  was  never,  either  in 
public  or  in  private  life,  a  bigoted,  or  intolerant  partisan,  and  has  often 
been  heard  to  declare  that  he  would  as  soon  quarrel  with  his  friend  for 
the  color  of  his  hair,  as  he  would  fall  out  with  him  for  any  honest  differ 
ence  of  opinion  upon  the  subject  of  politics. 

Hence  it  is  that  he  numbers  now,  as  he  has  always  done,  many  of  his 
warmest  friends  among  those  who  differ  with  him  upon  party  politics. 
And  it  is  perhaps  owing  to  this  fact,  and  the  high  regard  which  he 
has  for  freedom  and  independence  of  opinion,  on  the  part  of  others, 
that  he  was  elected,  on  one  occasion,  speaker  of  the  Senate,  in  a  time  of 
high  party  excitement,  with  a  majority  of  political  opponents  in  that 
body. 

In  1848,  Judge  Nash  was  appointed  to  his  present  office  by  the 
Governor  of  Virginia,  which  appointment  was  confirmed  at  the  next  ses 
sion  of  the  legislature,  without  opposition.  Since  he  has  been  upon  the 
bench,  he  has  reviewed  much  of  his  early  reading,  and  has  discharged  the 
duties  of  his  office  in  a  manner  satisfactory  to  the  public,  and  free  from 


PIERRE  A.  ROST,  OF  LOUISIANA.  461 

objection  from  any  quarter.  His  circuit  is  one  among  the  largest  in  the 
state,  and  perhaps  there  is  none  in  the  commonwealth  in  which  a 
greater  number  of  intricate  legal  and  commercial  questions  are  present 
ed  for  discussion  and  decision.  The  members  of  the  bar  in  his  circuit 
are  generally  enlightened  and  well  informed ;  and  many  of  them  are 
among  the  first  lawyers  in  the  state. 

In  his  person.  Judge  Nash  is  rather  below  the  middle  stature ;  and  in 
early  life  was  a  little  corpulent.  In  his  manner  he  is  courteous  and  re 
spectful,  but  frank  and  decided.  He  has  had  much  intercourse  with  his 
fellow-men,  both  as  a  politician  and  a  man  of  business,  and  hence  has 
acquired  a  large  stock  of  practical  information  as  well  as  a  knowledge 
of  human  nature.  His  leading  attributes  of  character  however  are  his 
unbending  love  of  justice,  and  his  great  devotion  to  truth,  which  he 
has  been  often  heard  to  declare  lay  at  the  foundation  of  every  other 
virtue.  He  has  been  thrice  married,  and  is  the  parent  of  eight  children, 
five  sons  and  three  daughters.  His  oldest  son  is  a  practising  physi 
cian  ;  his  second  son,  is  now  engaged  in  merchandising  in  Mexico ;  his 
third,  in  the  practice  of  the  law  ;  and  the  two  youngest,  have  not  yet 
finished  their  education.  His  daughters  reside  with  him.  In  his  habits, 
he  is  temperate  and  industrious,  and  free  from  all  ostentation,  either  in 
dress  or  manners.  A  utilitarian  in  principle,  he  always  prefers  that 
which  is  useful  to  that  which  is  only  ornamental. 


HON.  PIERRE  A.  ROST, 

JUSTICE  OF  THE  SUPREME  COURT  OF  LOUISIANA. 

PIERRE  ADOLPHE  ROST  was  born  in  the  Department  of  Lot  et  Ga 
ronne,  in  the  then  Republic  of  France,  and  was  the  eldest  son  of  Jean 
Jacques  Rost  and  Sophie  Delas.  His  father  was  a  Huguenot,  and  in 
favor  of  the  new  order  of  things.  During  the  Reign  of  Terror,  he  had 
been  entrusted  with  authority  which  the  weight  of  his  personal  charac 
ter  enabled  him  to  exert  on  the  side  of  mercy,  when  it  was  most  dan 
gerous  to  be  merciful.  His  mother  was  a  Catholic,  and  belonged  to  a 
family  warmly  attached  to  the  fallen  dynasty.  The  first  political  dis 
cussions  he  had  were  with  his  uncles,  on  the  maternal  side  ;  and  as  he 
invariably  had  the  better  of  them  in  argument,  they  came  to  the  con 
clusion  that  he  was  a  mauvais  sitjet,  and  that  poor  Sophie  would  have 
trouble  with  him. 

His  father  thought  differently.  He  had  confidence  in  his  son,  and 
treated  him  from  infancy  as  a  companion  and  a  friend.  He  was  fond 
of  appealing  to  his  imagination,  and  of  conversing  with  him  upon  the 
lives  and  actions  of  distinguished  men.  He  dwelt  with  particular  plea 
sure  on  the  life  and  character  of  Franklin,  whom  he  greatly  admired. 
Franklin's  republic  was  frequently  mentioned,  and  the  good  old  gentle 
man  might  easily  have  been  led  to  believe  that  every  citizen  of  it  was 
a  Franklin. 


462  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

After  receiving  the  rudiments  of  education  at  and  near  home,  young 
Rost  was  sent  to  the  college,  first  in  the  old  Roman  city  of  Cahors  and 
afterwards  to  the  Lycee  Napoleon  at  Paris.  He  passed  his  examina 
tion  for  the  Polytechnic  school,  when  he  was  little  over  sixteen  years 
of  age,  and  was  classed  and  admitted  as  the  nineteenth  of  the  success 
ful  applicants.  Soon  after  his  admission,  his  father  died  suddenly. 
This  loss  was  so  seriously  felt  by  him,  that  it  affected  his  health,  and 
for  a  long  time  depressed  his  spirits. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  ensuing  year,  the  allied  armies  first  crossed 
the  Rhine,  and  invaded  France.  The  entire  battalion  of  the  Poly 
technic  school  asked  to  join  in  repelling  the  invasion,  and  was  attached 
to  the  garrison  of  Paris.  Its  conduct  and  admirable  discipline  at  the 
battle,  under  the  walls  of  that  city,  on  the  30th  of  March,  1814,  won 
the  respect  and  the  admiration  of  the  enemy.  Young  Rost  stood  at 
the  right  flank  of  the  battery  when  it  was  charged  by  a  body  of  Bava 
rian  cavalry,  and  the  men  at  the  guns  compelled  to  retreat,  until  they 
succeeded  in  turning  against  their  assailants  four  of  the  guns  on  the  left, 
which  mowed  them  down  like  grass,  and  cleared  the  battery  before  the 
guns  could  be  spiked.  Each  then  returned  to  his  post,  and  continued 
to  annoy  the  enemy  long  after  the  other  positions  had  been  surrendered, 
and  until  the  order  to  retreat  was  passed  ;  so  that  it  may  be  said  that 
the  subject  of  this  notice  fired  the  last  shot  for  the  deliverance  of  his 
native  land.  He  then  retreated  with  the  arrny  of  Paris,  and  joined  the 
Emperor  at  Fontainbleau.  After  the  Restoration,  he  returned  to  the 
Polytechnic  school,  and  applied  for  a  commission  on  the  return  of  the 
Emperor  from  Elba.  Pie  was  on  the  eve  of  obtaining  it,  when, the 
battle  of  Waterloo  again  subjected  France  to  the  rule  of  foreign  bayo 
nets,  and  of  their  allies,  the  Bourbons.  He  was  then  offered  a  situation 
in  the  gardes  du  corps,  which  he  refused,  feeling,  to  use  his  own  expres 
sion,  as  if  his  country  had  gone  from  under  him,  and  had  left  him  afloat 
on  the  wreck  of  the  empire. 

His  thoughts  then  reverted  to  the  country  of  Franklin ;  a  country 
about  which  he  knew  nothing  ;  but  which  he  loved  because  his  father 
had  loved  it,  and  he  resolved  to  make  it  his  home.  He  was  warmly 
attached  to  his  mothers  and  sisters  ;  but  painful  as  the  separation  was, 
he  felt  that  his  destiny  was  there,  and  that  it  must  be  accomplished. 
He  left  in  the  beginning  of  1816,  being  then  nineteen  years  of  age,  and 
landed  in  New-Orleans  in  the  spring  of  that  year,  a  stranger  to  all,  but 
full  of  health  and  youth  and  hope,  and  conscious  of  being  at  home  the 
moment  he  trod  on  American  soil.  After  being  in  New-Orleans  a 
short  time,  he  went  to  Natchez,  where  he  made  many  acquaintances, 
who  have  been  ever  since  his  steadfast  friends  ;  one  of  the  most  agree 
able  was  that  of  George  Eustis,  the  present  able  Chief-Justice  of  Loui 
siana,  who  was  then  preparing  for  the  bar ;  one  of  the  most  useful  was 
that  of  a  gentleman  of  education  and  intelligence,  who  proposed  to 
learn  French  with  him,  and  teach  him  English,  which  offer  was  thank 
fully  accepted.  After  a  few  weeks,  his  teacher  gave  up  the  French  in 
despair,  but  was  so  well  pleased  with  the  progress  of  his  pupil  in  Eng 
lish,  that  he  insisted  upon  continuing  his  lessons,  and  in  the  fall  of  that 
year  he  had  the  satisfaction  to  see  "him  write  and  speak  English  with 
tolerable  accuracy. 


PIERRE  A.  ROST,  OF  LOUISIANA.  463 

About  this  time  Congress  made  to  the  French  emigrants  and  exiles 
a  donation  of  one  hundred  thousand  acres  of  land,  on  the  Black  War 
rior,  for  the  purpose  of  cultivating  the  grape  vine.  Mr.  Rost  was  re 
gistered  for  a  section  of  this  land,  but  not  believing  that  the  swords  of 
French  officers  could  be  turned  into  plowshares,  or  that  such  a  colony 
had  any  chance  of  success,  he  never  took  possession  of  his  share  of  the 
grant.  After  losing  time,  and  becoming  greatly  involved  by  a  com 
mercial  enterprise,  and  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to  improve  an  island  on 
the  Mississippi  River,  he  turned  his  attention  to  the  study  of  the  law, 
under  the  guidance  of  Joseph  E.  Davis,  a  worthy  brother  of  the  dis 
tinguished  soldier  and  statesman,  Jefferson  Davis.  After  a  seclusion 
of  six  weeks,  during  which  days  and  nights  were  devoted  to  study,  he 
passed  a  remarkable  examination,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  The 
late  Judge  Taylor,  who  examined  him,  complimented  him  on  his  legal 
acquirements,  and  cheered  him  by  the  promise  of  success  and  fame  in 
his  new  profession.  He  soon  after  removed  to  Natchitoches,  in  the 
state  of  Louisiana,  where  he  established  himself  permanently. 

All  the  wealthy  population  of  that  part  of  Louisiana  was,  at  that 
time,  either  French,  or  of  French  origin ;  and  the  facility  which  he  had 
of  addressing  juries  in  their  own  language,  secured  to  him  from  the 
start  a  profitable  practice,  of  which  the  liberality  of  the  bar  enabled 
him  to  avail  himself  under  powers  of  attorney,  until  he  was  admitted 
to  practice  at  the  next  term  of  the  Supreme  Court.  The  bar  of  West 
ern  Louisiana  numbered,  at  that  time,  many  first-rate  men.  Josiah 
Johnston,  Alexander  Porter,  Henry  A.  Bullard,  William  Wilson,  and 
Isaac  Thomas,  have  a  national  reputation,  and  would  have  stood  among 
the  first  in  their  profession  anywhere.  With  the  liberality  peculiar  to 
the  legal  profession,  all  those  men  welcomed  the  young  Frenchman 
among  them,  and  seemed  as  much  pleased  with  his  success  as  with  their 
own.  Their  good  report  soon  spread  his  name  throughout  the  state, 
his  practice  became  quite  large,  and  in  a  few  years  he  had  the  happi 
ness  to  pay  the  debts  he  had  left  behind  hirn,  with  interest,  and  to  lay 
the  foundation  of  a  competency  which  he  has  since  attained.  His  for 
mer  creditors  not  only  became  his  clients,  but  took  pains  to  recommend 
him,  and  put  him  in  the  way  of  much  valuable  business. 

The  courts  of  general  jurisdiction  sitting  at  that  time  but  twice  a 
year,  he  had  much  time  left  for  self  improvement,  and  availed  himself 
of  it  to  the  utmost.  The  facility  he  had  of  reading  French,  Spanish, 
and  Latin,  gave  him  access  to  all  the  origins  of  the  law  of  Louisiana, 
and  he  went  through  a  systematic  course  of  study,  at  times,  by  him 
self,  and  at  other  times  with  Judge  Bullard,  who,  like  him,  was  fond  of 
scientific  investigation.  Domat  was  his  text  book  ;  Pothier,  including 
the  Pandects,  Merlin  and  Toullier,  his  favorite  commentators ;  Grego- 
rio  Lopez,  Salgado,  the  Curia  Philippica  and  Febrero,  were  also  read 
by  him,  arid  the  changes  which  the  laws  of  Spain  then  in  force  in  Loui 
siana  had  made  in  the  Roman  law,  carefully  noted.  He  was  thus 
qualifying  himself  to  sustain  with  honor  the  position  which  favorable 
circumstances  had  made  for  him  at  the  bar.  So  far,  however,  from 
obtruding  his  studies  upon  the  public,  he  took  pains  to  conceal  them, 
and  was  ever  ready  to  lead  the  dance,  or  join  his  friends  in  the  sports 
of  the  field. 


464;  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

The  cases  that  came  before  the  court  at  that  early  day  frequently 
presented  the  dramatic  incidents  of  a  border  country.  A  brief  notice 
of  a  few  of  them  may  be  interesting  to  our  readers,  not  only  as 
sketches  of  manners,  but  as  disclosing  the  modus  operandi  of  the  sub 
ject  of  this  notice,  and  the  character  of  his  mind. 

Tom  Tippett  was  a  drummer  in  the  regiment  stationed  at  Canton 
ment  Jesup,  about  fourteen  years  of  age.  Having  been  punished  by 
the  sergeant  of  his  company,  the  next  morning,  when  off  duty,  he 
stepped  up  to  him,  within  the  precincts  of  the  fort,  took  deliberate  aim, 
and  shot  him  dead.  He  was  surrendered  for  trial  to  the  city  authority. 
On  leaving  the  fort,  he  told  his  commanding  officer  that  he  knew  he 
must  die,  but  that  he  would  die  like  an  American  and  a  soldier,  and 
bring  no  disgrace  upon  his  company.  This  having  been  related  by  the 
officers  to  Judge  Billiard  and  Mr.  Rost,  they  volunteered  in  his  de 
fence. 

Mr.  Rost  pleaded  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court  on  the  ground  that, 
by  the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  Congress  was  to  exercise  ex 
clusive  legislation  over  all  places  on  which  forts,  magazines,  arsenals, 
and  dock-yards  were  erected ;  and  that  this  grant  of  power  divested  at 
once  and  forever  the  state  court  of  jurisdiction.  The  arguments  made 
use  of  by  him  were  much  the  same  as  those  upon  which  the  celebrated 
passenger  case  has  lately  been  decided  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States.  But  the  court  held,  that  it  was  not  the  grant  of  power 
by  the  federal  constitution  to  Congress  which  divested  the  state  court 
of  jurisdiction  ;  and  that  the  exercise  of  the  power  by  Congress  alone 
produced  that  effect.  Under  the  principle  of  the  decision  in  the  passen 
ger  case,  this  defence  should  have  prevailed.  The  offence  not  having 
been  committed  while  the  accused  was  on  duty,  it  could  not  be  brought 
under  the  martial  law ;  and  as  Congress  had  not  provided  for  such  a 
case,  there  was  no  law  under  which  he  could  be  tried.  By  the  decision 
of  the  court  he  was  subjected  to  a  trial,  which,  through  the  great  exer 
tions  of  his  counsel,  resulted  in  a  verdict  of  manslaughter. 

Dr.  Provost  had  been  a  distinguished  surgeon  in  the  French  army. 
He  was  fond  of  strife,  and  had  exaggerated  notions  of  honor  and  per 
sonal  dignity.  He  was  arrested  for  a  threat,  on  the  affidavit  of  one  of 
his  neighbors,  and  brought  for  examination  before  Spotswoods  Mills, 
who  was  a  justice  of  the  peace  and  a  practising  lawyer.  Mills  was  then 
a  candidate  for  the  legislature.  He  required  Provost  to  give  bonds  to 
keep  the  peace,  and  the  latter  not  being  able  to  comply  with  the  order 
on  the  spot,  his  hands  were  tied  behind  his  back,  a  rope  was  .placed 
around  his  neck  and  tied  to  a  tree  in  the  yard  of  the  house  in  which 
Mills  was  at  the  time,  and  he  was  suffered  to  lie  out  all  night.  On  the 
next  day,  this  being  midsummer,  the  constable  walked  him  thirty 
miles  to  the  jail  of  the  parish,  his  hands  still  tied,  and  a  rope  around 
his  neck.  As  soon  as  he  reached  the  town  of  Natchitoches.  he  gave 
bonds  and  was  set  at  liberty.  His  hands  were  much  swollen,  and  he 
was  in  a  state  of  mental  excitement  bordering  upon  insanity.  He 
thought  that  Mills  had  suffered  these  outrages  to  be  committed  upon 
him  to  propitiate  his  enemies,  whose  votes  he  wanted,  and  sent  him  a 
challenge,  to  which  he  received  no  answer.  Several  days  passed, 
during  which  the  election  took  place,  and  Mills  was  elected.  One 


PIERRE  A.  ROST,  OF  LOUISIANA.  465 

evening  after  dark,  Provost  met  him  in  the  street,  and  said,  he  asked 
him  whether  he  would  fight  him.  Mills  answered  that  he  would  not; 
and  Provost  stabbed  him  through  the  heart.  He  was  put  upon  his 
trial  for  murder,  and  entrusted  his  defence  to  Mr.  Rost. 

The  ground  of  defence  taken  in  argument  was,  that  the  time  which 
had  elapsed  between  the  outrage  committed  upon  the  accused,  and  the 
revenge  taken  for  it,  did  not,  under  the  facts  of  the  case,  raise  a  pre 
sumption  of  malice. 

The  common  law  was  the  custom  of  a  country  where  money  was 
held,  in  public  opinion,  a  sufficient  atonement  for  all  outrages  to  person 
and  character.  After,  therefore,  the  aggrieved  party  had  had  sufficient 
time  to  reflect  upon  the  remedy  which  the  law  gave  him,  and  which 
public  opinion  and  his  own  sense  of  honor  sanctioned,  if  he  failed  to 
avail  himself  of  it,  and  resorted  to  personal  violence,  there  was  no  ade 
quate  motive  for  Ms  acts,  and  malice  was  justly  presumed.  But  the 
accused  belonged  to  a  race  among  whom  the  atonement  required  in 
such  cases  was  blood,  and  mortal  combat  the  only  form  of  trial  recog 
nized  by  public  opinion.  That  until  this  was  had,  the  outraged  party 
felt  as  a  disgraced  being ;  and  delay,  so  far  from  bringing  counsel  to 
him,  must  increase  his  exasperation,  and  ought  to  place  him  in  no  worse 
situation  than  if  the  act  had  been  committed  in  the  heat  of  passion. 
That  in  a  common  law  country,  the  state  of  mind  which  would  induce 
a  party  firmly  to  believe  that  the  only  remedy  he  had  in  such  a  case 
was  to  meet  his  adversary  in  mortal  combat,  could  not  be  considered 
as  being  sound,  and  the  accused  was  entitled  to  the  benefit  of  this  kind 
of  insanity. 

This  characteristic  distinction  between  the  two  races  was  traced  with 
great  research  through  their  judicial  history.  The  defence,  however, 
was  unsuccessful,  and  the  accused  found  guilty. 

His  disposition,  and  the  strength  of  his  national  instincts  and  preju 
dices,  were  strikingly  shown  by  the  last  request  he  made  of  the  sheriff. 
The  deputy  of  that  officer  had  charge  of  the  jail,  and  had  treated  him, 
as  he  thought,  with  unnecessary  harshness  during  his  confinement.  The 
day  before  his  execution,  he  sent  for  the  sheriff,  thanked  him  for  his 
uniform  kindness,  and  told  him  he  had  a  request  to  make  which  he 
(the  sheriff)  must  promise  to  grant.  The  sheriff  said  he  would,  if  it 
was  possible.  "  Nothing  easier,"  said  Provost.  "  You  are  an  honest 
man,  and  must  not  disgrace  yourself  by  hanging  me.  I  insist  on  being 
executed  by  your  rascally  deputy,  and  that  you  shall  not  be  present." 
The  promise  was  given. 

An  Indian  had  been  accidentally  killed  by  another  Indian  while  both 
were  in  a  state  of  intoxication.  The  relations  of  the  deceased  were  ab 
sent  at  the  time;  but  they  soon  heard  of  his  deathj  and  came  from  the 
Indian  territory  to  exact  blood  for  blood  from  the  homicide.  He  was 
advised  to  flee,  but  would  not,  and,  in  blind  submission  to  the  law  of 
the  red  man,  agreed  to  surrender  himself  on  a  certain  day  to  be  shot. 
The  court  was  then  sitting,  and  Mr.  Rost  proposed  to  the  presiding 
judge  to  prevent  the  horrid  sacrifice,  by  giving  the  victim  a  fair  trial 
by  a  jury,  many  members  of  which  were  known  and  respected  by  the 
relatives  of  the  deceased,  and  impressing  upon  the  latter  the  necessity 
of  abiding  by  the  verdict,  whatever  it  might  be.  The  judge  consented 

30 


466  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

at  once,  and  had  the  Indian  arrested,  and  confined  in  jail  for  safety. 
Mr.  Rost  visited  him,  informed  him  through  an  interpreter  of  what  had 
been  done,  and  asked  the  names  of  his  witnesses.  Those  names  were 
accordingly  given.  They  were  those  of  Indians  of  three  or  four  differ 
ent  tribes,  now  much  reduced  in  numbers,  and  dwelling  together.  On 
the  day  of  the  trial,  the  prosecutors  were  all  called  into  court.  The 
killing  was  proved  by  a  white  man,  and  the  witnesses  for  the  defence 
were  called.  The  district  attorney  objected  to  their  being  sworn,  on 
the  ground  that  they  were  insensible  to  the  obligations  of  an  oath  from 
defect  of  religious  sentiment  and  belief.  They  were  then  examined  as 
to  their  faith,  and,  to  the  delight  of  those  who  heard  them,  they  all  tes 
tified  to  their  belief  in  a  future  state  and  in  a  Great  Spirit  who  would 
reward  them  if  they  told  the  truth,  and  punish  them  if  they  lied.  They 
were  then  examined  in  chief,  one  of  the  party  firs^  translating  the  dia 
lect  of  his  tribe  into  Mobilian,  which  is  the  lingua  franca  of  the  Southern 
Indians,  to  an  old  Indian  trader,  who  translated  in  French  to  the  sworn 
interpreter  of  the  court,  by  whom  it  was  done  into  English.  The  tes 
timony  of  all  those  witnesses  thus  given  in  different  languages,  was  con 
sistent  throughout,  and  bore  the  impress  of  truth.  It  made  cut  a  clear 
case  for  the  defendant.  The  case  was  then  argued,  and  the  judge  gave 
a  charge  to  the  jury,  which  was  translated  to  the  prosecutors.  l\e  jury 
retired,  and  after  being  out  some  time,  returned  into  court  with  a  ver 
dict  of  not  guilty. 

The  judge  caused  the  verdict  to  be  translated  to  the  prosecutors,  and 
told  them  that  the  jury  had  done  justice  ;  and  if  they  now  took  the  life 
of  the  accused,  they  would  be  punished  as  murderers.  Mr.  Rost  then 
rose  and  stated  to  the  court  that  the  prosecutors  had  left  their  hunting- 
ground  to  come  and  avenge  the  death  of  their  relative,  as  it  was  their 
duty  to  do ;  that  justice  had  been  done  to  the  accused,  but  that  was  not 
sufficient.  Justice  must  also  be  done  to  the  other  side:  they  must  be 
indemnified  for  the  inconvenience  they  had  been  put  to,  and  the  loss 
they  had  sustained  ;  and  as  the  coffers  of  the  treasury  would  not  unlock 
at  the  bidding  of  his  honor,  he  moved  that  the  bar,  jury,  and  by-stand- 
ers,  contribute  a  sufficient  amount  to  satisfy  them.  This  was  done  as 
soon  as  proposed,  and  the  prosecutors  declared  themselves  satisfied. 
It  was  the  first  time  that  a  court  of  justice  in  Louisiana  took  jurisdic 
tion  of  an  offence  committed  by  an  Indian  against  another  Indian.  Till 
then  the  Indians  had  been  permitted  to  enforce  their  own  barbarous 
laws.  The  precedent  has  since  been  followed,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped 
that  it  will  hereafter  be  considered  as  the  law  of  the  land. 

Mr.  Rost  was  elected  to  the  state  legislature  in  1822.  In  the  early 
part  of  the  ensuing  session  a  bill  came  up  to  create  a  new  parish,  with 
the  singular  name  of  St.  John  the  Evangelist.  This  name  was  under 
stood  to  have  been  given  in  deference  to  the  wishes  of  a  worthy  old 
gentleman,  who  had  made  a  donation  of  land  to  the  new  parish  for  the 
erection  of  the  public  buildings,  and  whose  name  was  Jean.  After  the 
sections  had  been  adopted,  Mr.  Rost,  who,  till  then,  had  been  a  silent 
member,  rose  to  move  an  amendment  to  the  title.  He  said  that  he 
yielded  to  none  in  respect  for  the  memory  of  the  great  saint  who  had 
been  selected  as  the  patron  of  the  parish.  But  he  did  not  think  any 
good  would  result  from  the  honor  intended  for  him  on  this  occasion. 


PIERRE  A.  ROST,  OF  LOUISIANA.  467 

Honors  were  rendered  to  departed  great  men,  less  for  their  own  sake 
than  for  the  beneficial  influence  those  honors  had  upon  the  living  ;  and 
the  men  whose  examples  were  most  worthy  of  imitation,  should  be 
first  honored.  It  was  painful  to  say,  that  in  the  present  state  of  the 
world,  evangelical  sanctity  found  no  imitators.  The  saints  of  liberty 
had,  in  this  respect,  superseded  those  of  the  church,  and  he  was  about 
to  propose  the  name  of  one  of  those  saints  as  a  substitute.  He  moved 
that  the  title  be  amended  by  striking  out  the  name  of  St.  John  the 
Evangelist,  and  inserting  the  name  of  Lafayette.  The  motion  was  re 
ceived  with  applause.  Major  Davezac,  who  sat  next  to  him,  almost 
kissed  him  for  the  idea,  and  the  change  was  made  without  a  division. 

This  little  incident  gave  him  the  ear  of  the  house,  and  he  soon  after 
made  himself  conspicuous  by  his  opposition  to  a  bill  punishing  usury 
as  a  crime,  and  enabling  debtors  to  recover  back  the  usurious  interest 
paid  by  them  within  the  five  previous  years.  Only  two  votes,  includ 
ing  his  own,  were  recorded  against  it  on  its  final  passage.  But  it  was 
returned  by  Governor  Robertson,  with  his  objections  ;  and  on  a  re-con 
sideration,  the  majority  of  two-thirds,  required  to  pass  it,  could  not  be 
had.  At  the  ensuing  session  he  took  an  active  part  in  the  debates  of 
the  civil  code,  by  which  Louisiana  is  now  governed.  He  and  Judge 
Grima  formed  the  enrolling  committee,  and  were  authorized  to  make 
all  necessary  corrections  of  form. 

In  1820  he  was  nominated  for  the  state  senate  in  opposition  to  a  gen 
tleman  who  till  then  had  defied  all  opposition,  and  considered  it  a  duty 
to  his  friends  to  use  all  proper  exertions  to  secure"  his  election.  The 
county  of  Natchitoches  was  as  extensive  as  some  of  the  states  of  this 
Union  ;  and  the  northern  and  western  portions  of  it  were  at  that  time 
occupied  by  a  sparse  American  population.  He  made  appointments  to 
address  the  people  at  various  places,  and  they  came  from  great  dis 
tances  to  hear  him.  Those  men,  mostly  emigrants  from  Tennessee 
and  Georgia,  considered  this  a  giant  step  in  the  civilization  of  Louisiana, 
and  were  delighted  with  their  candidate.  They  all  joined  in  his  sup 
port,  and  he  was  elected. 

These  were  the  first  stump  speeches  made  in  Louisiana,  and  Mr. 
Rost  has  often  expressed  doubts  whether  he  conferred  a  benefit  upon 
the  state  by  introducing  the  practice. 

He  remained  in  the  senate  four  years;  at  the  end  of  which  time  he  was 
put  in  nomination  for  Congress.  He  was  then  engaged  to  a  daughter 
of  the  late  Jean  Noel  Destrehan,  whom  he  married  before  the  election. 
This  caused  him  to  neglect  the  canvass  and  he  was  defeated  by  a  few 
votes.  He  then  removed  to  New-Orleans,  where  he  continued  in  the 
exercise  of  his  profession  till  the  summer  of  1838,  when  he  took  his 
family  to  Europe,  on  a  visit  to  his  mother  and  sisters.  He  returned 
in  the  fall,  and  two  vacancies  having  occurred  on  the  bench  of  the  Su 
preme  Court,  he  and  his  old  friend,  George  Eustis,  were  appointed  to 
fill  them.  They  both  resigned  after  a  few  months.  Judge  Eustis  re 
sumed  the  practice  of  the  law,  and  Judge  Rost  retired  to  one  of  his 
estates,  formerly  the  homestead  of  the  Destrehan  family,  and  for  some 
years  devoted  himself  to  agricultural  pursuits.  He  went  from  the  be 
ginning  upon  the  principle  that  the  best  planting  is  that  which  pays 
best,  and  was  quite  successful  in  the  application  of  it — giving  his  peo- 


468  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

pie  all  necessary  comforts  and  all  indulgences  compatible  with  a  judi 
cious  discipline,  liberal  in  expenditures,  attended  with  ascertained  pro 
fits,  and  making  none  on  a  large  scale  as  long  as  the  result  remained 
doubtful,  he  was  soon  cited  as  an  authority  among  planters ;  and  in 
3845  was  called  upon  by  the  State  Agricultural  Society  to  deliver  a 
discourse  at  their  annual  exhibition,  which  he  did  in  a  manner  satisfac 
tory  to  those  who  heard  him.  His  speech  was  republished  in  the  agri 
cultural  journals  of  the  country,  and  translated  into  Spanish  in  the  island 
of  Cuba. 

After  a  fair  trial,  he  did  not  find  that  the  pursuit  of  agriculture  gave 
sufficient  occupation  to  his  mind ;  and  on  the  re-organization  of  the 
state  judiciary  in  1846,  he  accepted  again  a  seat  in  the  new  court,  of 
which  his  old  friend  and  colleague,  Judge  Eustis,  was  appointed  chief 
justice,  and  he  is  now  a  member  of  that  high  tribunal. 

It  does  not  comport  with  the  design  of  this  work  to  review  the  de 
cisions  in  which  he  has  been  the  organ  of  the  court.  But  it  may  be 
said  that  they  are  remarkable  for  vigor,  logic  and  learning,  as  well  as 
for  always  calling  things  by  their  right  name,  without  the  least  regard 
to  persons  or  position.  The  stern  rebuke  of  his  censure  is  said  to  have 
driven  from  the  bar  several  men  who  disgraced  it ;  and  cases  of  fraud, 
which  constituted  their  sole  practice,  have  become  comparatively  scarce. 

The  Supreme  Court  of  Louisiana  deserves  in  this  and  other  respects 
to  be  held  up  as  an  example.  It  has  equity  as  well  as  law  jurisdiction, 
and  the  cases  that  come  before  it  are  frequently  to  be  decided  under 
different  systems  of  jurisprudence.  The  Mississippi  may  be  said  to  be 
the  dividing  line  between  the  two  great  jurisdictions  of  the  civil  and  of 
the  common  law  into  which  this  continent  is  divided  ;  and  New-Orleans 
is  the  place  where  the  two  systems  meet,  and  nearly  all  the  conflicts 
between  them  occur.  The  cases  in  which  they  arise  are  known  to  be 
the  most  intricate  and  difficult  in  jurisprudence.  Notwithstanding  this, 
the  court  has  decided  thirty-five  hundred  cases  in  less  than  six  years, 
and  none  are  ever  left  on  its  docket  at  the  end  of  each  year  that  coun 
sel  are  willing  to  try.  The  unequaled  facility  of  recovering  debts  in 
Louisiana,  has  become  proverbial  amongst  northern  merchants. 

It  is  not  out  of  place  to  mention  that  the  military  education  of  Mr. 
Rost  enabled  him  to  acquire  distinction  of  another  kind.  At  Natchez 
a  company  of  artillery  was  formed,  of  which  he  was  first  lieutenant,  and 
under  his  drilling  it  became  in  time  quite  respectable.  His  fame  as  a 
martinet  followed  him  to  Red  River,  and  he  was  made  in  succession 
lieutenant-colonel  and  colonel  of  the  19th  regiment  of  Louisiana  Militia. 
At  the  first  general  muster  after  his  appointment,  two  hundred  and 
seventy-three  privates  did  not  answer  to  their  names.  He  had  every 
one  of  them  fined,  and  caused  those  who  refused  to  pay  the  fine  to  be 
confined  in  the  common  jail  for  seventy- two  hours,  as  he  was  authorized 
by  law  to  do.  The  parties  punished  were  very  much  exasperated,  but 
they  did  not  miss  muster  again  ;  and  at  the  next  yearly  review,  the  regi 
ment  proved  to  be  by  far  the  best  drilled  and  disciplined  of  any  in  the 
state. 

We  will  close  this  notice  by  stating,  on  reliable  authority,  that  Mr. 
Rpst  attributes  much  of  his  success  at  the  bar  to  his  uniform  popularity 
with  courts  and  juries;  and  the  latter,  to  a  strict  adherence  on  his  par* 


W.  F.  BULLOCK,  OF  KENTUCKY.  469 

to  the  rules  of  conduct  he  had  prescribed  for  himself  at  the  beginning 
of  his  forensic  career:  these  were,  never  to  misrepresent  the  facts  of  his 
case — never  to  speak  when  he  had  nothing  to  say — never  to  repeat 
what  he  had  once  said. 

He  ever  kept  in  mind,  that  although  judges  and  juries  are  compelled 
to  listen,  persuasion  is  impossible  when  the  compulsion  is  permitted  to 
be  felt.  He  took  pains  not  to  weary  their  patience.  He  addressed 
himself  at  once  to  the  strong  points  of  his  case,  and  when  his  story  was 
told  he  was  done.  The  mathematical  education  he  had  received,  here 
bore  its  fruits.  He  would  as  soon  have  thought  of  repeating  a  demon 
stration  in  geometry,  as  a  legal  argument.  In  this  respect,  as  well  as 
in  earnestness  of  manner  and  form  of  thought,  he  has  been  said  to  be 
not  unlike  John  C.  Calhoun. 


HON.    W.    F.    BULLOCK, 

OF    KENTUCKY. 

BIOGRAPHICAL  sketches  of  those  who  have  attained  merited  distinc 
tion  in  American  law,  have  a  charm  and  force  in  them,  that  commend 
them  to  every  sound  thinker.  We  naturally  feel  an  interest  in  tracing 
the  footsteps  of  those  who  have  reached  elevated  positions  in  public 
confidence,  and  have  wielded  their  influence  for  the  public  good ;  who, 
loving  truth  and  integrity  for  their  own  sakes,  have  undeviatingly  fol 
lowed  their  dictates,  no  matter  what  the  personal  consequences  might 
be.  Records  of  this  kind  are  calculated  to  raise  the  ministrations  of 
law  in  public  estimation,  and  are  guides  for  the  junior  members  of  the 
profession,  in  their  pursuit  of  reputation,  distinction  and  position. 

The  HON.  WILLIAM  F.  BULLOCK,  whose  career  we  are  about  to  sketch, 
has  long  been  conspicuous  in  a  corps  of  celebrities,  second  to  none  in 
this  Union  in  point  of  ability  and  fame.  The  Kentucky  bar  has  long 
enjoyed  a  high  reputation,  and  its  members  have  largely  influenced  the 
character,  not  only  of  the  Great  West,  but  of  the  Union.  The  mother 
of  most  of  the  western  states,  she  can  point  to  her  deeds  in  the 
National  Councils  for  the  past  fifty  years,  and  her  sons'  glory  in  the 
fame  of  her  Breckenridge,  Nicholas,  Davies,  Clay,  Rowan,  Barry, 
Crittenden,  Sharp,  Boyle,  Owsley,  Mills,  Trimble,  Bibb,  Robertson, 
and  a  host  of  others,  who  contributed  to  the  imperishable  legal  renown 
of  the  state. 

For  a  long  period  of  time,  in  the  early  history  of  Kentucky,  Lexing 
ton  enjoyed  a  large  portion  of  the  renown  of  the  state.  That  city  is  the 
centre  of  one  of  the  richest  agricultural  districts  in  the  western  country. 
The  first  newspaper  printed  west  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains  was 
published  in  Lexington  ;  and  Transylvania  University,  for  a  number  of 
years  the  most  renowned  institution  in  the  great  valley,  was  located 
there.  '  From  that  venerable  hall  of  learning,  Kentucky  scattered,  with 
a  profuse  hand,  her  intellectual  treasures  over  the  West  and  South. 


470  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

While  Transylvania  University  was  under  the  auspicious  administration 
of  President  Holley,  it  is  doubtful  whether  any  city  in  the  United 
States  possessed  a  larger  share  of  intellectual  activity  than  Lexington. 
A  love  of  literature  and  science  pervaded  all  ranks;  education  flourish 
ed  in  all  its  departments;  the  general  pursuit  of  knowledge  which  char 
acterized  the  people,  enabled  them  to  support  for  many  years  the  finest 
public  library  in  the  West,  to  which  was  attached  reading-rooms, 
containing  all  the  best  periodicals  in  the  English  language.  The  great 
genius  of  Matthew  Jouitt,  one  of  the  noblest  artists  upon  canvas  that 
this  country  has  produced  ;  and  the  cultivated  taste,  public  spirit  and 
enterprise  of  John  D.  Clifford,  commanded  the  prosperity  of  the  fine 
arts  in  Lexington  at  this  period.  Philosophy,  literature,  classical 
learning,  science  and  art,  went  hand  and  hand  ;  and  Lexington  was  the 
glory,  the  pride,  and  the  cynosure  of  the  Great  Valley.  That  was  the 
golden  age  of  literature,  science  and  art,  in  the  West. 

In  addition  to  the  resources  of  intellectual  growth  and  activity  al 
ready  mentioned,  Lexington  maintained,  for  about  fifteen  years,  the 
ablest,  most  prosperous  and  successful  medical  school  in  the  western 
country.  The  renown  of  her  medical  teachers  was  co-extensive  with 
the  Union,  and  none  of  the  successors  of  this  school  have  ever  rivaled 
the  ancient  fame  of  the  medical  department  of  Transylvania  University. 
The  reputation  of  the  medical  school  finally  overshadowed  the  fame  of 
the  University. 

Nor  were  the  interests  of  a  law  school  neglected  in  the  inidst  of 
these  intellectual  energies;  but  one  was  established,  as  a  department  of 
the  University,  which  speedily  attained  a  high  rank.  The  genius  and  abi 
lities  of  the  bar  of  Lexington  were  illustrated  by  Henry  Clay,  William 
T.  Barry,  William  Blair,  Jesse  Bledsoe,  Joseph  Cabell,  Breckenridge, 
and  others,  who,  with  less  extended  fame,  enjoyed  a  high  reputation  at 
home. 

It  was  in  the  midst  of  these  intellectual  energies,  that  the  subject  of 
the  following  sketch  first  saw  the  light,  and  to  his  career  we  now  direct 
the  attention  of  the  reader. 

William  F.  Bullock  was  bom  on  the  16th  January.  1807,  in  Fayette 
county,  Kentucky,  of  which  Lexington  is  the  county  seat.  At  an  early 
period  he  exhibited  a  fondness  for  study,  and  such  was  the  proficiency 
attained  at  a  country  school,  that  he  entered  Transylvania  University, 
and  graduated  in  1824,  when  he  was  but  seventeen  years  of  age.  The 
writer  of  this  sketch  knew  him  at  the  time  of  his  matriculation  in  the 
University.  No  student  ever  entered  those  classic  halls  with  a  higher 
reputation  ;  and  his  devotion  to  study,  his  modesty  and  good  habits, 
enabled  him  to  add  largely  to  his  youthful  fame.  At  the  time  of  his 
graduation,  he  was  esteemed  as  second  to  none  of  the  distinguished 
eleves  of  Transylvania  University,  then  in  the  zenith  of  her  renown.  As 
an  orator,  he  was  unrivaled  in  that  institution ;  and  such  was  his  great 
distinction,  that  upon  the  return  of  Mr.  Clay  to  Kentucky,  after  his 
vote  for  Mr.  Adams,  when  his  congressional  district  determined,  in  its 
own  language,  "  to  speak  its  instructions  to  Henry  Clay,  in  a  language 
that  could  neither  be  misunderstood  nor  mistaken,"  the  youthful  orator 
of  Transylvania  was  selected  to  deliver  the  speech,  welcoming  th<» 
patriot  of  Kentucky  to  the  hearts  of  those  who  had  long  entrusted 


W.  F.  BULLOCK,  OF  KENTUCKY.  471 

their  political  interests  to  his  keeping.  It  was  an  occasion  of  deep  in 
terest;  it  drew  people  from  various  parts  of  the  state,  and  an  immense 
assembly  of  Kentuckians,  and  citizens  of  other  states,  was  gathered  to 
receive  the  illustrious  sage  of  Ashland.  For  the  time  being,  the  eyes 
of  the  nation  were  upon  Lexington.  The  traducers  of  the  fame  of  her 
most  illustrious  son  looked  on  the  scene  with  fear  and  trembling,  while 
the  friends  of  the  administration  of  Mr.  Adams  looked  to  it  as  a  source 
of  hopeful  energy  and  triumph.  In  the  midst  of  all  these  great  inter 
ests,  in  the  presence  of  that  great  assemblage,  indeed,  of  the  American 
people,  the  young  orator  of  Transylvania  addressed  a  speech  of  wel 
come  to  Henry  Clay,  that  was  worthy  of  the  occasion.  It  was  an  effort 
of  eloquence  of  which  any  son  of  Kentucky  might  well  have  been 
proud.  Even  during  the  mighty  response  of  Mr.  Clay,  whether  its 
eloquent  tones  were  moving  the  best  feelings  of  our  nature,  or  its 
withering  scorn  was  hurling  its  defiance  and  its  anathemas  upon  the 
heads  of  those  whose  machinations  were  struggling  for  his  ruin,  the  calm 
and  elevated  eloquence  of  the  youthful  orator  worked  its  way  into  the 
memories  of  the  people,  and  placed  him  conspicuous  among  the  speak 
ers  of  Kentucky. 

In  1828,  Mr.  Bullock  moved  to  Louisville,  Kentucky,  and  commenced 
the  practice  of  law,  in  the  midst  of  as  formidable  competition  as  could 
be  found  in  the  state.  But  the  same  habits  that  had  given  him  such 
enviable  distinction  in  the  curriculum  of  Transylvania  University,  soon 
attracted  attention  to  him  in  his  new  sphere  of  duty,  and  gave  him  high 
rank  among  the  able  men  who  adorned  the  Louisville  bar. 

After  a  probation  of  ten  years  at  the  bar,  the  public  voice  called 
him  to  a  seat  in  the  Kentucky  Legislature.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  in  1838,  1840  and  1841,  and  was  the  author 
of  some  of  the  noblest  monuments  of  Kentucky  legislation. 

To  his  well-directed  efforts,  efforts  that  never  knew  fatigue  while  the 
cause  needed  exertion,  Kentucky  is  indebted  for  her  common  school 
system.  He  introduced  the  bill  into  the  legislature,  and  by  his  elo 
quence,  his  entire  mastery  of  the  whole  subject,  and  his  untiring  labors, 
both  as  the  eloquent  exponent  of  the  cause  before  the  representatives 
of  the  people  and  the  profound  writer  for  the  press,  he  so  deeply 
engraved  the  merits  of  the  common  school  system  upon  the  public 
mind,  that  it  now  defies  all  the  powers  of  its  enemies.  Various 
efforts  have  been  made  to  cripple  this  system,  and  the  most  formidable 
was  the  attempt  in  1843  to  cancel  the  bonds  of  the  state,  which  had 
been  given  to  the  Board  of  Education,  on  account  of  a  loan  of  the  mo 
ney  that  had  been  appropriated  to  the  common  school  system.  The 
original  appropriation  was  eight  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  a 
portion  of  the  dividend  paid  to  Kentucky  from  the  surplus  revenue  of 
the  general  government.  This  sum  was  loaned  to  the  state  on  her 
bonds.  In  1843,  an  attempt  was  made  to  cancel  these  bonds,  by  which 
the  common  school  system  would  have  been  utterly  destroyed.  Mr. 
Bullock  was  not  at  that  time  a  member  of  the  legislature,  but  he  ear 
nestly  appealed,  through  the  press,  against  this  great  outrage.  While 
the  danger  lasted,  he  was  always  at  his  post,  battling  for  the  cause  that 
had  enlisted  his  zeal  and  his  best  abilities.  To  his  noble  exertions, 
his  thorough  understanding  of  the  subject,  and  his  persuasive  eloquence, 


472  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

Kentucky  is  indebted  for  her  common  school  system,  a  system  that  is 
scattering  innumerable  blessings  among  the  rising  generation.  A  pro 
found  debt  of  gratitude  is  due  to  Judge  Bullock  for  his  services  in  the 
cause  of  education. 

Nor  were  the  philanthropic  exertions  of  Mr.  Bullock,  while  he  was 
in  the  legislature,  confined  to  the  cause  of  popular  education.  When 
efforts  were  first  begun  in  Kentucky  for  an  improved  management  of 
the  insane,  those  efforts  found  in  him  a  zealous  and  intelligent  cham 
pion.  In  1842,  he  produced  a  profound  impression  upon  the  public 
mind,  by  a  report  which  he  submitted  to  the  Kentucky  legislature  on 
the  management  of  the  insane.  He  acccompanied  the  report  with  a 
speech  which  commanded  the  attention  of  the  state,  and  to  his  exertions 
the  triumph  of  the  cause  is  due.  Kentucky  has  been  exceedingly  liberal 
since  that  time  in  her  appropriations  to  the  insane ;  and  the  lunatic 
asylum  now  compares  for  excellence  with  any  in  the  United  States. 
To  Judge  Bullock  is  due  the  honor  of  the  improvements  in  Kentucky 
in  ameliorating  the  condition  of  the  insane.  Although  a  feeling  of 
animosity  existed  at  the  time  between  Lexington,  where  the  asylum  is 
located,  and  Louisville,  with  whose  representation  he  was  connected, 
he  nobly  spurned  all  local  and  selfish  considerations,  and  advocated  the 
philanthropy  for  its  own  sake.  He  did  for  Kentucky  what  Pinel  did 
for  France. 

Another  crowning  glory  of  Judge  Bullock's  legislative  career,  was  in 
his  successful  exertions  to  procure  an  endowment  from  the  state  for.an 
institution  for  the  education  of  the  blind.  His  eloquent  advocacy  of 
the  cause,  his  zeal  and  energy,  were  crowned  with  success  ;  and,  in 
1841,  the  legislature  of  Kentucky  appropriated  ten  thousand  dollars 
towards  establishing  a  school  for  the  blind.  This  is  the  favorite  elee 
mosynary  institution  in  Kentucky.  The  legislature  has  been  liberal  HI 
its  endowments  for  its  support,  and  the  institution  has  resources  now 
amounting  to  some  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  for  the  erection  of 
buildings  and  furnishing  the  school.  In  one  respect,  the  Kentucky 
school  for  the  blind  is  in  advance  of  every  other  in  the  country.  In 
response  to  an  appeal  on  the  part  of  the  trustees,  the  legislature  gave 
that  body  the  power  to  confer  upon  all  meritorious  graduates  of  the 
institution  a  copy  of  the  Bible  and  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  printed  in  raised  letters.  The  state  deserves  much  credit  for 
this  noble  munificence. 

Judge  Bullock  was  one  of  the  original  trustees  of  this  institution, 
and  has  been  one  of  the  most  active  and  useful  members  of  the  board 
to  the  present  time.  He  has  been  President  to  the  Board  of  Trustees 
from  its  first  organization  until  now. 

These  are  the  monuments  of  the  legislative  career  of  Judge  Bullock, 
and  his  friends  point  to  them  as  the  characteristics  of  the  man.  They 
have  conferred  unnumbered  blessings  upon  Kentucky,  the  effects  of 
which  will  go  on  increasing  from  year  to  year.  To  be  the  acknowledged 
author  of  the  Common  School  System  of  Kentucky,  of  the  vastly  im 
proved  means  which  now  exist  in  Kentucky,  by  law,  for  managing, 
protecting  and  curing  the  insane,  and  of  the  institution  for  the  edu 
cation  of  the  blind,  is  an  honor  of  which  any  man  might  well  feel 
proud.  His  legislative  career  is  a  model  for  those  who  wish  to  confer 


W.  F.  BULLOCK,  OF  KENTUCKY.  473 

real  blessings  upon  the  commonwealth,  and  to  obtain  a  good  report  for 
themselves. 

After  the  close  of  his  legislative  career,  Mr.  Bullock  again  resumed 
the  practice  of  his  profession.  In  1846,  he  was  appointed  to  the  bench, 
as  judge  of  the  fifth  judicial  district.  The  appointment  gave  general 
satisfaction.  His  high  legal  reputation,  his  urbanity  of  demeanor,  his 
decision  and  firmness,  and  his  universally  acknowledged  integrity  in  all 
things,  gave  an  earnest  of  a  successful  career  in  this  new  sphere  of  use 
fulness  which  has  been  fully  redeemed  by  his  judicial  course.  There  is 
no  court  in  Kentucky  that  sustains  a  higher  character,  nor  is  there  one 
that  commands  a  greater  degree  of  confidence.  The  interests  com 
mitted  to  this  court  are  of  much  greater  magnitude  than  are  to  be 
found  in  any  other  judicial  district  in  Kentucky.  Louisville,  the  com 
mercial  emporium  of  the  state  is  in  the  circuit,  and  the  most  important 
questions  of  commercial  law  are  frequently  presented  for  adjudication. 
This  court,  also,  has  criminal  jurisdiction,  and  the  criminal  docket  is  the 
largest  and  most  interesting  in  the  state.  This  complication  necessarily 
requires  a  judge  of  ability  and  learning.  The  judiciary  of  Kentucky 
has  been  adorned  with  names  that  would  have  commanded  respect  any 
where,  but  no  one  has  ever  attracted  a  larger  show  of  public  confidence 
and  respect  than  Judge  Bullock's.  A  striking  evidence  of  this  fact  is 
furnished  by  the  election  of  judges  by  the  people  in  the  sixth  year  of 
Judge  Bullock's  judicial  life.  The  new  constitution  of  Kentucky  re 
quires  the  election  of  judges  by  a  popular  vote ;  and  in  1851,  the  first 
election  took  place.  The  district  had  been  so  changed,  that  but  one  of 
the  former  counties  in  Judge  Bullock's  district  remained,  and  three 
new  ones  were  added  to  it.  In  this  state  of  things,  a  competitor  for 
the  office  presented  himself  under  auspicious  circumstances  for  success. 
There  were  portions  of  the  district  in  which  this  gentleman  had  for 
merly  commanded  an  extraordinary  popular  vote,  and  he  was  supposed 
to  be  much  more  favorably  known  in  the  new  portions  of  the  district 
than  Judge  Bullock.  But  the  election  showed  the  deep  hold  that  an 
upright  and  independent  judge  has  upon  the  public  affection.  Notwith 
standing  the  popularity  of  his  talented  opponent,  Judge  Bullock  was 
elected  by  a  large  majority.  This  election  is  one  of  the  many  gratify 
ing  evidences  that  prove  that  the  people  are  capable  of  selecting  the 
proper  characters  for  judicial  stations. 

In  the  performance  of  his  judicial  functions,  Judge  Bullock  knows  no 
authority  but  duty  to  law  and  justice.  He  is  singularly  free  from  all 
those  elements  that  narrow,  warp,  and  bias  the  mind,  and  he  holds  the 
scales  of  justice  with  as  perfect  an  equipoise  as  is  possible  to  any  hu 
man  being.  He  knows  neither  fear,  favor,  nor  affection,  and  can  neither 
be  cajoled  nor  denounced  into  doing  judicial  wrong.  He  is  clear  in  his 
judgment,  prompt  in  decisions,  and  firm  and  unwavering  in  the  dis 
charge  of  every  duty.  The  dignity  of  the  court  is  firmly  and  steadily 
maintained,  and  throughout  the  district  entrusted  to  his  care,  order, 
based  upon  law,  reigns  supreme.  The  firm,  independent  and  conscien 
tious  discharge  of  duty  has  given  him  a  strong  hold  upon  the  popular 
sentiment;  and  the  fact  that  such  discharge  of  judicial  duty  is  the 
surest  road  to  popular  favor,  is  full  of  promise  for  the  perpetuity  of 


474  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

our  free  institutions.  An  unawed,  unswerving  judiciary,  is  the  bulwark 
of  freedom. 

In  1849,  the  trustees  of  the  University  of  Louisville  elected  Judge 
Bullock  to  the  chair  of  "The  Law  of  Real  Property  and  the  Practice 
of  Law,  including  Pleading  and  Evidence,"  in  the  law  department  of 
the  university.  The  preceding  sketch  of  the  characteristics  of  this  dis 
tinguished  jurist  has  prepared  the  reader  for  the  history  of  his  career  as 
a  teacher.  He  is  highly  appreciated  by  his  eminent  colleagues  in  the 
school,  and  commands  the  respect  and  affection  of  his  classes.  He  has 
greatly  contributed  to  the  success  of  this  department  of  the  university. 
Profoundly  versed,  as  Judge  Bullock  is,  in  the  science  of  law,  with  a 
mind  singularly  clear  and  full,  possessing  great  powers  of  elocution, 
perspicuous  and  direct  in  his  teachings,  with  an  enlarged  and  matured 
experience  in  the  practice  of  law,  he  could  not  fail  to  be  a  most  impres 
sive  and  popular  teacher. 

We  have  thus  briefly  sketched  the  character  and  career  of  the  Hon. 
William  F.  Bullock,  of  Kentucky.  We  have  known  him  from  his 
youth  upward,  and  feel  no  ordinary  gratification  in  recording  his  pros 
perous,  useful  and  animating  history.  In  all  his  various  responsibili 
ties,  he  has  ever  been  true  to  the  highest  interests  of  humanity,  to  the 
strictest  integrity  and  to  the  holiest  dictates  of  justice.  In  his  public 
and  private  life  he  has  lived  as  Milton  did — 

"  Ever  in  the  great  taskmaster's  eye." 


'"' ! 
HON.    DANIEL   A.   WILSON, 

OF   VIRGINIA. 

DANIEL  ALLEN  WILSON  was  born  in  Cumberland  county,  Virginia, 
the  21st  day  of  May,  1790.  His  ancestors  were  among  the  early  set 
tlers  of  the  state.  His  father,  Richard  Wilson,  of  James  City,  served 
in  the  Revolutionary  War  as  an  officer  of  the  Virginia  militia,  and  was 
engaged  in  the  battle  of  Guilford  and  the  siege  of  Yorktown,  which  ter 
minated  that  ever-memorable  struggle.  His  mother,  Priscilla,  was  the 
daughter  of  Daniel  Allen,  of  Cumberland.  At  an  early  age  he  entered 
Hampden  Sydney  College,  at  which  celebrated  seat  of  learning  he  ac 
quired  a  high  reputation  for  scholarship  and  honorable  deportment.  The 
manly  and  generous  qualities  that  exhibited  themselves  in  his  inter 
course  with  his  fellows;  the  kindliness,  sincerity,  and  independence  of 
spirit  that  formed  his  social  character,  won  for  him,  to  an  unusual  de 
gree,  the  esteem  of  those  with  whom  he  was  associated  ;  while  the  faith 
ful  performance  of  his  scholastic  duties,  and  the  facility  with  which  he 
mastered  his  studies,  attracted  the  regard  of  his  teachers,  and  excited 
hopes  of  future  distinction,  not  disappointed  in  the  sequel  of  his  life. 

After  his  academic  studies  were  completed,  he  entered  the  law-office 
of  William  Daniel,  subsequently  one  of  the  most  eminent  judges  of  the 
General  Court  of  Virginia,  under  whose  direction  he  prosecuted  the 


DANIEL  A.  WILSON,  OF  VIRGINIA.  475 

study  of  the  law.  In  1810  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  and  entered  at 
once  upon  a  lucrative  practice.  As  a  lawyer,  he  gained  most  reputa 
tion  as  an  advocate ;  and  was  particularly  distinguished  for  his  success 
before  juries  in  criminal  cases.  In  all  the  duties  of  the  practitioner — 
multiform,  delicate,  and  trying  as  they  are — his  integrity  was  above 
reproach;  and  his  fairness,  ability, and  skill,  commanded  the  confidence 
and  admiration  alike  of  his  professional  brethren  and  of  the  public.  He 
was  esteemed  by  all  as  a  conscientious  counselor,  an  eloquent  advocate, 
and  a  learned  and  discriminating  jurist. 

During  the  war  of  1812  he  performed  two  tours  of  service,  as  lieu 
tenant  of  a  volunteer  troop  of  cavalry,  from  his  native  county  ;  and 
though  the  fortunes  of  war  did  not  bring  him  into  the  presence  of  the 
enemy,  the  promptness  with  which  the  company  rallied  to  the  defence 
of  the  country,  and  the  high  degree  of  discipline  and  soldiery  excellence 
attained  by  the  Cumberland  calvary,  made  it  one  of  the  most  noted 
corps  in  the  service. 

In  1814,  having  resumed  the  practice  of  his  profession  at  Cumberland 
courthouse,  he  was  united  in  marriage  with  Ann  Rebecca,  daughter  of 
John  Macon,  of  Powhatan.  He  continued  the  practice  of  the  law  with 
unvaried  success  and  distinction  until  the  year  1824.  when,  yielding  to 
the  solicitations  of  others,  and  lured,  it  may  be,  by  political  aspirations, 
lie  became  a  candidate  for,  and  was  elected  to  a  seat  in  the  General 
Assembly.  From  that  period  until  1828,  when  he  declined  being  a 
candidate  for  re-election,  he  continued  to  represent  his  county  in  the 
House  of  Delegates  without  opposition.  During  the  term  of  his  ser 
vice  in  this  capacity,  and  afterwards,  he  was  on  terms  of  intimacy  with 
Tazewell,  Randolph,  Giles,  and  other  statesmen  of  Virginia  of  world 
wide  renown.  This  era  of  the  legislative  history  of  Virginia  was  mark 
ed  rather  by  an  unusual  amount  of  talent  than  by  political  excitement 
or  agitation.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  one  of  the  leaders  of  that 
division  claiming  to  adhere  most  rigidly  to  a. strict  construction  of  the 
Federal  Constitution.  He  was  chiefly  instrumental  in  the  election  of 
Tazewell  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States ;  and  in  the  contest  of  1826, 
between  Randolph  and  Tyler  for  a  seat  in  the  same  body,  he  exerted 
himself  warmly  in  favor  of  the  former. 

During  the  cessation  of  party  strife  that  succeeded  the  election  of 
Jefferson,  and  characterized  the  administrations  of  Madison  and  Mon 
roe,  and  the  early  part  of  Adams',  the  legislature  of  Virginia  was  main 
ly  engaged  in  the  consideration  of  questions  of  state  policy.  Wherever 
questions  of  a  party  character  arose,  and  especially  such  as  involved  the 
rights  of  the  states,  Mr.  Wilson  was  always  found  co-operating  with 
those  who  demanded  that  the  action  of  the  federal  government  should 
be  restricted  to  powers  clearly  granted  by  the  constitution.  He  was  a 
firm  supporter  of  the  doctrines  of  that  school  founded  by  Jefferson  and 
Madison,  and  of  the  principles  set  forth  in  the  celebrated  resolutions  of 
1798-'99.  But  during  the  political  calm  to  which  reference  has  been 
made,  no  question,  of  other  than  minor  interest,  involving  federal  poli 
tics,  arose.  Among  other  subjects  of  state  policy,  a  reformation  in  the 
judiciary  system  came  under  consideration.  In  imitation  of  the  English 
practice,  and  without  regard  to  the  sparseness  of  the  population,  the 
common  law  and  chancery  jurisdiction  were  divided,  and  vested  in 


476  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

separate  tribunals.  The  common  law  jurisdiction  was  vested  in  Cir 
cuit  Courts,  held  by  judges  in  each  county  of  the  state — while  the 
chancery  jurisdiction  was  vested  in  Courts  of  Chancery,  held  by  chan 
cellors  for  large  districts — the  whole  state  being  divided  into  only  five. 
This  arrangement  occasioned  very  great  inconvenience  to  suitors,  and 
sometimes  led  to  a  denial  of  justice.  Not  unfrequently  the  Courts  of 
Law  and  those  of  Chancery  differed  as  to  their  respective  jurisdictions, 
and  in  some  cases  there  was  no  mode  of  determining  which  was  the 
rightful  tribunal.  But  the  chief  inconvenience  resulted  from  the  size  of 
the  districts.  Suitors  were  required  to  travel  great  distances,  and  re 
main  at  great  expense,  awaiting  the  tedious  action  of  lawyers  and  the 
court,  and  the  dilatory  movements  of  parties,  whose  interest  it  frequent 
ly  was  to  retard  the  decree  of  the  chancellor.  This  attendance  upon 
the  courts  was  the  more  arduous  from  the  want,  at  that  time,  of  all 
facilities  for  travel,  except  the  ordinary  roads  and  conveyances. 

Experience  of  the  evils  of  such  a  system  prompted  Mr.  Wilson 
to  undertake  its  reformation,  and  accordingly  he  moved  a  resolution  of 
inquiry  into  the  matter;  and  shortly  afterwards,  as  chairman  of  the 
committee  appointed  for  the  purpose,  reported  a  bill,  blending  the  com 
mon  law  and  chancery  jurisdictions,  and  conferring  it  jointly  on  the 
Circuit  Superior  Courts  of  each  county  in  the  state.  The  bill,  through 
his  influence,  passed  the  House  of  Delegates,  but  was  lost  in  the  Senate. 
The  scheme  was,  however,  so  favorably  received  by  the  people,  that  it 
was  adopted  a  few  sessions  later,  and  yet  remains  almost  the  only  fea 
ture  of  the  judicial  system  that  has  not  since  undergone  a  change.  Its 
adaptation  to  the  circumstances  and  wants  of  the  people  of  Virginia  has 
been  tested  and  approved  by  the  experience  of  twenty  years. 

In  1829  Mr.  Wilson  was  elected  by  the  General  Assembly  one  of 
the  eight  members  of  the  Council  of  State.  In  1830,  the  Council  hav 
ing  been  reduced  by  the  amended  Constitution,  from  eight  to  three,  he 
was  again  chosen  one  of  the  three.  The  office  of  Councilor  was,  at 
this  period,  one  of  great  responsibility  and  corresponding  honor.  By 
the  organic  law  of  the  state,  the  Governor  was  directed,  before  he 
exercised  any  discretionary  power  conferred  on  him  by  the  Constitution 
or  laws,  to  require  the  written  advice  of  the  members  of  the  Council. 
In  the  absence,  or  at  the  death  or  resignation  of  the  Governor,  the  eldest 
Councilor  acted  as  Governor  of  the  state.  The  era  of  which  we  are 
speaking,  is  one  of  the  most  brilliant  in  the  history  of  Virginia.  Then 
Giles,  Floyd  and  Tazewell  stood  at  the  helm  of  state.  Randolph,  of 
Roanoke,  was  in  the  zenith  of  his  unequaled  powers,  and,  with  all  his 
mental  idiosyncracies.  was  the  steadfast  advocate  of  state  rights.  Taze 
well  was  the  most  accomplished  and  astvite  statesman  and  jurist  of  the 
age.  Giles  was  possessed  of  a  most  vigorous  and  searching  intellect, 
and  was  an  ardent  co-laborer  with  the  others  in  support  of  the  Virginia 
construction  of  the  Federal  Constitution.  Peter  V.  Daniel,  who  now 
adorns  the  bench  of  the  Federal  Judiciary,  was  then  prominent  and  in 
fluential  in  controlling  the  policy  of  the  state,  and  moulding  the  political 
sentiments  of  its  people.  These  were  the  associates  and  friends  of  Mr. 
Wilson.  With  these  kindred  spirits,  he  assisted  in  directing  the  desti 
nies  of  the  "  Old  Dominion"  for  a  series  of  years,  more  glorious  than 
any  since  the  days  of  the  Revolution. 


DANIEL   A.   WILSON,  OF  VIRGINIA.  477 

In  1840  Mr.  Wilson,  having  again  become  a  private  citizen,  was 
elected  by  the  General  Assembly  one  of  the  Judges  of  the  General 
Court  of  Virginia.  The  office  was  conferred  at  the  solicitation  of  many 
members  of  the  legal  profession  in  the  circuit,  with  whom  he  had  been 
long  and  intimately  associated  in  the  practice,  and  who  possessed  the 
amplest  means  of  knowing  his  moral  and  mental  qualifications  for  the 
high  trust.  Its  acceptance  imposed  no  ordinary  amount  of  duty  and 
responsibility.  The  docket,  with  perhaps  a  single  exception,  was  the 
largest  in  the  state;  and  many  of  the  cases  involved  interests  of  vast 
and  extended  moment.  'In  the  town  of  Lynchburg,  and  the  county  of 
Buckingham  particularly — the  one  the  most  active  and  enterprising 
place  of  business  for  its  number  of  inhabitants  in  the  state,  the  other  a 
large  and  populous  county,  in  which  unfortunate  speculations  had  en 
tailed  a  class  of  suits  extraordinary  in  number  and  character — the  diffi 
culties  of  the  post  were  most  embarrassing.  In  Lynchburg,  a  heavy 
bank  defalcation  had  involved  the  citizens  and  money  institutions  in 
prosecutions  and  litigation,  that  brought  up  the  most  intricate  principles 
of  criminal  law,  and  the  most  delicate  questions  of  commercial  relation. 
In  the  discharge  of  these  trying  duties,  the  Judge's  fixed  and  unwearying 
purpose  seemed  to  be,  to  arrive  at  the  truth,  and  to  administer  the  law. 
He  displayed  throughout  the  tedious  process  of  the  various  trials,  (what 
are  indeed  the  striking  characteristics  of  his  judicial  bearing,)  patience, 
courtesy,  dignity,  and  veneration  for  the  laws,  as  they  are  written. 

In  no  other  department  of  civil  government  do  such  important  occa 
sions  so  frequently  occur  for  the  exercise  of  the  rare  and  exalted  endow 
ments  of  moral  and  mental  excellence,  firmness,  decision  and  foresight, 
as  the  judiciary.  The  timely  and  efficient  execution  of  the  laws — the 
protection  and  preservation  of  the  public  and  private  rights  of  the  citi 
zen — the  dispensation  of  impartial  justice  between  excited  parties — and 
the  maintenance  of  the  quiet  dignity — the  calm,  temperate  and  com 
placent  manner — that  will  inspire  confidence,  respect  and  obedience — 
are  some  of  the  varied  and  momentous  obligations  which  devolve  on 
those  to  whom  its  administration  is  intrusted.  The  character  of  the 
judge  must,  therefore,  possess  a  well  adjusted  combination  of  the  purest 
and  noblest  mental  and  moral  elements.  Unmoved  by  the  impulses 
and  frailties  that  seem  the  inseparable  concomitants  of  humanity,  he 
has  daily  to  observe  and  to  analyze  their  practical  operations  and  effects 
in  others ;  impassive  and  emotionless — the  chosen  incarnation  of  the 
law — he  delivers,  expounds  and  administers  its  will  and  its  judgment ; 
and,  with  truthful  conceptions  of  the  peculiar  and  complicated  linea 
ments  of  each  case  of  litigation,  he  is  prompt,  when  the  palliation  of 
circumstances  dictates  the  course,  to  relax  the  rigor  of  the  law,  and  to 
give  full  and  free  expression  to  the  mild,  just  and  humane  spirit  from 
which  it  emanates,  and  for  whose  vindication  and  protection  it  ought 
alone  to  be  enforced. 

Under  the  happy  influences  of  our  popular  institutions,  it  may  be  said 
with  striking  propriety,  that  the  usefulness  and  efficiency  of  the  tribu 
nals  of  the  country  are  secured  and  enhanced  in  proportion  to  the  con 
fidence  and  respect  with  which  they  inspire  the  members  of  the  com 
munity.  The  cheerful  obedience,  which  the  good  citizen  acknowledges 
to  be  an  indispensable  duty  he  owes  to  the  tribunals  of  the  law,  will 


478  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

become  a  sullen  submission  so  soon  as  the  dispenser  of  the  law  fails  to 
display  prominently,  in  the  discharge  of  judicial  duties,  the  essential 
attributes  of  the  good  and  upright  judge.  No  American  can  resist  the 
temptation  to  indulge  an  excusable  impulse  of  national  pride,  \vhile  re 
flecting  upon  the  widely  different  circumstances  which,  in  this  respect, 
attend  the  administration  of  the  laws  of  theUnited  States  and  of  England. 
The  judicial  systems  of  the  two  countries,  though  springing  from  the 
same  venerable  source,  and  founded  on  the  same  great,  unchanging 
principle,  bring  into  requisition  the  appliances  of  their  peculiar  and  con 
genial  agencies  in  order  to  inspire  respect  and"  to  secure  obedience.  In 
England  the  law  is  administered  by  officers,  who,  elevated  high  above 
the  people,  alike  ignorant  of  the  social  and  moral  composition  and  the 
interests  of  those  whose  private  and  public  rights  they  adjudicate  and 
determine,  seek  to  make  themselves  respected  only  by  the  display  of 
official  insignia,  and  to  awe  men  into  unworthy  obsequiousness  by  their 
imperious  manner;  they  are  sustained  in  authority  and  their  decrees 
enforced  by  the  constraining  presence  and  vigilance  of  a  powerful  con 
stabulary.  Here  the  judge,  selected  from  the  body  of  the  people, 
has  the  honorable  distinction  conferred  upon  him  exclusively  in  con 
sideration  of  the  possession  of  the  high  qualifications  requisite  to  the 
station ;  he  will  retain  the  manner  to  which  a  freeman  may  consistent 
ly  and  honorably  yield  a  cheerful  and  ready  obedience,  and  will  endear 
himself  and  the  tribunal  over  which  he  presides  to  the  hearts  of  the 
people  by  the  continual  display  of  his  ardent  love  of  justice,  his  impar 
tiality,  firmness,  independence,  unvacillating  judgment,  and  kind,  cour 
teous  and  dignified  bearing.  The  strength,  efficiency  arid  moral  influ 
ence  of  a  tribunal  thus  organized — appealing  directly  to  the  republican 
loyalty  and  devotion  of  the  people — are  inconceivable.  It  exerts  a 
widely  diffused,  ennobling  influence  which  elevates  the  sentiments  of 
all  to  the  standard  of  its  own  excellence.  Parties  freely  submit  their 
dearest  rights  to  its  arbitrament,  confident  that  justice  will  be  consult 
ed  and  its  unerring  judgment  rendered.  The  court  becomes  truly  the 
temple  of  justice — the  shrine  of  purity  and  of  truth — and  every  citizen 
that  crosses  its  consecrated  threshold  bows  instinctively  to  the  irresist 
ible  emotions  of  respect,  obedience  and  veneration,  which  a  sense  of 
the  presence  of  the  embodiment  of  virtue,  justice  and  exalted  worth  in 
spires  in  the  manly  heart. 

Judge  Wilson  discharges  the  onerous  duties  and  responsibilities  of 
his  office  with  an  industry  and  ability  which  few  of  his  distinguished 
compeers  have  attained.  He  is  ardent  and  untiring  in  devotion  to 
business — of  inflexible  sternness  and  independence — of  sound,  discrimi 
nating  and  far-reaching  judgment  and  sagacity — thoroughly  imbued  with 
the  passion  of  the  great  masters  of  the  profession — and  familiar  with  all 
the  useful  and  ornamental  attainments  of  the  accomplished  jurist.  He 
presents,  in  a  remarkable  degree,  the  rare  combination  of  all  the  essen 
tial  qualifications  for  the  position  which  he  fills  with  so  great  honor  to 
himself,  and  so  much  of  usefulness  and  benefit  to  his  native  state. 

Judge  Wilson  forcibly  illustrates,  in  his  official  bearing,  the  happy 
tendency  of  that  conservative  republicanism  which  pervades  alike  all 
the  institutions  of  the  country.  Plain  and  unostentatious,  his  judicial 
manner  harmonizes  with  the  impressive  simplicity  of  his  character. 


DANIEL  A.  WILSON,  OF  VIRGINIA.  479 

Generous,  frank  and  cordial,  no  man  approaches  him  insensible  of  the 
genial  inspirations  of  his  presence.  His  temper  is,  at  all  times,  even 
under  circumstances  of  the  most  annoying  and  provoking  nature,  in 
perfect  subjection  to  his  will.  Cool  and  dispassionate,  he  allays,  by  the 
silent  influence  of  his  example,  the  angry  feelings  and  fierce  passions 
which  are  so  often  momentarily  engendered  in  the  transaction  of  legal 
business ;  and  the  rude  and  wicked  spirit  that  defies  the  physical  appli 
ances  of  the  law's  power,  stands  reproved,  abashed,  silent  and  respect 
ful  in  the  serene  and  dignified  presence  of  the  virtuous  judge.  He  is 
the  type  of  the  republican  judge. 

The  universal  love,  admiration  and  esteem  in  which  he  is  held  by  the 
people  of  the  circuit  where  he  presides,  evince  their  high  appreciation  of 
the  public  and  private  worth  and  excellence  of  his  character,  and  is  per 
haps  the  most  congenial,  as  it  deserves  to  be  the  most  enduring  monu 
ment  of  his  matchless  virtues. 

Notwithstanding  the  constant  pressure  of  judicial  duties,  Judge  Wil 
son  has  not  been  insensible  to  the  patriotic  impulses  of  a  true  son  of 
the  "  Old  Dominion."  He  has  been  the  sterling  advocate  of  a  liberal 
internal  improvement  policy.  He  felt  that  the  vast  commercial,  manu 
facturing  and  productive  resources  of  Virginia  were  to  be  explored  and 
developed,  before  she  could  hope  to  attain  the  pre-eminent  place  that 
nature  seemed  to  have  designed  her  to  occupy ;  and  this  result  could 
be  accomplished  alone  by  the  prosecution  of. an  extensive  and  judicious 
system  of  internal  improvement,  that  would,  in  time,  unlock  her  moun 
tain  fastnesses  and  expose  their  hidden  treasures — afford  the  varied  pro 
ductions  of  her  fertile  soil  quick  and  cheap  access  to  market — and  reach 
out  arms  of  iron  to  embrace  the  trade  and  travel  of  the  populous  cities 
and  growing  states  of  the  rich  and  teeming  valley  of  the  Mississippi. 
Judge  Wilson  became  the  early  friend  of  this  policy,  and  has  continued 
one  of  its  staunchest  and  ablest  advocates.  When  that  link  in  the 
chain  of  the  great  southwestern  improvement — the  Virginia  and  Ten 
nessee  Rail-road — received  its  charter  from  the  legislature  of  the 
state,  in  the  newspapers  and  on  the  hustings  he  exerted  all  the 
energies  of  his  vigorous  mind  and  the  fervor  of  his  eloquence  in  its 
behalf.  His  heart  glowed  with  a  new  life  in  anticipation  of  the  re 
generation  of  the  old  commonwealth.  He  looked  to  this  mighty  im 
provement  as  an  essential  element  in  the  consummation  of  this  result; 
and  he  felt  a  commensurate  interest  in  its  success.  With  the  wise  men 
of  the  state  he  foresaw  that  the  connection  of  the  capes  of  Virginia  with 
the  California  seaboard,  by  a  continuous  railway,  penetrating  the  heart 
of  the  richest  mineral  and  agricultural  regions  of  the  state,  and  drain 
ing  the  broad  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  would  speedily  secure  to  Vir 
ginia  an  increase  of  population,  energy,  wealth  and  prosperity  of  which 
even  an  approximate  estimation  would  startle  and  astound  the  mind. 
The  cycle  of  a  few  years  will  prove  that  his  labors  in  this  behalf  have 
not  been  the  least  valuable  of  the  services  he  has  rendered  to  his  native 
state,  the  memory  of  which  will  endear  his  name  to  her  people,  and  ex 
cite  their  profound  and  lasting  gratitude. 


480  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

HON.  BRADLEY  B.  MEEKER 

OF  MINNESOTA. 

HON.  BRADLEY  B.  MEEKER,  the  subject  of  this  brief  notice,  is  a  native 
of  Fail-field,  State  of  Connecticut,  where  he  was  born  on  the  13th  of 
March,  1813.  On  his  paternal  side  he  is  descended  from  an  ancient 
family,  whose  lineal  ancestor,  Robert  Meeker,  settled  in  the  town  of 
Fairfield  as  early  as  1650.  His  mother  was  the  daughter  of  Peter 
Nichols,  who  married  Hannah  Burr,  the  daughter  of  Increase  Burr,  a 
near  relation  of  the  Rev.  Aaron  Burr,  one  of  the  early  Presidents  of 
Princeton  College,  New- Jersey.  His  parents,  who  still  survive  and 
reside  in  his  native  town,  enjoy  the  happiness  that  proceeds  from  a  life 
spent  in  laudable  and  successful  efforts  to  raise  a  large  family  to  indus 
try  and  intelligence.  Entering  upon  life  in  humble  circumstances,  and 
embarrassed  at  the  commencement  by  surety  debts  contracted  for  re 
lations,  most  of  their  life  has  been  a  severe  struggle  between  pecuniary- 
dependence  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  attainment  of  a  competency  on 
the  other.  Their  sons,  therefore,  were  all  educated  to  labor,  and  from 
twelve  years  and  upwards,  were  compelled  to  exchange  the  school- 
house  for  the  farm,  and  books  for  the  plow,  with  the  exception  of  a 
short  interval  during  the  winter.  Bradley,  who  was  the  second  of  seven 
children,  was  not  excepted  from  this  hard  necessity  of  his  brothers; 
and  until  he  was  sixteen  years  of  age,  had  enjoyed  no  other  educational 
advantages  than  such  as  were  to  be  gleaned  from  a  common  district 
school  in  the  neighborhood,  where  only  reading,  writing  and  arith 
metic  were  but  imperfectly  taught.  At  this  period  an  incident  oc 
curred  that  constitutes  an  era  in  the  history  of  his  life.  It  sometimes 
happens  that  the  merest  accident,  as  a  tale,  a  dream  or  a  romance,  turns 
the  course  of  one's  days,  and  colors  or  controls  his  entire  subsequent 
career.  It  was  about  this  time  that  he  obtained  the  use  of  Rollin's 
Ancient  History  and  Pope's  Iliad ;  both  of  which  he  read  with  avidity 
and  profit.  The  latter  was  his  companion  at  home  and  in  the  field, 
and,  no  doubt,  principally  contributed  to  kindle  a  love  for  literature, 
and  to  inspire  him  with  an  honorable  emulation  in  the  pursuit  of  knowl 
edge.  His  taste  for  and  attachment  to  books  had  now  become  mani 
fest,  and  his  father  for  the  first  time  began  to  entertain  the  purpose  of 
sending  him  to  a  grammar-school;  but  his  large  family  and  limited 
means,  on  the  other  hand,  discouraged  the  idea.  This  obstacle,  how 
ever,  was  overcome  by  the  timely  and  friendly  interposition  of  the  ven 
erable  Deacon  Joseph  Hyde,  of  Greensfarms,  who  resided  near  the 
academy,  and  who  received  him  into  his  family,  where  he  was  boarded 
during  the  winter  for  his  services  between  school  hours.  Here  he  com 
menced  the  study  of  the  English  and  Latin  grammars,  which  he  prose 
cuted  during  the  winter  months,  under  the  direction  of  Nathaniel 
Adams,  Esq.,  but  which  he  was  compelled  to  abandon  as  the  spring 
approached,  and  return  again  to  the  farm.  During  the  spring  and  sum 
mer  days,  he  toiled  incessantly  in  the  field ;  but  the  nights  were  all  his 


BRADLEY  B.  MEEKER,  OF  MINNESOTA.  481 

own,  and  these  were  consumed  in  preserving  unaided  what  he  had  ac 
quired  the  winter  previous,  and  adding  somewhat  to  the  original  stock 
of  knowledge.  It  was  during  this  summer,  too,  that  he  acquired  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  geography,  having  used  for  this  purpose  Morse's 
large  edition,  and  atlas.  In  the  mean  time,  his  progress  and  devotion 
to  books  had  attracted  a  wider  circle  of  friends,  among  which  number 
he  had  the  honor  of  including  Gov.  Tomlinson  of  Connecticut,  then  one 
of  the  trustees  of  the  Weston  Academy,  taught  by  the  Rev.  Nathaniel 
Freeman,  an  eminent  Greek  and  Latin  scholar.  Here,  by  the  pa 
tronage  of  the  former  gentleman,  he  was  placed  at  school,  and  com 
menced  the  study  of  the  ancient  classics,  which  he  prosecuted  the  win 
ter  and  summer  following,  and  afterwards  continued  at  Wilton,  Ct., 
under  the  auspices  of  Hawley  Olmstead,  Esq.,  a  distinguished  and  ac 
complished  teacher,  until  he  was  admitted,  considerably  advanced,  to 
Yale  College,  in  1834. 

On  leaving  this  institution,  his  thoughts  were  turned  westward,  and 
by  the  advice  of  friends,  was  induced  to  settle  in  Richmond,  Madi 
son  county,  Kentucky.  Here  he  commenced  the  study  of  the  law, 
teaching  at  the  same  time,  with  signal  success,  the  County  Seminary, 
for  upwards  of  a  year.  In  the  year  1838  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar, 
and  commenced  the  practice  in  Richmond.  The  bar  at  this  place  then 
stood  deservedly  high  throughout  Kentucky,  a  state  distinguished  for 
its  forensic  and  legal  abilities.  Among  the  number  might  be  named 
the  Hon.  John  White,  afterwards  Speaker  of  Congress ;  Hon.  Daniel 
Breck,  soon  after  appointed  a  judge  of  the  Court  of  Appeals  of  that 
state,  and  subsequently  elected  to  Congress ;  Col.  William  Caperton, 
Maj.  S.  Turner,  and  William  Goodloe,  since  a  circuit  judge.  It  is  not 
to  be  presumed  that  a  young  man  in  the  very  vestibule  of  his  profes 
sion,  unaided  by  fortune  and  unbacked  by  friends,  could  enjoy  anything 
like  a  full  tide  of  practice  in  the  midst  of  such  formidable  competitors. 
Up  to  the  fall  of  1844,  therefore,  the  time  when  he  had  resolved  on 
changing  his  residence,  his  share  of  the  business,  though  daily  increas 
ing,  was  inadequate  to  his  expectations,  and  did  not  keep  pace  with  his 
thorough  learning  and  acknowledged  qualifications.  But  if  his  harvest 
in  fees  at  this  place  was  comparatively  small,  he  did  not  neglect  the 
opportunity  afforded  by  this  circumstance  of  turning  his  time  to  the 
greatest  account. 

There  is  no  greater  mistake  than  that  ordinarily  entertained,  that  an 
early  or  rapid  start  in  a  profession  is  any  sure  precursor  of  substantial 
and  abiding  success.  This  remark  is  eminently  true  in  reference  to 
the  law.  The  most  profound  jurists  and  the  most  illustrious  judges 
that  ever  adorned  the  English  or  American  bench,  have  plodded  their 
way  slowly  and  laboriously  to.  their  distinction  and  usefulness  ;  and 
were,  doubtless,  most  fortunate  in  not  having  overmuch  practice  at  a 
period  in  their  professional  lives  when,  if  ever,  they  could  ground  and 
fortify  themselves  well  in  the  knowledge  of  a  science  too  profound  in 
its  principles  and  too  infinite  in  its  details  to  be  compassed  in  any  in 
considerable  portion  of  one's  existence.  This  period  was  spent  by 
Judge  Meeker  in  severe  and  unrelenting  application  to  legal  studies 
and  researches,  well  assured,  meantime,  that  his  laborious  and  inces 
sant  toil  would  be  crowned  with  ultimate  and  certain  success.  In 

31 


482  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

1845,  he  changed  his  residence  from  Richmond  to  Flemingsburg,  Ky. 
Here  his  perseverance  and  energy  of  character  were  fully  rewarded  by 
his  steady  and  increasing  success.  The  regularity  of  his  habits,  (the 
effect  of  previous  rigid  discipline,)  his  care  and  attention  to  business, 
together  with  his  familiar  acquaintance  with  the  principles  and  practice 
of  his  profession,  seemed  to  promise  him  at  no  distant  day  its  highest 
rewards. 

There  is  little  of  incident  in  the  life  of  a  merely  professional  man, 
no  matter  what  be  his  success  in  the  line  of  his  calling.  In  it,  there  is 
no  lure  or  glitter  to  attract  or  excite  the  attention  or  admiration  of 
the  thoughtless  and  giddy  multitude.  Nothing  short  of  that  lesser 
attribute  of  greatness — the  pulling  down  or  up-heaving  of  society  by 
its  enemies — the  bold  and  boisterous  career  of  a  reckless  and  unscrupu 
lous  demagogue,  rather  than  the  more  difficult  task  of  defining,  uphold 
ing,  and  enforcing  those  principles  of  a  community  by  which  its  dearest 
rights  and  interests  are  secured  and  protected,  commends  itself  readily 
to  popular  applause  or  wonder.  Judge  M.  never  actively  engaged  in 
politics  ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  is  averse  in  his  feelings  and  tastes  to  the 
partisan  conflicts  of  the  times.  It  is  true,  his  pen  was  early  engaged  in 
calling  the  attention  of  his  adopted  state  to  the  propriety  and  justice 
of  constitutor al  reform.  His  articles  upon  this  subject  were  quite 
numerous,  and  were  republished  and  read  with  interest  and  profit 
throughout  the  state.  The  interest  thus  awakened  resulted  in  a  call 
of  a  convention,  which  revised  and  remodeled  the  Organic  Law  of 
Kentucky,  making  the  principal  officers  of  the  state,  including  the  ju 
diciary,  directly  elective  by  the  people ;  a  measure  stoutly  opposed  by 
a  strong  minority,  but  which,  in  its  practical  operations,  has  vindicated 
itself,  and  fully  justified  the  confidence  thus  reposed  in  the  only  source 
of  all  legitimate  power  in  this  country. 

Early  in  the  spring  of  1849,  President  Taylor  appointed  him  one 
of  the  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Minnesota,  soon  after  that 
territory  was  organized  by  Congress.  He  immediately  repaired  to 
this  new  field  of  usefulness,  and  entered  upon  the  responsible  du 
ties  inseparable  from  such  a  station  in  a  young  and  rapidly  rising 
territory. 


ALBERT  G.  GRIDLEY,  OF  NEW-YORK.  483 

f 

ALBERT   GALLATIN    GRIDLEY, 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  KIRKLAND  BANK. 

ALBERT  GALLATIN  GRIDLEY,  of  Clinton,  in  the  town  of  Kirkland, 
Oneida  county,  New-York,  was  the  second  son  of  Orrin  Gridley,  for 
many  years  a  resident  of  the  same  village. 

Mr.  Gridley,  the  elder,  commenced  business,  as  a  merchant,  in  Clin 
ton,  about  the  year  1809,  with  no  capital  except  his  own  untiring  in 
dustry,  and  a  character  and  conduct  without  blemish  and  without 
reproach.  In  the  pursuits  of  commerce,  he  diligently  employed  him 
self,  extending  his  business  as  prosperity  smiled  upon  him,  and  in 
creasing  his  fortune  by  those  slow  but  uniform  additions  which  furnish 
the  surest  pledge,  alike  of  individual  wealth  and  national  abundance. 

Thus  he  continued  for  thirty  years,  discharging  all  his  duties  as  a 
citizen  and  a  Christian,  and  acquiring  a  reputation  for  business  capacity 
and  for  sterling  integrity,  which  will  be  long  remembered  in  the  county 
of  his  residence.  He  was  one  of  the  very  few  merchants  who  success 
fully  withstood  all  the  shocks  and  disasters  of  trade  from  1812  to 
1840 ;  and  the  names  of  Bacon,  Gridley,  Case  and  Knox,  in  the  south 
ern  section  of  Oneida,  will  long  be  regarded  as  equivalents  for  success 
in  business  and  integrity  in  character. 

His  wife  was  of  the  Kellogg  family,  a  name  identified  with  the  whole 
history  of  the  place  from  its  earliest  settlement,  and,  indeed,  the  history 
of  Clinton,  of  the  town  of  Kirkland,  and  of  Hamilton  College,  located 
in  its  midst,  is  every  year  associated  with  the  names  of  Kellogg  and  of 
Gridley. 

Albert  G.  Gridley,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born  at  Clinton 
on  the  fifth  day  of  August,  1813,  and  his  early  life  was  passed  in  his 
native  place.  Destined,  by  his  father's  wishes  and  his  own  inclination, 
for  a  merchant's  life,  he  received  a  thoroughly  practical  and  scientific 
education ;  and,  at  the  age  of  seventeen  years,  he  entered  as  a  clerk 
his  father's  store. 

Arriving  at  his  majority,  he  became  a  partner  of  his  father,  and  so 
remained  until  the  fall  of  1837,  when  the  father  retired  from  the 
store,  and  the  son  took  the  whole  business,  and  for  seven  years  prose 
cuted  it  with  diligence  and  success. 

In  October,  1839,  Mr.  Gridley  married  Miss  Sophia  D.  Hickcox,  a 
lady  of  fine  mind  and  rare  accomplishments,  and  a  daughter  of  Benja 
min  Hickcox,  Esq.,  long  a  resident  of  Clinton  and  one  of  its  most 
worthy  citizens. 

During  the  latter  part  of  the  period  of  his  continuance  in  trade  he 
associated  with  him  as  a  partner  his  younger  brother,  Frederick  Grid- 
ley,  (now  a  successful  broker  in  Buffalo,)  and  in  the  spring  of  1 844  he 
sold  out  to  him  his  whole  interest  in  the  business,  and  after  a  few 
months'  delay  he  removed  to  Buffalo.  There  he  engaged  extensively 
in  the  ship-chandlery  and  commission  business,  and  prosecuted  it  with 
great  energy  and  success  until  the  spring  of  1847. 


484  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

During  his  residence  in  Buffalo  he  became  well  known  as  an  enter 
prising  merchant,  a  useful  citizen,  and  an  accomplished  gentleman. 

His  father,  after  retiring  from  trade,  invested  a  portion  of  his  capital 
in  banking,  and  established  in  Clinton  a  private  institution,  well  known 
as  the  "  Kirkland  Bank."  In  this  new  department  of  business  he 
proved  himself  fully  adequate  to  its  peculiar  duties,  and  conducted  it  to 
his  own  profit,  and  the  great  satisfaction  of  the  community,  until  his 
death,  which  occurred  in  1847. 

Before  his  death  he  had  invited  his  son  to  return  to  Clinton,  and  en 
gage  in  banking  ;  and  after  very  short  deliberation  Mr.  Gridley  closed 
his  business  at  Buffalo  and  resumed  his  residence  at  his  native  place. 
Within  a  few  days  after  his  arrival  there,  the  sudden  decease  of  his 
father  threw  upon  him  a  large  amount  of  labor  and  care  :  he  engaged 
in  the  settlement  of  the  estate  of  his  father ;  the  bank  forthwith  re 
quired  a  head  ;  he  became  its  president  and  chief  financial  officer,  and 
soon  its  owner. 

Since  that  time  Mr.  Gridley  has  resided  in  Clinton ;  and  as  the 
centre  of  his  family  circle,  a  citizen  and  a  man  of  business,  he  has  made 
good  his  title  to  the  honored  name  which  he  inherited  from  his  ances 
tors.  Possessed  of  ample  wealth  for  a  country  gentleman,  he  has 
never  lavished  it  in  useless  extravagance  or  vain  display ;  and  on  the 
other  hand,  endowed  with  a  cultivated  taste,  his  income  has  always 
been  expended  for  such  refyied  enjoyments,  such  social  comforts  and 
such  deeds  of  goodness  as  are  befitting  his  means  and  his  position. 

The  prominent  peculiarity  of  Mr.  Gridley's  character  and  habits  is 
this,  that  while  no  man  is  more  devoted  to  business,  none  more  punctual 
in  the  performance  of  all  its  duties,  or  more  thorough  in  the  enforce 
ment  of  all  its  claims,  yet,  when  the  hours  of  business  are  passed,  he 
devotes  his  leisure  to  the  pursuits  of  literature  and  to  social  and 
domestic  pleasures. 

He  has  none  of  that  all-absorbing  passion  for  money  which  is  quite 
too  prevalent,  which  drives  sleep  from  the  eyes,  and  bows  the  body 
with  premature  decay,  which  hardens  the  whole  soul,  and  causes  its 
restless  subject  to  turn  coldly  away  from  every  object  which  does  not 
respond  to  his  cry  for  "  more." 

His  example  is  worthy  of  imitation.  And  in  this  "  age  of  gold," 
there  is  a  high  duty  imposed  upon  men  of  taste  and  wealth  so  to  hus 
band  and  increase  the  one  as  not  to  blunt  and  destroy  the  other. 
Too  often  is  property  without  its  pleasures,  and  labor  without  its  re 
wards  ;  and  for  one  sufficient  reason,  that  both  are  vainly  devoted  to 
reckless  waste  or  unsatisfying  accumulation. 

Firmness  also  is  a  prominent  trait  in  Mr.  Gridley's  character.  Clear 
in  his  perception  of  what  is  right  in  opinion  and  conduct,  he  never 
hesitates  to  take  his  position  by  word  and  deed  ;  cheerfully  conceding 
to  others  the  full  enjoyment  of  their  own  rights,  he  is  equally  decided 
in  the  assertion  of  his  own.  His  course  of  conduct  once  adopted,  he  is 
not  easily  turned  from  its  pursuit,  and  whether  it  be  business  or  amuse 
ment,  he  follows  it  with  a  resolution  that  never  falters,  and  a  perseve 
rance  that  rarely  fails. 

Mr.  Gridley  is  now  thirty-nine  years  of  age,  and  as  yet  only  enter 
ing  upon  his  business  life ;  and  his  origin,  the  early  training  which  he 


ALLEN  HAMILTON",  OF  INDIANA.  485 

received  behind  his  father's  counter,  and  his  own  personal  history  fur 
nishes  the  surest  guarantee  of  his  future  success.  Whether  he  remains  in 
his  quiet  country  home,  or  removes  to  a  larger  sphere  of  business  and 
of  influence,  his  friends  have  an  assurance  that  adversity  will  be 
borne  without  despondency  and  prosperity  enjoyed  without  unseemly 
triumph. 


ALLEN  HAMILTON,  ESQ., 

PRESIDENT    OP   THE   FORT   WAYNE    BRANCH    OF   THE    STATE   BANK   OF 

INDIANA. 

IT  is  a  crowning  glory  of  the  United  States  that  the  paths  to  wealth, 
and  to  political  and  social  distinction,  are  here  open  to  all — to  the 
adopted  as  well  as  the  native-born  citizen  ;  and  there  are  few  whose 
histories  better  illustrate  what  can  be  accomplished  by  energy  and 
integrity,  under  republican  institutions,  than  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 

MR.  HAMILTON  is  a  foreigner  by  birth.  He  was  born  in  the  year 
1798,  in  the  county  of  Tyrone,  in  the  north  of  Ireland.  His  ancestors 
emigrated  from  Scotland  at  an  early  period,  and  their  descendant, 
whose  biography  we  shall  briefly  sketch,  seems  to  unite  in  his  disposi 
tion  and  character  some  of  the  most  striking  qualities  of  both  nations  : 
the  warm-heartedness  and  impulsiveness  of  the  Irish,  with,  the  energy, 
perseverance  and  frugality  of  the  Scotch.  His  father,  Andrew  Hamil 
ton,  was  a  younger  son,  a  lawyer  by  profession,  and  maintained,  for 
many  years,  a  respectable  standing  as  an  Irish  attorney.  He  held,  for 
some  time,  the  honorable  and  lucrative  position  of  deputy  clerk  for  the 
crown.  Having,  however,  lived  fully  up  to  his  income,  and  resigned 
his  clerkship,  and  soon  after  his  resignation,  having  been  attacked  by  a 
severe  sickness,  which  prostrated  not  only  his  physical,  but,  to  some 
degree,  his  intellectual  energies,  his  affairs  fell  into  confusion,  and  he 
became  deeply  and,  as  it  proved,  inextricably  embarrassed. 

About  the  same  time,  his  elder  brother,  to  whom  had  descended  the 
real  estate  of  the  family,  became  involved  in  expensive  and  protracted 
litigation,  which  resulted  in  leaving  him  in  circumstances  scarcely  bet 
ter  than  those  of  his  brother  Andrew. 

As  soon,  therefore,  as  young  Hamilton,  who  was  the  eldest  of  the 
family,  became  old  enough  to  appreciate  his  condition,  he  perceived 
that  he  could  expect  no  aid  from  his  father  or  his  relatives,  and  that  if 
he  made  headway  in  the  world,  it  must  be  by  his  own  efforts.  This 
conviction,  however,  it  seems,  instead  of  disheartening  him,  only  stimu 
lated  him  to  exertion,  and  developed  powers  that  otherwise  might  ne 
ver  have  been  brought  into  action.  It  was  the  habit  of  self-reliance, 
thus  formed  in  his  boyhood,  that  nerved  him  to  leave  his  home  and  his 
friends — cross  the  Atlantic — travel  on  foot  from  Montreal  to  Philadel 
phia,  push  on  to  the  west,  and  fight  his  way  to  wealth  and  respectabili 
ty,  amid  the  hardships  and  dangers  of  a  wilderness  country. 


486  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

Fortunately  for  Mr.  Hamilton,  his  mother,  Elizabeth  Allen,  was  a 
woman  not  only  of  warm  affections  but  of  great  strength  of  character. 
Though  highly  connected,  and  reared  in  opulence,  the  embarrassments 
of  her  husband  neither  embittered  her  disposition  nor  impaired  her 
energies.  It  is  to  her  influence,  her  instructions  and  prayers,  that  Mr. 
Hamilton  mainly  attributes  his  success  in  life,  and  his  escape  from 
those  follies  and  vices  into  which  young  men,  exposed  as  he  has  been, 
are  so  apt  to  fall.  From  her  he  learned  those  lessons  of  moral  recti 
tude  for  which  he  has  been  ever  distinguished.  From  her,  too,  he  in 
herited,  as  far  as  it  was  hereditary,  that  energy  of  purpose  which  has 
enabled  him  to  overcome  difficulties  which,  to  most  young  men,  would 
have  been  insurmountable. 

Finding  that  the  embarrassed  circumstances  of  her  husband  would 
deny  her  son  proper  opportunities  for  an  education  at  home,  and 
determined  to  do  for  him  everything  in  her  power,  she  applied  to 
her  aunt,  Mrs.  Montgomery,  of  Donegal  county,  to  take  him  for  a  sea 
son  into  her  own  family,  and  send  him  to  an  academy  in  the  vicinity 
of  her  house.  The  application  met  with  a  favorable  response,  and 
young  Hamilton,  at  the  age  of  twelve,  was  transferred  to  the  hospitable 
mansion  of  Mrs.  Montgomery,  where  he  remained  for  two  years  at 
tending  school  and  enjoying  the  advantages  of  a  fine  society,  which  the 
position  and  talents  of  his  relative  drew  around  her.  When  he  was 
fourteen,  he  returned  home,  and  found  that  the  embarrassments  of  his  fa 
ther  had  so  much  increased,  during  the  past  two  years,  as  to  make  it  the 
duty  of  his  son  to  do  what  he  could  to  aid  in  the  support  of  the  family. 
He  therefore  reluctantly  gave  up  his  studies,  and  the  hopes  he  had  en 
tertained  of  obtaining  such  an  education  as  would  qualify  him  for  the 
bar,  and  for  the  next  four  years  he  devoted  himself  exclusively  to  the 
service  of  his  father.  When  he  was  eighteen  years  old,  at  one  of  his 
annual  visits  to  Mrs.  Montgomery,  he  was  introduced  to  a  gentleman 
who  had  just  returned  from  a  tour  through  the  United  States,  and  was 
warm  in  his  praises  of  this  new  country  and  its  free  institutions.  From 
this  gentleman  he  obtained  a  copy  of  Jefferson's  Notes,  which  he  read 
with  avidity ;  and  from  this  time  the  United  States  became  to  him  the 
land  of  promise.  During  this  visit,  a  grandson  of  Mrs.  Montgomery, 
a  young  gentleman  of  his  own  age,  now  an  English  barrister,  taunted 
him  with  his  poverty  and  his  gloomy  prospects.  Hamilton  was  proud 
and  sensitive.  Undeserved  as  he  felt  the  reproaches  of  his  companion 
to  be,  they  nevertheless  wounded  him  severely.  He  reflected  more 
seriously  than  he  had  ever  done  before  upon  his  own  prospects  and 
those  of  his  family.  The  country  about  which  he  had  been  hearing  and 
reading,  where  there  were  no  privileged  classes  and  no  bloated  aristo 
cracy,  but  an  open  field  for  the  exercise  of  industry  and  talent,  came 
up  to  his  mind  in  vivid  contrast  with  his  dearly  loved  but  down-trodden 
Ireland,  and  before  he  returned  home  he  determined  to  emigrate  to 
America,  as  soon  as  he  could  raise  money  enough  to  pay  his  expenses. 

Mrs.  Montgomery,  to  whom  he  communicated  his  determination, 
warmly  approved  of  it,  but  insisted  that  he  should  go  to  Canada  in 
stead  of  the  United  States.  This  was  contrary  to  his  wishes,  but  hav 
ing  confidence  in  her  judgment,  and  being  promised  letters  to  friends  of 
hers  in  Quebec,  he  submitted  himself  to  her  direction.  Returning 


ALLEN  HAMILTON",  OF  INDIANA.  487 

home,  he  set  himself  resolutely  to  work  to  make  the  necessary  arrange 
ments  for  his  departure,  and  having,  within  the  next  year,  by  his  own 
exertions  and  the  aid  of  some  friends,  raised  money  enough  to  pay  for 
his  passage,  and  to  support  him  for  a  few  weeks  after  his  arrival  in  the 
New  World,  he  bade  adieu  to  his  relatives  and  friends,  and  to  his  na 
tive  land,  and  sailed  for  Quebec  in  July,  1817. 

Having  arrived  at  his  place  of  destination,  he  delivered  his  letters  of 
introduction  to  a  Mr.  Irwin,  of  the  police  department,  by  whose  kind 
ness  he  became  acquainted  with  some  families  of  distinction,  through 
whose  influence  he  obtained  the  promise  of  employment  as  clerk  in  an 
extensive  shipping  house.  He  was,  however,  doomed  to  severe  disap 
pointment.  Before  he  entered  upon  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  his 
clerkship,  he  was  taken  down  with  ship  fever,  which  had  broken  out  in 
the  ship  in  which  he  had  taken  passage,  before  her  arrival  in  Quebec. 
The  attack  was  a  severe  one,  but  a  stout  heart  and  a  good  constitution 
triumphed  over  the  disease,  and,  after  being  prostrated  for  six  weeks, 
during  which  time  his  little  stock  of  money  was  nearly  exhausted,  he 
was  able  to  leave  his  room,  but  not  to  occupy  the  place  that  had  been 
secured  for  him.  The  terrible  fever,  which  is  so  generally  fatal,  had,  in 
this  instance,  been  foiled  of  its  prey,  but  it  had  so  impaired  the  consti 
tution  of  the  young  emigrant,  that  his  physician  was  of  the  opinion  that 
a  Canadian  winter  would  be  too  severe  for  him,  and  advised  him  to 
leave  Quebec  for  a  milder  climate.  In  accordance  with  this  advice,  he 
proceeded  to  Montreal,  but  had  scarcely  reached  that  city  before  he 
had  a  relapse,  on  his  recovery  from  which  he  found  that  he  had  but  a 
little  more  money  than  enough  to  pay  the  expenses  of  his  sickness. 

In  a  strange  land,  without  friends  and  without  money,  and  with  a 
constitution  severely  shattered  by  disease,  the  prospects  of  the  young 
adventurer  were  gloomy  enough.  Unable  to  work,  without  a  single 
acquaintance  to  whom  he  could  apply  for  advice,  he  determined  to  make 
an  effort  to  reach  the  United  States.  Selecting,  therefore,  from  his 
wardrobe  such  articles  of  his  clothing  (not  excepting  his  only  overcoat)  as 
were  not  absolutely  necessary  for  his  journey,  he  disposed  of  them  for 
such  price  as  he  could  obtain,  and  with  a  small  bundle,  containing  a 
change  of  linen,  and  a  few  dollars  in  his  pocket,  he  started  for  the 
South. 

He  walked  to  St.  John's,  and  passed  over  to  Vermont  in  an  Indian 
canoe.  Continuing  his  journey,  he  proceeded  on  foot,  through  Albany 
and  New- York,  to  Philadelphia,  the  climate  of  which  he  supposed  would 
be  more  favorable  to  him  than  that  of  any  city  further  north. 

This  journey  must  have  been  as  disheartening  to  the  unfortunate 
emigrant  as  can  be  easily  imagined. 

He  had  no  acquaintance  in  the  United  States.  His  constitution, 
which  had  been  excellent  before  he  left  Ireland,  had  given  way  under 
the  attacks  of  fever  at  Quebec  and  Montreal.  His  natural  enthusiasm, 
had  yielded  to  the  stern  realities  of  his  trials  and  his  sufferings ;  yet 
day  after  day,  he  pursued  his  toilsome  journey,  sustained  by  a  firmness 
of  purpose  that  would  not  yield  to  discouragements,  and  by  the  hope 
that  fortune  would  yet  smile  upon  him,  and  open  the  way  for  him  not 
only  to  better  his  own  condition,  but  to  secure  a  home  and  a  compe 
tency  for  his  parents.  Having  reached  Philadelphia,  and  taken  the 


488  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

cheapest  respectable  lodgings  he  could  find,  he  started  out  in  quest  of 
employment.  All  his  efforts  were,  for  a  time,  unavailing.  Penniless 
and  almost  disheartened — refused  employment  as  a  common  porter  on 
account  of  his  delicate  appearance — he  wandered  through  the  streets 
until  his  eye  was  arrested  by  an  advertisement  for  laborers  on  the  door 
of  an  iron  store.  He  immediately  entered  the  store,  and  presented 
himself  before  the  proprietor,  and  asked  for  work.  Fortunately  for 
Hamilton,  the  gentleman  he  addressed  was  a  kind-hearted  Quaker,  who 
was  at  once  interested  in  the  delicate  appearance  and  earnest  but  re 
spectful  manner  of  the  young  Irishman.  He  drew  from  him  his  history, 
and  promised  him  assistance.  Nor  was  the  promise  forgotten.  In  a 
day  or  two  a  clerkship,  with  a  salary  of  one  hundred  dollars  a  year  and 
board,  was  obtained  for  the  young  adventurer,  and  from  that  time  his 
lucky  star  was  in  the  ascendant.  He  remained  with  his  employer,  at 
an  increased  salary  after  the  first  year,  until  the  spring  of  1820,  when 
he  determined  to  visit  a  cousin,  General  James  Dill,  who,  he  under 
stood,  resided  at  Laurenceburgh,  Indiana.  He  arrived  at  Laurence- 
burgh  in  July ;  found  his  cousin,  clerk  of  the  court  for  Dearborn 
county,  and  entered  his  office  with  a  view  of  preparing  himself  for  the 
bar,  agreeing  to  write  six  hours  a  day  for  his  board  and  the  use  of  his 
cousin's  library.  While  at  Lawrenceburgh,  he  was  introduced  to  some 
of  the  first  men  of  the  state,  and  became  intimate  at  the  house  of  Hon. 
Jesse  L.  Holman,  one  of  the  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  after 
wards  Judge  of  the  United  States  Court  for  the  District  of  Indiana;  one 
of  whose  daughters,  Miss  Emeline  J.,  a  young  lady  of  rare  virtue  and 
accomplishments,  he  afterwards  married. 

In  the  year  1823,  Captain  Samuel  C.  Vance,  who  had  been  an  officer 
under  the  gallant  but  unfortunate  General  St.  Clair,  was  appointed  Ke- 
gister  of  the  Land  Office,  at  Fort  Wayne,  in  the  heart  of  an  unbroken 
wilderness. 

At  his  instance  Hamilton  was  induced  to  visit  this  frontier  post. 
The  situation  of  Fort  Wayne,  at  the  junction  of  two  beautiful  rivers, 
the  St.  Mary's  and  St.  Joseph's,  at  the  head  of  the  great  Wabash  val 
ley,  pleased  and  interested  him.  He  perceived  also  its  great  local  ad 
vantages,  and,  shortly  after  his  arrival,  he  determined  to  make  it  his 
place  of  permanent  residence.  As  soon  as  this  resolution  was  formed, 
he  entered  the  office  of  Captain  Vance  as  deputy  register,  and  pursued 
for  some  time  his  legal  studies,  with  a  view  of  being  admitted  to  the 
bar  as  soon  as  the  naturalization  laws  of  the  country  would  permit.  It 
shortly,  however,  became  obvious  to  him  that  the  practice  of  the  law, 
in  so  new  a  country  as  the  one  in  which  he  had  located,  would  not  be 
profitable  enough  to  enable  him  to  carry  into  effect  his  long-cherished 
plan  of  removing  his  parents  to  the  United  States,  and  he  determined 
to  turn  his  attention  to  merchandising,  the  only  business  that  seemed 
to  promise  safety  in  investment,  and  speedy  and  profitable  returns. 
His  good  character  enabled  him  to  purchase  a  small  stock  of  goods  on 
credit,  and  the  year  after  his  arrival  at  Fort  Wayne  he  commenced  a 
small  trade,  chiefly  with  the  Indians.  His  success  altogether  exceeded 
his  expectations,  and  in  the  course  of  a  year  or  two  he  found  himself 
with  capital  and  credit  enough  to  carry  on  an  extensive  and  profitable 
business. 


ALLEN  HAMILTON,  OP  INDIANA.  489 

It  was  the  good  fortune  of  Mr.  Hamilton  to  be  connected,  in  his  mer 
cantile  and  real-estate  operations,  with  Cyrus  Taber,  Esq.,  now  and  for 
many  years  past  a  resident  of  Logansport,  one  of  the  most  enterprising 
and  indefatigable  men  of  the  state.  The  connection  was  formed  soon 
after  Mr.  Hamilton  settled  at  Fort  Wayne,  and  continued  for  many- 
years.  The  firm  of  Hamilton  &  Taber  became  widely  known,  and 
none  in  the  state  has  ever  enjoyed  a  higher  or  more  merited  credit. 

Mr.  Hamilton  was  also  fortunate  in  securing  at  an  early  day  the  con 
fidence  of  John  B.  Richardville,  for  many  years  the  principal  chief  of  the 
Miami  Indians.  This  chief  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  men  which 
his  nation,  prolific  as  it  has  been  of  marked  characters,  ever  produced. 
Clear-headed,  cautious,  prudent,  non-committal,  always  adroitly  obtain 
ing  the  opinions  of  others  before  he  made  known  his  own,  no  advantage 
could  be  obtained  over  him  in  his  negotiations  with  the  government, 
and  no  trader  could  obtain  the  good-will  of  the  nation  contrary  to  his 
wishes.  For  some  time  after  Hamilton  settled  in  Fort  Wayne,  the 
chief  marked  his  course  with  his  usual  caution  and  discrimination,  and, 
being  pleased  with  the  manly  character,  steady  habits,  and  honorable 
bearing  of  the  young  stranger,  he  solicited  his  friendship,  and  gradually 
gave  him  his  confidence.  For  many  years  before  his  death  he  took  no 
important  step  in  relation  to  his  own  affairs  or  those  of  the  nation 
without  consulting  his  friend,  The  friendship  of  the  chief  secured  for 
Hamilton,  to  a  large  degree,  the  confidence  of  the  nation ;  and  while 
this  confidence  resulted  in  solid  advantages  to  him,  it  was  never 
abused.'  After  the  death  of  Richardville,  and  before  the  nation  was  re 
moved  to  their  present  home,  west  of  the  Mississippi,  he  continued  to 
be  the  steadfast  friend  of  the  tribe,  and  exerted  in  their  councils  a  greater 
influence  than  was  probably  ever  possessed  by  any  one  who  was  not  of 
their  blood. 

In  1829,  the  year  after  his  marriage,  Mr.  Hamilton  sent  to  Ireland, 
for  his  next  younger  brother;  and  in  1831,  he  prepared  to  carry  into 
execution  his  long-cherished  determination  of  removing  his  parents  and 
other  brothers  and  sister  to  the  United  States.  Before  this  could  be 
effected,  however,  his  mother  died,  and  he  was  thus  denied  the  happi 
ness  of  welcoming  her  to  the  home  he  had  labored  so  hard  to  secure  for 
her  in  his  adopted  country.  The  rest  of  the  family  accepted  his  invi 
tation,  and  he  had,  soon  after,  the  satisfaction  of  greeting  them  under  his 
own  roof,  and  making  suitable  provision  for  their  comfort  and  happi 
ness  in  their  new  home. 

Nor  is  it  as  a  business  man,  and  in  pecuniary  matters  alone,  that 
Mr.  Hamilton  has  been  successful ; — he  has  received  a  liberal  share  of 
public  honors. 

In  1824,  he  was  appointed  sheriff  to  organize  the  county  of  Allen, 
which  office  he  subsequently  held  two  years,  by  election  of  the 
people.  In  1830,  he  was  elected  county  clerk,  which  office  he  held  for 
seven  years.  In  1834,  he  was  selected  to  be  secretary  of  the  commis 
sioners  appointed  to  negotiate  a  treaty  with  the  Miamies.  In  1838,  the 
same  office  was  again  tendered  to  him  and  accepted. 

In  the  spring  of  1840,  under  the  administration  of  Mr.  Van  Buren, 
the  government  being  desirous  of  extinguishing  the  title  of  the  Miamies 
to  their  lands  in  Indiana,  and  inducing  them  to  remove  to  the  West,  ap 


490  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

pointed  Mr.  Hamilton,  though  a  political  opponent  of  the  administra 
tion  one  of  the  commissioners  to  treat  with  them  upon  these  important 
matters.  A  treaty  was  effected  in  accordance  with  the  wishes  of  the 
government,  by  which  the  Indians  sold  their  remaining  lands  in  Indiana, 
and  agreed  to  remove  to  the  home  that  had  been  secured  to  them  west 
of  the  Mississippi,  within  a  period  of  five  years. 

These  three  last  and  important  treaties  could  not,  it  is  probable,  have 
been  effected  without  the  co-operation  of  Mr.  Hamilton.  Such  was  the 
confidence  reposed  in  him  by  the  chief  and  his  council,  that  no  treaty 
could  have  been  made  contrary  to  his  wishes  and  advice. 

He  advised  the  Indians  to  sell  their  lands  in  Indiana  and  remove,  be 
cause  he  had  been  long  satisfied  that  their  preservation,  as  a  race,  de 
pended  upon  their  being  withdrawn  from  the  corrupting  influences  that 
surrounded  them  where  they  were. 

In  1841,  Mr.  Hamilton  was  appointed,  under  the  administration  of 
Gen.  Harrison,  agent  of  the  Miami es,  which  office  he  held  until  the 
election  of  Mr.  Polk,  when  he  resigned.  During  this  period  he  dis 
bursed  between  $300,000  and  $400,000,  and  discharged  the  responsible 
duties  of  the  agency  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  government  and  the  Indi 
ans.  As  agent,  although  not  clothed  with  any  judicial  power,  it  became 
necessary  for  him  to  decide  upon  the  merits  of  claims  which  were  present 
ed  against  the  tribe  for  payment  on  the  receipt  of  their  regular  annuities. 
His  conduct,  therefore,  was  watched  with  the  utmost  keenness  and 
jealousy,  and  it  is  the  highest  compliment  to  Mr.  Hamilton,  that  during 
his  guardianship  of  the  Miamies,  no  charge  was  ever  brought  against 
him  implicating  his  honor  or  his  integrity.  The  Indians  confided  in  him 
as  a  friend  and  protector,  while  the  traders  were  forced  to  respect  an 
integrity  that  could  not  be  seduced,  even  while  it  stood  in  the  way  of 
their  interests. 

In  1850,  Mr.  Hamilton  was  elected  delegate  for  the  county  of  Allen,  to 
the  convention  for  the  revision  of  the  constitution  of  Indiana.  The  county 
was  largely  democratic,  and  his  competitor  a  democrat  of  large  acquaint 
ance  and  skilful  address.  The  election  of  Mr.  Hamilton,  under  such  cir 
cumstances,  by  a  handsome  majority,  is  evidence  of  the  estimation  in  which 
he  was  held  by  his  fellow-citizens.  In  the  convention,  he  was  appointed 
chairman  of  the  committee  on  currency  and  banking,  being  among  the 
most  interesting  and  exciting  subjects  that  demanded  the  consideration 
and  action  of  that  body.  Being  himself  favorable  to  a  continuance  of 
the  present  state  bank  system,  but,  at  the  same  time,  not  opposed  to  a 
well-regulated  system  of  free  banking,  that  should  give  entire  security 
to  the  bill-holder,  he  necessarily  came  in  conflict  not  only  with  those 
who  were  opposed  to  all  banks,  but  also  with  those  who  were  so  wed 
ded  to  a  particular  theory,  as  to  be  unable  to  see  merit  in  any  other. 

The  result  of  the  deliberations  of  the  convention  upon  these  subjects 
was  the  adoption  of  a  provision  authorizing  the  establishment  of 
free  banks,  in  imitation  of  the  New- York  system,  and  also  of  one 
granting  to  the  legislature  the  power  of  incorporating  a  state  bank  and 
branches.  The  authority  was  therefore  left  to  the  people  to  adopt 
either  system,  or  both,  as  the  wants  and  experience  of  the  future  should 
direct.  The  adoption  of  these  compromise  provisions  was  as  much 
owing  to  the  course  and  influence  of  Mr.  Hamilton  as  that  of  any  other 


ALLEN  HAMILTON,  OF  INDIANA.  491 

member  of  the  convention.  Under  the  new  constitution  a  free  "banking 
law  has  already  been  enacted.  If,  upon  a  fair  trial,  this  system  should 
prove  to  be  defective,  or  should  fail  to  attract  capital  enough  to  afford 
the  necessary  facilities  for  the  large  and  rapidly  increasing  business  of 
the  state,  after  the  expiration  of  the  charter  of  the  present  bank,  the 
legislature  can  adopt  the  state  bank  system,  without  any  change  of  the 
constitution. 

The  wisdom  of  the  convention,  in  the  disposition  it  made  of  this  sub 
ject,  is  generally  acknowledged. 

The  aim  of  Mr.  Hamilton  in  the  convention  was  to  be  useful,  and 
although  he  was  not  classed  among  the  eloquent  men  of  that  body, 
there  were  few  who  brought  to  bear  upon  the  subjects  that  came  up  for 
consideration  clearer  views  or  safer  judgment. 

He  believed  that  the  organic  law  of  a  state,  while  conservative  in  its 
character,  should  throw  no  obstacle  in  the  way  of  progress  in  the  right 
direction.  While  he  opposed  the  radicalism  that  would  entirely  dis 
regard  the  experience  of  the  past,  he  would  not  hesitate  to  adopt  a 
principle  which  appeared  to  his  mind  practicable,  and  in  accordance  with 
the  spirit  of  the  age,  merely  because  it  had  not  received  the  sanction  01 
previous  law-makers.  His  views,  and  those  of  kindred  minds,  pre 
vailed  in  the  convention,  and  the  new  constitution  of  Indiana,  while  it 
violates  no  law  and  fully  protects  the  person  and  property  of  the 
citizen,  presents  no  barrier  to  the  most  searching  and  comprehensive 
reforms. 

Mr.  Hamilton  is  in  the  enjoyment  of  an  ample  fortune.  The  little 
trading  post,  Fort  Wayne,  has  become  one  of  the  most  interesting  and 
important  towns  in  the  state,  and  the  wilderness  which  a  few  years 
since  surrounded  it  has  become  the  home  of  a  large  and  enterprising 
population.  His  mercantile  operations  were  entirely  successful,  and 
his  investments  in  real  estate  have  more  than  realized  his  anticipations. 
His  present  position  is  an  agreeable  contrast  with  his  prospects  when 
he  wandered  through  the  streets  of  Philadelphia,  seeking  employment 
as  a  common  laborer. 

For  some  years  he  has  been  engaged  in  no  regular  business.  He 
holds,  and  has  held  since  its  organization,  when  other  offices  and  engage 
ments  did  not  present,  the  presidency  of  the  Branch  Bank  at  Fort 
Wayne.  The  duties  of  this  position  have  not  occupied  much  of  his 
time,  and  he  has  enjoyed  for  many  years  the  " otium  cum  dignitate" 
which  is  the  legitimate  result  of  honest  enterprise  and  successful  labors. 


492  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

JOHN  ADAMS  KNOWLES, 

t  <•• 

OF  LOWELL,  MASS.,  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  APPLETON  BANK. 

IN  an  age  when  it  is  more  difficult  to  find  readers  for  books  than 
books  for  readers,  the  life  of  one  whose  course  has  been  devoid  of  any 
remarkable  incident  or  striking  peculiarity,  will  present  no  claim  to 
public  attention,  except  as  it  furnishes  an  instance  of  practical  success, 
attending  sagacity,  perseverance,  and  high-minded  and  honorable 
principle.  To  a  young  man,  struggling  amid  the  difficulties  which  so 
often  beset  the  beginning  of  his  career,  a  knowledge  of  such  an  exam 
ple  is  the  best  legacy  which  he  can  receive. 

Mr.  KNOWLES  was  born  in  Pembroke,  in  New-Hampshire,  April  25, 
1800.  He  was  the  youngest  of  thirteen  children  born  to  a  farmer  of 
very  limited  means,  and  all  but  one  lived  to  mature  years.  At  the 
age  of  fifteen  he  left  home,  by  his  father's  permission,  to  seek  his  for 
tune  in  the  world,  amid  the  disadvantages  of  no  means  of  support,  of 
feeble  health,  and  an  imperfect  education. 

A  five  years'  experiment  at  various  mechanical  employments  con 
vinced  him  that  he  had  not  the  physical  stamina  to  enable  him  to  per 
form  the  labor  requisite  in  such  pursuits,  and  turned  his  attention  to 
the  hope  of  earning  a  living  by  some  other  method  than  the  labor  of 
his  hands. 

A  native  thirst  for  knowledge  was  now  gratified  and  strengthened  in 
a  private  school  kept  by  John  O.  Ballard,  Esq.,  in  Hopkinton,  New- 
Hampshire.  His  connection  with  this  teacher  he  remembers  as  one  of 
the  fortunate  circumstances  of  his  life.  Mr.  Ballard  was  a  gentleman 
between  fifty  and  sixty  years  of  age;  and,  besides  being  eminently 
qualified  as  an  experienced  instructor  to  aid  his  pupils  in  acquiring  mere 
book  learning,  he  had  been  engaged  for  several  years  in  commercial 
transactions,  which  gave  him  a  fund  of  practical  information,  and  an  en 
larged  knowledge  of  the  world.  It  may  encourage  other  teachers  in 
like  circumstances  to  know,  that  his  generous  readiness  to  impart  good 
counsel  was  appreciated,  perhaps,  by  more  than  one  young  pupil,  who 
hi  after  years  remembered  and  profited  by  his  advice. 

As  soon  as  Mr.  Knowles  was  competent  to  teach  a  common  country 
school,  he  availed  himself  of  the  slender  assistance  which  that  employ 
ment  yields.  He  continued  teaching  and  studying  until  he  was  twenty- 
four  years  old,  by  which  time  he  had  read  through  the  usual  course  of 
studies  preparatory  for  admission  to  college.  At  that  advanced  age, 
destitute  of  means,  and  still  in  feeble  health,  he  deemed  it  neither  pru 
dent  nor  right  to  incur  the  expense  of  a  liberal  education,  but  entered 
instead  upon  an  itinerant  course  of  teaching,  with  the  double  purpose  of 
strengthening  his  constitution,  and  enlaiging  his  knowledge  of  the 
world. 

In  the  autumn  of  1827  he  came  to  Lowell,  Mass.  This  manufactur 
ing  village  at  that  time  numbered  only  three  thousand  inhabitants,  and 
had  only  the  year  before  been  incorporated  as  a  town.  It  was  fortunate 
for  Mr.  Knowles  that  he  came  at  that  time  to  this  fresh  and  vigorous 


JOHN  ADAMS  KNOWLES,  OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  493 

community,  and  here  fixed  himself  to  grow  up  with  its  growth,  and 
share  its  prosperity. 

Soon  relinquishing  an  evening  school  in  which  he  had  been  engaged, 
he  entered  his  name  as  a  student-at-law  in  the  office  of  Elisha  Glidden, 
Esq.,  December  10,  1827.  Here  he  performed  the  duties  of  a  clerk, 
and  read  the  usual  elementary  books,  until  1830,  when  he  went  to 
Dedham,  Mass.,  to  attend  the  lectures  of  the  Hon.  Theron  Metcalf, 
now  one  of  the  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Massachusetts.  Mr. 
Metcalf 's  lectures  on  law  were  held  in  high  repute,  and  here  Mr. 
Knowles  acquired  a  more  thorough  knowledge  of  the  theory  of  his  pro 
fession,  as  the  business  in  the  office  of  a  good  lawyer  had  before  given 
him  instruction  in  its  practical  details. 

In  1832  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  He  immediately  opened  an 
office  in  Lowell ;  and  from  that  time  until  1847,  when  he  retired  from 
the  active  business  of  the  profession,  he  never  knew  the  want  of  clients. 

In  1833  he  was  married  to  a  daughter  of  William  Appleton,  late  of 
Portsmouth,  N.  H.  In  1835  he  was  chosen  a  representative  of  the 
town  of  Lowell  in  the  Massachusetts  Legislature,  and  in  1844, 1845,  he 
represented  the  city  of  Lowell  in  the  same  body.  In  1847  he  was  a 
senator  from  Middlesex  county  in  the  Massachusetts  Senate,  but  de 
clined  a  nomination  in  1848,  as  he  had  been  chosen  treasurer  of  the 
Lowell  and  Lawrence  Rail-road,  and  president  of  the  Appleton  Bank,  in 
Lowell,  which  two  offices  he  still  holds. 

The  bare  names  of  these  places  of  honor  and  trust  will  indicate,  even 
to  the  stranger,  traits  of  character,  marked  by  intelligence,  probity,  con 
fidence,  which  have  entitled  him  to  public  respect,  as  they  will  intimate 
also  a  position  of  ease  and  independence  in  regard  to  worldly  wealth ;  while 
the  contrast  between  the  last  seventeen  years  of  success  and  the  previous 
seventeen  years  of  struggle,  suggests  the  important  inquiry,  by  what 
means  this  success  was  wrought  out  ? 

Of  course,  we  cannot  speak  of  the  living  as  we  do  of  the  dead  ;  yet 
we  should  hardly  be  excused  if  in  this  connection  we  did  not  refer  to 
an  honesty  and  integrity  never  sullied  by  the  breath  of  suspicion — to  a 
sagacious  attention  to  business,  which,  even  amid  the  constant  draw 
back  of  ill  health,  has  been  most  exemplary,  and  to  an  urbanity  and 
amenity  which  have  always  smoothed  even  the  most  perplexing  trans 
actions.  As  a  proof  of  this  it  may  be  named,  that  in  the  hundreds  of  real- 
estate  transactions  in  which  he  has  been  engaged,  in  looking  after  his 
own  property  or  managing  that  of  others,  he  never  had  a  lawsuit  grow 
out  of  any  one  of  them,  or  even  a  serious  difficulty ;  while,  in  his  pro 
fession,  so  little  litigious  has  been  his  temper,  that  his  rule  seems  always 
to  have  been  to  keep  his  clients  away  from  a  lawsuit,  if  that  were  possi 
ble  ;  or,  if  not,  to  get  them  out  of  it  as  soon  as  he  could. 

It  is  to  the  high  praise  of  the  legal  profession  that  it  has  furnished  so 
many  men  who  have  felt  that  they  owed  a  duty  to  the  public  in  the  ad 
vocacy  of  those  causes  which  tend  to  promote  good  order  and  good 
morals.  The  subject  of  this  brief  sketch  has  not  been  behind  his  bre 
thren  in  the  discharge  of  this  duty.  His  aid  has  been  ready  in  the  pro 
motion  of  any  public  good.  In  the  cause  of  temperance,  especially,  he 
has  labored  with  zeal  and  perseverance.  His  interest  in  the  religious 
education  of  the  young  he  has  proved  by  sustaining,  for  years,  the  office 


SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 


of  superintendent  of  a  Sunday-school ;  and  when  we  speak  of  him  as  a 
professing  Christian,  and  an  officer  in  a  Christian  church,  it  will  be  un 
derstood  that  he  himself  has  been  a  pupil  in  a  school  where  we  may 
learn  the  highest  virtues  of  our  humanity. 

There  are  some  goddesses  which  are  most  successfully  wooed  by  in 
direct  approaches  to  them.  Health  is  best  sought  by  thinking  nothing 
about  it.  Happiness  flies  from  the  man  who  is  bent  upon  seeking  it, 
and  comes  of  its  own  accord  to  him  who  is  wisely  pursuing  other  ends. 
And  something  like  this  is  true  of  wealth.  The  man  who  is  determined 
to  be  rich,  and  seeks  no  end  but  gain,  almost  always  overdoes  the  mat- 
ter,  as  a  thousand  greedy  but  penniless  speculators  all  over  the  land 
bear  witness.  Mr.  Knowles  is  an  illustration  of  the  success  a  man  will 
meet  with  who  regulates  his  affairs  by  correct  moral  principles,  and 
trusts  to  these  principles  for  the  result ;  and  if  they  bring  with  them, 
when  followed,  first  of  all,  for  their  own  sake  alone,  a  reward  "  in  the 
life  that  now  is,"  the  consequence  will  not  surprise  those  who  have  faith 
in  a  certain  old  word  of  promise. 

It  would  be  pleasant  to  enter  the  domestic  group,  and  the  little  circle 
of  friends,  where  he  is  greatly  beloved,  and  in  which  his  humor  and  wit 
afford  a  genial  mirth ;  but  we  feel  that  there  we  hardly  have  any  right 
to  enter ;  and  here  we  must  close  our  sketch  of  one  who,  starting  with 
nothing  but  feeble  health,  has,  at  the  early  age  of  fifty-two,  attained  a 
position  of  useful  and  honored  success.  Sic  itur  ad  astra. 


HON.   SAMUEL  HALL, 

OF  INDIANA. 

SAMUEL  HALL,  son  of  John  and  Elizabeth  Hall,  was  born  on  the  1st 
of  June,  1797,  in  Somerset  county,  in  the  State  of  Maryland.  In  the 
year  1805,  his  father  moved  with  his  family  to  the  west,  and  located  in 
Jefferson  county,  Kentucky,  where  he  died  in  the  year  1822. 

His  mother  was  a  Ward,  sister  of  the  late  David  L.  Ward,  one  of 
the  most  enterprising  men  of  the  age,  who  amassed  an  immense  for 
tune  by  his  individual  efforts.  She  still  lives  in  the  enjoyment  of  good 
health,  in  the  ninety-fifth  year  of  her  age. 

At  the  time  the  subject  of  this  memoir  was  a  boy,  there  were  but 
few  schools  in  the  State  of  Kentucky.  The  test  of  qualifications  in  a 
teacher,  in  those  days,  was  his  handwriting.  If  that  was  good,  no  fur 
ther  inquiries  were  made.  If  bad,  no  qualifications,  however  exalted, 
could  secure  him  a  place  as  a  teacher.  All  the  schooling  the  subject  of 
this  memoir  received,  was  in  a  log  cabin  on  "  Flat  rock,"  in  Jefferson 
county,  Kentucky.  He  had,  however,  pious  parents,  who  instilled  into 
him  the  principles  of  virtue,  and  a  strict  regard  for  truth. 

In  the  year  1815,  while  yet  a  boy,  he,  with  the  consent  of  his  parents, 
left  his  home  in  Kentucky,  and  settled  in  Princeton,  Gibson  county, 
Indiana.  Through  the  recommendation  of  friends,  he  obtained  a  situa- 


SAMUEL  HALL,  OF  INDIANA.  495 

tion  as  clerk  in  a  country  store.  His  employer  soon  after  dying,  he 
was  again  out  of  business.  Being  entirely  out  of  funds,  he  contracted 
with  the  late  Gen.  Robert  M.  Evans,  then  clerk  of  the  circuit  court  for 
Gibson  county,  to  write  in  his  office.  By  the  terms  of  the  contract 
young  Hall  was  to  get  his  board,  and  fifty  dollars  per  annum ;  a  little 
over  four  dollars  per  month.  While  thus  engaged  he  employed  all  of 
his  leisure  hours  in  the  study  of  the  law.  By  the  most  unremitting  per 
severance,  he  prepared  himself  for  the  practice  in  seventeen  months. 
Not  seventeen  months  devoted  to  study ;  but  the  spare  hours  in  that 
time  from  his  daily  employment.  His  practice  was,  to  rise  early  in 
the  morning,  and  study  till  breakfast,  write  in  the  office  till  four  o'clock 
p.  M.,  and  then  resume  and  continue  his  study  till  twelve,  and  some 
times  one  o'clock  at  night.  Often  has  he  trimmed  the  midnight  lamp 
while  poring  over  Blackstone,  Coke  upon  Littleton,  Plowden  and 
Bacon.  He  had  no  instructor,  no  guide,  other  than  the  books  he  bor 
rowed.  Though  the  path  before  him  looked  dark  and  gloomy — with 
out  funds — without  education — and  without  patronage,  yet  he  never 
wavered  in  his  purpose.  His  course  was  onward.  He  had  determined, 
if  he  lived,  on  success,  and  success  crowned  his  efforts.  In  1820,  he 
obtained  a  license  and  commenced  the  practice  of  his  profession,  and 
such  was  his  attention  to  business,  that  he  soon  obtained  a  large  and 
lucrative  practice.  Though  he  was  not  an  eloquent  speaker,  yet  his 
earnest  manner  always  commanded  respect,  and  engaged  the  attention 
from  both  court  and  juries.  He  made  it  a  point  to  study  and  investi 
gate  in  extenso  every  litigated  case  in  which  he  was  employed.  He 
never  trusted  to  chance  what  he  could  reach  by  vigilance  and  study. 
He  was  always  ready,  when  his  cases  were  called,  to  take  them  up  and 
dispose  of  them.  In  the  course  of  time,  he  acquired  the  enviable  repu 
tation  of  being  an  honest  and  successful  lawyer.  Early  in  his  profes 
sional  career,  he  adopted  a  rule  from  which  he  never  departed — and 
that  was,  to  make  an  effort  to  bring  about  a  compromise,  without  suit. 
Many  persons,  now  residing  in  Southwestern  Indiana,  are  living  wit 
nesses  to  his  success  in  restoring  a  friendly  relation  between  disputants, 
who,  if  they  had  not  been  checked  in  time,  would  have  embarked  in 
lawsuits,  that  might  have  taken  years  to  settle,  and  probably  at  the 
ruin  of  the  parties. 

In  the  year  1823,  he  was  admitted  as  an  attorney  and  counselor  of 
law,  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  Indiana,  and  in  the  district  court  of  the 
United  States.  He  continued  the  practice  of  his  profession,  without  in 
terruption,  until  the  year  1829,  when  he  yielded  to  the  solicitations  of 
his  friends,  and  became  a  candidate  for  the  legislature.  He  was  elected 
over  his  opponent  by  a  large  majority.  He  was  re-elected  in  the  year 
following  to  the  same  office,  and  was  appointed  chairman  of  the  judi 
ciary  committee.  In  that  capacity  he  introduced  many  reforms  in  the 
practice  of  the  law. 

In  1832,  he  was  elected,  by  the  General  Assembly,  president  judge 
of  the  fourth  judicial  circuit  of  the  State  of  Indiana.  He  held  this  office 
for  about  two  years,  when,  to  the  regret  of  the  bar  and  community,  he 
resigned  it. 

It  is  a  part  of  the  history  of  the  times,  that  in  the  year  1836,  the 
western  country  ran  wild  on  the  subject  of  internal  improvements. 


496  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

The  State  of  Indiana  embarked  in  schemes  which  would  have  cost,  when 
finished,  thirty  millions  of  dollars.  A  Board  of  Public  Works,  con 
sisting  of  nine  members,  was  created  by  the  General  Assembly.  This 
Board  had  extraordinary  powers.  The  subject  of  this  memoir  was  cho 
sen  as  a  member.  He  entered  upon  the  discharge  of  the  duties  as 
signed  him  in  the  spring  of  1837.  From  the  very  onset,  he  attempted 
to  check  extravagant  appropriations  of  money.  He  made  efforts  to 
confine  the  expenditures  within  the  means  under  the  immediate  con 
trol  of  the  Board.  He  warned  the  friends  of  the  system  of  the  ruinous 
consequences  of  entering  into  engagements  beyond  their  present  means 
to  meet;  that  such 'a  course  would,  in  the  end,  break  down  the  system, 
and  b'ankrupt  the  state.  But  his  warning  voice  was  disregarded.  A 
mania  for  a  grand  system  seemed  to  have  blinded  the  great  mass  of 
the  community.  Finding  his  views  opposed,  at  the  end  of  seven 
months  he  resigned  the  office  as  a  member  of  the  Board.  At  a  subse 
quent  period,  after  the  system  had  exploded,  the  legislature  appointed 
a  committee  to  investigate  the  subject,  and  the  conduct  of  the  members 
of  the  Board  to  whose  management  the  system  had  been  confided. 
That  committee  was  composed  of  three  whigs  and  two  democrats. 
They  spent  months  in  the  investigation  of  the  matter.  They  at  last 
made  a  report  to  the  General  Assembly.  Some  members  of  the  Board 
they  censured.  Against  others  they  recommended  suit  to  be  brought, 
in  the  name  of  the  state.  As  respects  the  subject  of  this  memoir,  the 
following  is  extracted  from  the  journals  of  the  senate: 
"MR.  SAMUEL  HALL. 

"  This  gentleman  served  as  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Internal  Im 
provement,  and  acting  commissioner  on  the  Central  Canal,  for  eight  or 
nine  months.  During  this  time,  he  was  engaged  in  active  service,  at 
tending  to  all  the  arduous  duties  imposed  on  members  of  the  Board  of 
Internal  Improvement  at  that  period.  The  act  of  1836  allowed  to 
members  of  the  Board  a  compensation  of  $2  per  day  and  reasonable 
expenses.  By  a  somewhat  liberal  construction  of  the  act,  and  in  the 
opinion  of  the  committee  an  unjustifiable  one,  the  Board  construed  this 
act  to  allow  them  $2  per  day  for  the  entire  year,  as  appears  from  the 
testimony  of  Mr.  Yandes,  Gen.  Long  and  others ;  the  entire  pay  would 
amount,  at  this  rate,  to  $730. 

"  Not  being  able  to  keep  small  accounts  of  expenditures  with  conve 
nience,  by  an  equally  liberal  construction  of  the  act,  the  Board  fixed  the 
rate  of  their  daily  expenditure  at  $1  50  per  day  for  the  entire  year, 
making  total  allowance  for  expenses  tlie  sum  of  $547  50.  By  this  ar 
rangement,  the  annual  salary  of  each  member  of  the  Board  was  raised 
to  the  sum  of  $1,277  50.  It  is  but  just  to  remark,  that  one  member 
of  the  Board  justifies  his  allowance  by  the  usage  established  by  mem 
bers  of  the  legislature  under  a  similar  act,  in  taking  their  per  diem  for 
holidays  and  Sundays  during  the  session.  So  far  as  the  holidays  are 
concerned,  your  committee  think  that  the  case  is  fully  in  point,  and  that 
those  members  who  vote  for  adjournment  at  Christmas  and  Newyear's 
day,  should  by  no  means  charge  the  per  diem  for  that  time.  We  are 
admonished  by  this  instance,  by  which  one  abuse  is  justified  by  another, 
to  set  better  examples  in  the  future.  Mr.  Hall,  in  this  matter,  stands 
on  high  ground :  he  performed  duties  equal,  or  nearly  so,  to  those  of 


SAMUEL  HALL,  OF  INDIANA.  497 

any  other  member  of  the  Board  of  Internal  Improvement,  and  received 
his  per  diem  for  the  time  actually  engaged  in  the  public  service,  charg 
ing  no  more  than  actual  expenses,  making  a  total  for  eight  months' 
service,  of  a  little  less  than  $95.  We  find  no  charge  against  him 
whatever." 

In  the  year  1840  Judge  Hall  was  elected  Lieutenant  Governor  of  the 
State  of  Indiana  for  the  term  of  three  years.  Being  ex-officio  presi 
dent  of  the  senate,  he  discharged  the  duties  as  presiding  officer  ot 
that  body  for  two  sessions  only.  At  the  close  of  the  first  session, 
the  senate,  in  token  of  respect,  unanimously  adopted  the  following 
resolution : 

"  On  motion  of  Mr.  Chamberlain,  it  was 

"  Resolved,  That  as  an  expression  of  the  regard  we  entertain  for  Lieu 
tenant  Governor  Hall,  president  of  the  senate,  we  extend  to  him  our 
thanks  for  the  dignified,  impartial  and  highly  satisfactory  manner  in 
which  he  has  presided  over  our  deliberations." 

At  the  close  of  the  second  session,  the  senate  unanimously  adopted 
the  following  resolution: 

"  On  motion  of  Mr.  Davis, 

"  The  orders  of  business  were  suspended  and  leave  granted  him  to 
introduce  the  following  resolution : 

"Resolved.  By  the  senate  unanimously,  that  the  Hon.  Samuel  Hall, 
president  thereof,  is  entitled  to  our  thanks  for  the  impartiality,  dignity 
and  ability  which  has  characterized  his  presidency,  during  the  present 
session  of  the  General  Assembly ; 

"  Which  was  adopted." 

The  reason  why  Judge  Hall  did  not  take  his  seat  as  president  of  the 
senate  the  third  session  to  which  he  was  elected,  may  be  inferred  from 
the  following  proceedings,  which  are  taken  from  the  journals  of  the 
senate : 

"On  motion  of  Mr.  Collins, 

"  The  orders  of  business  were  suspended,  and  leave  granted  him  to 
offer  the  following,  which  were  unanimously  adopted : 

"  Whereas,  In  the  dispensation  of  an  inscrutable  Providence,  it  has 
pleased  the  Giver  of  all  Good  to  visit  the  Hon.  Samuel  Hall,  Lieuten 
ant  Governor  of  this  state,  with  a  severe  domestic  bereavement,  by 
taking  from  him  and  his  family  his  excellent  consort,  whose  exemplary 
life  and  many  virtues  have  endeared  her  to  a  numerous  acquaintance, 
and  shed  lustre  within  her  sphere,  and  given  happiness  to  all  around 
her:  Therefore, 

"  Be  it  unanimously  resolved  by  the  senate,  That  the  melancholy  afflic 
tion  of  the  Hon.  Samuel  Hall,  in  the  loss  of  his  wife,  is  deeply  felt  by 
the  senate. 

"Resolved,  unanimously,  That  the  sympathy  of  the  senate  be  ten 
dered  him,  and  that  the  senate's  sincere  condolence  is  hereby  assured 
him  in  the  deeply  afflicting  dispensation  it  has  pleased  Providence'  to 
visit  upon  him. 

"  Resolved,  unanimously,.  That  the  Secretary  of  the  Senate  be  direct 
ed  to  communicate  a  copy  of  the  foregoing  preamble  and  resolutions  to 
the  Hon.  Samuel  Hall."  ' 

Judge  Hall  was  called  upon  to  preside  over  the  deliberations  of  the 

32 


498  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

Senate  of  Indiana  at  a  time  when  party  spirit  raged  at  its  highest.  It 
required  stern  integrity  and  a  firm  resolution  to  prevent  a  bias  in  favor 
of  party  predilections.  But  he  had.  presided  but  a  short  time  when  his 
political  friends  ascertained  that  nothing  was  to  be  expected  from  him 
but  a  strict  and  impartial  discharge  of  his  duty. 

Having  accumulated  a  large  estate  by  his  assiduity  to  business, 
Judge  Hall  gave  up  the  practice  of  the  law,  as  a  business,  about 
the 'year  1840;  and  has  not  since  given  much  attention  to  the  legal 
profession. 

In  the  year  1849  it  was  decided  by  the  people  of  Indiana  to  call 
a  convention  to  remodel  their  constitution.  In  the  year  following,  an 
election  took  place  throughout  the  state  for  the  election  of  delegates  to 
the  convention. 

It  may  be  proper  here  to  premise,  that  Judge  Hall  has  always  been 
a  consistent  whig.  He  was  appointed  one  of  the  Vice-Presidents  of  the 
great  Whig  Convention  which  assembled  at  Nashville  in  the  year  1840. 
In  the  year  1844  he  was  appointed  a  Delegate  to  the  Baltimore  Con 
vention,  and  after  reaching  that  place  was  chosen  one  of  the  Vice-Presi 
dents  ;  which  latter  convention  nominated  Henry  Clay  for  President  of 
the  United  States.  With  a  knowledge  of  these  facts,  the  democrats,  as 
well  as  the  whigs  of  Gibson  county,  with  great  unanimity,  united  in 
placing  in  nomination,  and  afterwards  electing  him  a  Delegate  to  the 
State  Convention  to  amend  the  constitution. 

That  convention  assembled  on  the  first  Monday  of  October,  1850.  It 
was  democratic,  nearly  two  to  one.  Judge  Hall  was  placed  as  chair 
man  of  one  of  the  most  important  committees — "  On  State  Debt  and 
Public  Works." 

Identified  with  the  prosperity  of  his  adopted  state,  he  felt  a  deep  in 
terest  in  looking  forward  to  that  period  of  time  when  Indiana  shall  be 
out  of  debt.  He  made  a  labored  calculation,  based  upon  the  future 
resources  of  the  state,  by  which  he  proved  with  great  clearness,  that  in 
sixteen  years,  the  last  dollar  of  her  indebtedness  will  be  paid  off.  In 
order  to  prevent  a  diversion  of  the  revenues  of  the  state  he  drew 
up  and  reported  the  section  which  provides  that  "  all  the  revenues  de 
rived  from  the  sale  of  any  of  the  public  works  belonging  to  the  state,  and 
from  the  net  annual  income  thereof,  and  any  surplus  that  may,  at  any 
time,  remain  in  the  treasury,  derived  from  taxation  for  general  state 
purposes,  after  the  payment  of  the  ordinary  expenses  of  the  govern 
ment,  and  of  the  interest  on  bonds  of  the  state,  other  than  bank  bonds ; 
shall  be  annually  applied,  under  the  direction  of  the  General  Assembly, 
to  the  payment  of  the  principal  of  the  public  debt." 

He  also  reported  another  section,  which  prevents  any  new  debt  be 
ing  contracted  on  the  part  of  the  state,  except  to  meet  casual  deficits  in 
the  revenue.  Both  of  these  sections  were  incorporated  in  the  new  con 
stitution.  Thus,  when  Indiana  wipes  out  her  present  indebtedness, 
(which  will  be  done  in  a  few  years,)  she  cannot  again  involve  herself 
by  embarking  into  new  schemes  of  public  works. 

Judge  Hall  has,  for  many  years,  contended  that  it  was  wrong  in  the 
fundamental  laws  of  a  country  to  allow  any  person  to  become  answer 
able,  as  security,  for  the  debt  of  another.  He  says,  the  contracting  par 
ties  being  alone  interested  in  the  PROFITS  growing  out  of  the  contract, 


GEORGE  H.  GORDON,  OF  MISSISSIPPI.  499 

the  one  in  selling,  the  other  in  purchasing,  they  alone  should  run  the 
risk  of  A  LOSS.  He  brought  the  subject  before  the  legislature  of  Indiana, 
in  the  year  1831,  but  the  doctrine  being  new,  did  not  meet  with  much 
favor.  He  brought  the  subject  before  the  convention  in  1850.  As 
chairman  of  the  committee  to  whom  the  subject  was  referred,  he 
reported  the  section  here  appended.  It  was  sustained  by  a  respectable 
minority  in  the  convention,  but  was  voted  down  by  the  majority.  He 
thinks  the  time  will  arrive  when  it  will  be  adopted  as  the  law  of 
the  land. 

The  section  above  referred  to  read  as  follows: 

"No  man  shall  be  held  to  answer  for  the  debt,  default  or  miscarriage 
of  any  other  person  upon  any  contract  entered  into  from  and  after  the 
year  1860,  except  in  cases  where  executors,  administrators,  guardians, 
trustees,  and  public  officers,  are  required  to  give  bond  and  security,  and 
where  security  is  given  to  persons  acting  in  a  fiduciary  capacity." 


HON.   GEORGE   H.   GORDON, 

OF  MISSISSIPPI. 

IN  reviewing  the  history  of  those  who  precede  us  on  the  stage  of 
human  life,  the  mind  is  naturally  turned  in  a  train  of  imitation ;  and  in 
perusing  the  biographical  sketches  of  those  who  have  pursued  an  even, 
upright  and  honest  course  of  life,  the  youths  of  the  country  will  mark 
out  those  who  may  be  taken  as  guides  and  exemplars  for  their  future 
course,  and  will  be  stimulated  with  an  ardent  desire  to  emulate  them  in 
integrity,  virtue  and  benevolence. 

But  nothing  will  tend  more  to  stimulate  the  young  men  who  have 
adopted  the  law  as  their  profession,  to  untiring  and  virtuous  exertions, 
and  to  arouse  them  from  that  gnawing  lethargy  and  despondency  which 
drive  so  many  to  the  festive  board  and  resorts  of  dissipation,  than  the 
contemplation  of  the  lives  and  history  of  those  who  have  arisen  from 
comparative  obscurity  to  the  highest  position  in  society ;  who  have  ob 
tained  the  unlimited  confidence  of  the  community,  and  by  a  virtuous 
education  and  their  own  endeavors  have  carved  out  their  path  to  fame 
and  fortune.  The  character  of  the  subject  of  this  memoir  has  suggested 
these  reflections,  and  strikingly  illustrates  the  success  which  attends  a 
correct  walk  of  life. 

GEORGE  H.  GORDON  was  born  in  Wilkes  county,  North  Carolina,  at 
a  place  called  the  "  Mulberry  Fields,"  on  the  12th  day  of  July,  1801. 
His  father,  Mr.  John  Gordon,  was  the  immediate  descendant  of  George 
Gordon,  a  highly  respectable  Scotchman,  and  one  of  the  early  settlers 
of  that  part  of  North  Carolina. 

His  mother  was  a  descendant  of  the  family  of  Herndons,  of  South 
Carolina,  who  bore  a  conspicuous  part  in  the  struggle  for  independence. 
They  were  both  distinguished  for  deep  and  earnest  piety,  and,  though 
not  making  the  sacred  ministry  his  profession,  his  father  was  a  preacher 


SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church   until  his  death.      In  1811,  Mr. 
Gordon  removed  from  North  Carolina,  and  settled  in  Maury  county, 
Tennessee,  and  being  in  moderate  circumstances,  it  was  necessary  that 
his  sons  should  work  at  manual  labor,  and  in  performing  the  usual  work 
necessary  in  farming,  as  was  the  custom  in  those  good  old  times,  for 
the  sons  even  of  the  more  wealthy  inhabitants.      For  several  years 
after  his  father's  settlement  in  Tennessee,  the  subject  of  this  sketch  con 
tinued  to  labor  in  the  field  during  the  cropping  season,  and  in  the 
interim  attended  the  common  country  schools,  and  applied  himself  as 
siduously  to  study.      Possessing  naturally  an  energetic,  active  and  in 
vestigating  mind,  seeking  every  opportunity,  and  anxiously  striving  to 
obtain  useful  knowledge,  he  soon  acquired  a  good  English  education, 
but  being  of  a  light  and  slender  frame,  he  was  unsuited  for  continued 
manual  labor;  he  was,  therefore,  in  1814,  placed  by  his  father  as  a  clerk 
in  the  store  of  a  respectable  merchant,  where  he  remained  two  years, 
and  from  his  strict  integrity  and  attention  to  business,  he  gained  the 
confidence  and  lasting  friendship  and  esteem  of  his  employer.     In  1817, 
he  was  entered  as  a  student  in.  the  Franklin  Academy,  then  a  flourishing 
institution  in  Tennessee,  under  the  immediate  control  and  management 
of  the  celebrated  Presbyterian  clergyman,  the  Rev.  Gideon  Blackburn, 
where  he  completed  his  education.    On  his  return  from  school,  he  found 
the  pecuniary  affairs  of  his  father  considerably  embarrassed,  in  conse 
quence  of  becoming  security  for  others  ;  and  seeing  but  little  prospect 
of  success  in  that  part  of  the  country,  for  a  young  man  without  for 
tune,  and  solely  dependent  on   his  own  exertions,  and  as  yet  untried 
talents,  he  at  once  determined  to  seek  a  more  auspicious  field  whereon 
to  commence  the  struggle  of  life.     Therefore,  in  the  fall  of  1820,  with 
but  slender  means,  but  with  a  firm  reliance  on  his  own  industry  and 
energy,  and  a  fixed  and  unalterable  determination  to  adhere,  upon  all 
occasions,  and   under   all   circumstances,  to   the   great   principles  of 
honor,  virtue  and  integrity,  which  had    been  so  strongly  impressed 
upon  him,  both  by  precept   and    example,  under   the  paternal  roof, 
he  left  his  home  and  friends  for  what  was  then  considered  a  far  dis 
tant  land. 

On  the  3d  of  November,  1820,  he  arrived  at  Woodville,  in  Wilkin 
son  county,  State  of  Mississippi,  then  a  newly-settled  town  with  but 
few  inhabitants.  Shortly  after  his  arrival  at  Woodville,  he  was  em 
ployed  as  deputy-clerk  in  the  courts  at  that  place.  After  he  became 
engaged  in  the  business  of  the  clerk's  office,  his  strict  moral  habits, 
open,  frank  manners,  and  close  attention  to  business,  soon  obtained  him 
many  friends,  and  attracted  the  attention  and  won  the  esteem  of  many 
of  the  first  citizens  in  the  community;  among  these  were  the  late 
John  P.  Hampton,  then  one  of  the  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Mississippi,  and  Joshua  Childs,  afterwards  one  of  the  judges  of  that 
court.  These  gentlemen,  seeing  the  facility  with  which  young  Gordon 
acquired  a  knowledge  of  the  business  in  the  clerk's  office,  and  his 
prompt  and  correct  manner  of  dispatching  the  various  duties  of  clerk, 
advised  and  urged  him  to  study  law,  ofTeiing  him  their  instruction  and 
the  use  of  their  libraries.  This  liberal  offer  could  but  be  regarded  as 
very  flattering  to  a  youth  who  had  so  recently  become  a  settler  among 
strangers.  Yet  kind  and  flattering  as  it  was,  its  acceptance  was  attend 


GEORGE  H.  GORDON,  OP  MISSISSIPPI.  501 

ed  with  difficulty  and  embarrassment,  for  Mr.  Gordon  being  entirely 
destitute  of  pecuniary  means,  and  having  engaged  to  perform  labor  for 
another  for  a  small  salary,  which  was  necessary  for  his  support,  he 
could  not  think  of  engaging  in  another  pursuit  without  the  assent  and  con 
currence  of  his  employer.  This  he  mentioned  to  Judge  Hampton,  but  the 
Judge  assured  him  there  could  be  no  difficulty  on  that  account,  that  his 
studies  would  interfere  but  very  little  with  the  performance  of  his 
duties  as  clerk,  and  that  his  situation  in  the  office  would  be  of  great  ad 
vantage  to  him  in  learning  the  practical  part  of  the  law,  so  essentially 
necessary  to  be  well  understood  by  the  successful  practitioner.  Upon 
communicating  the  proposal  alluded  to,  to  his  employer,  the  late  Isaac 
Dillahunty,  then  clerk  of  the  Circuit  and  County  Courts  at  Woodville, 
and  asking  his  advice  on  the  subject,  he  not  only  sanctioned  it,  but  ad 
vised  its  acceptance  without  hesitation,  at  the  same  time  assuring  Mr. 
Gordon  that  he  should  have  his  aid  and  assistance  in  any  way  he  might 
have  it  in  his  power  to  bestow  it.  This  generous  concurrence  of  Mr. 
Dillahunty  determined  Mr.  Gordon  to  accept  the  offer,  and  he  imme 
diately  commenced  the  study  of  the  law,  attending  through  the  busi 
ness  hours  of  the  day  to  the  ordinary  business  of  the  clerk's  office,  and 
devoting  all  his  spare  time  to  his  studies,  frequently  continuing  them 
until  a  very  late  hour  at  night.  By  this  close  application,  and  the 
practical  knowledge  derived  from  performing  the  various  duties  of 
clerk,  he  acquired  a  knowledge  of  the  law  very  rapidly.  In  the  fall  of 
1822,  his  friend,  Mr.  Dillahunty,  died,  but  he  continued  his  studies  with 
unremitted  application  until  June,  1823,  when  he  was  licensed  by  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Mississippi  to  practise  law. 

Immediately  after  obtaining  his  license,  he  commenced  the  practice  of 
his  profession  at  Woodville,  where  he  has  resided  ever  since. 

From  his  long  and  intimate  connection  with  public  business,  he  had 
acquired  a  general  acquaintance  with  the  community  and  a  large  num 
ber  of  friends  ;  he,  therefore,  very  soon  obtained  quite  an  extensive 
practice,  and  by  his  industry  and  strict  attention  to  the  business  of  his 
clients,  it  continued  to  increase  until  he  was  engaged  on  one  side  or  the 
other  of  nearly  all  the  important  cases  in  the  courts  where  he  practised. 
It  is  known,  and  has  often  been  the  subject  of  remark,  that  whenever 
Mr.  Gordon  obtained  a  client,  so  strong  was  the  confidence  usually  re 
posed  in  him  by  the  client  that  he  rarely  abandoned  him  to  seek  for 
other  counsel,  but  generally  engaged  him  as  his  lawyer  in  all  cases  he 
might  afterwards  have  in  the  courts ;  hence  many  of  the  oldest  citizens 
in  the  community  where  he  resides  were  his  earliest  clients,  and  are 
still  his  most  devoted  friends.  In  the  year  1828,  Mr.  Gordon  was 
elected  colonel  of  the  militia  of  his  county,  and  with  his  accustomed 
energy  and  perseverance  soon  brought  his  regiment  to  a  much  higher 
state  of  organization  and  discipline  than  was  usual  in  the  militia  at  that 
time.  As  a  lawyer,  Colonel  Gordon  holds  a  high  rank  among  his  com 
peers  of  the  Mississippi  bar,  which,  as  a  body  of  common-law  lawyers, 
is  not  surpassed  by  any  bar  in  the  Union ;  his  practice  of  later  years 
has  been  confined  principally  to  important  cases  in  the  higher  courts. 
He  has  been  engaged,  and  has  taken  an  active  part,  in  most  of  the  great 
legal  questions  concerning  the  banking  operations  in  Mississippi,  with 
in  the  last  ten  years.  He  has  always  insisted  upon  exacting  of  the 


6  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

banking  corporations  of  the  state  a  rigid  compliance  with  their  obliga 
tions,  and  in  all  his  arguments  pressed  and  urged  a  strict  adherence  to 
the  terms  and  stipulations  of  their  charters.  As  a  debater,  Colonel 
Gordon  is  forcible,  perspicuous  and  explicit;  and  while  he  presses  his 
points  with  enthusiasm  and  energy,  he  scrupulously  avoids  harshness 
or  offence,  but  observes  the  utmost  good  humor  and  politeness  towards 
his  adversary.  As  an  advocate,  he  is  faithful  and  prompt  in  his  attend 
ance  to  all  business  entrusted  to  his  care,  and  enlists  in  the  cause  of 
his  client  with  as  much  zeal  and  earnestness  as  his  own.  From  his 
knowledge  of  the  elementary  principles  of  the  law,  acquired  by  his 
early  studious  habits,  and  his  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  statutes 
and  reports  of  different  states,  as  well  as  those  of  his  own,  he  is  never 
at  a  loss  in  giving  an  opinion  in  the  most  complicated  case,  or  in 
pressing  an  important  point  at  the  bar.  His  open,  frank  and  liberal 
manner,  and  aversion  and  repugnance  to  indulging  in  petty  quibbles, 
in  conducting  the  practice  with  reference  to  his  brethren  of  the  bar, 
have  secured  him  their  confidence  and  esteem.  With  the  young  mem 
bers  of  the  profession,  his  intercourse  has  always  been  marked  by  kind 
ness  and  solicitude  for  their  advancement,  and  has  elicited  their  respect 
and  gratitude.  Through  the  whole  course  of  his  practice  he  always 
used  every  exertion  to  discourage  litigation,  and  conciliate  and  compro 
mise  cases  which  tended  to  excite  family  dissension  and  promised  no 
beneficial  result  to  the  litigants;  and  thus,  by  advising  a  course  of  right, 
justice  and  equity,  he  frequently  conciliated  disputes  which  might  other 
wise  have  terminated  unfortunately  to  the  parties. 

Soon  after  Colonel  Gordon  came  to  the  bar,  he  was  solicited  by  his 
friends  to  take  a  part  in  the  discussion  of  the  politics  of  the  day,  and 
to  become  a  candidate  to  represent  his  county  in  the  legislature ;  this 
he  declined  on  account  of  its  interference  with  his  professional  business, 
and  his  disinclination  to  engage  in  political  contests,  but  afterwards, 
being  again  solicited  and  urged  to  become  a  candidate,  he  gave  his 
consent,  and  was  repeatedly  elected,  and  served  several  sessions  as 
a  member  of  the  legislature.  As  a  politician  he  has  always  been  a 
warm  advocate  and  supporter  of  the  great  democratic  republican  prin 
ciples  maintained  by  Mr.  Jefferson  and  Madison  in  1798  and  1799,  and 
adhered  to  and  insisted  upon  by  Jackson,  Randolph,  Macon,  Calhoun, 
Barbour,  Polk,  and  other  distinguished  republicans  since  their  day. 
As  a  legislator,  his  course  was  marked  with  candor,  frankness,  and 
independence ;  observing  on  all  occasions  the  utmost  courtesy  towards 
his  brother  members,  never  engaging  in  the  petty  squabbles  of  the 
house. 

He  spoke  but  seldom,  and  then  only  on  questions  of  consideration 
and  importance  ;  hence  he  was  popular,  and  commanded  respect  and 
attention  whenever  he  addressed  the  house,  and  his  views  and  opinions 
exercised  considerable  influence. 

In  1830,  the  question  of  inviting  the  location  of  a  branch  of  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States  in  the  State  of  Mississippi  was  introduced  in  the 
legislature.  Col.  Gordon  took  the  lead  in  opposition  to  this  measure  ; 
and  in  a  strong  and  clear  argument,  contended  that  the  charter  of  the 
parent  bank  was  unauthorized  by  the  federal  constitution,  and  that  an 
institution  exercising  such  vast  power  and  patronage  was  at  war  with 


GEORGE  H.  GORDON",  OF  MISSISSIPPI.  503 

the  true  spirit  of  our  institutions,  and  dangerous  in  its  ultimate  ten 
dencies  to  liberty';  that  any  action  of  the  local  legislature  to  bring 
about  the  establishment  of  a  branch  of  that  bank  within  the  state, 
would  be  a  violation  of  the  state  constitution ;  and,  moreover,  would 
have  the  effect  of  encouraging  the  establishment  of  extensive  local 
banking  within  the  state,  whereby  the  state  would  ultimately  be 
flooded  with  worthless  bank  paper,  to  the  great  detriment  of  the  peo 
ple,  and  the  ruin  of  the  credit  of  the  state.  But  after  a  warm  contest,* 
the  resolution  inviting  the  location  of  a  branch  of  the  bank  was  passed 
by  the  legislature.  It  is  only  necessary  to  refer  to  the  history  of  sub 
sequent  events  in  Mississippi  to  see  how  far  the  prediction  of  Colonel 
Gordon  was  correct. 

While  in  the  legislature,  in  1836,  he  took  an  active  part  in  arousing 
the  minds  of  the  representatives  to  the  necessity  of  adopting  and  carry 
ing  out  a  proper  system  of  internal  improvement  by  the  state,  and  as 
earnestly  and  zealously  opposed  such  a  system  by  the  federal  govern 
ment,  as  unsanctioned  by  the  constitution,  and  contrary  to  the  general 
policy  of  the  country. 

In  the  same  year,  as  chairman  of  the  committee  to  whom  were  re 
ferred  so  much  of  the  then  governor's  message  as  related  to  the  unfor 
tunate  interference  of  our  northern  brethren  with  the  domestic  institu 
tions  of  the  South,  he  presented  a  calm,  dignified,  and  forcible  report, 
fully  and  clearly  portraying  the  true  state  of  northern  feeling,  and  with 
prophetic  correctness  predicting  what  would  be  the  inevitable  result  of 
this  fanaticism,  if  the  well-disposed  of  our  northern  brethren  would  not 
throw  themselves  into  the  breach,  and  check  the  wild  torrent  which 
threatened  the  dissolution  of  the  Union.  He  also  took  an  active  part 
in  the  discussion  of  other  important  measures  brought  forward  whilst 
he  was  a  member  of  the  legislature  ;  and  is  the  author  of  many  laws 
now  on  the  statute  book  of  Mississippi. 

Aside  from  Colonel  Gordon's  professional  and  political  reputation,  he 
is  universally  distinguished  in  the  community  where  he  resides  for  his 
benevolent  and  charitable  disposition ;  and  in  the  town  and  vicinity 
where  he  has  lived  for  many  years,  to  which  he  is  connected  by  the 
strongest  attachments  and  dearest  associations,  by  his  liberality,  exer 
tions  and  example,  he  has  promoted  the  prosperity  and  advancement  of 
several  benevolent  societies,  thereby  without  design  securing  the  warm 
est  feelings  and  attachment  of  a  large  class  of  the  community.  Having 
acquired  an  ample  fortune,  he  has  not  been  unmindful  of  its  noblest  use ; 
simple  in  his  tastes  and  habits,  luxury  has  no  charms  for  him,  and  to 
provide  for  the  widow  and  orphan,  to  assist  youth  in  their  honorable 
endeavors,  and  to  aid  "  the  good  man  struggling  against  adversity," 
have  been  his  highest  pleasures.  It  is  unnecessary  here  to  narrate  the 
many  instances  of  individual  kindness  and  charity  performed  by  the 
subject  of  this  sketch,  solely  with  a  desire  to  ameliorate  the  condition 
of  the  poor  and  needy,  that  have  incidentally  come  to  the  knowledge 
of  the  writer. 

We  need  not  dwell  upon  this  theme,  for  it  may  be  truly  said  he  is 
one  of  those  "  who  do  good  by  stealth,  and  blush  to  find  it  fame,"  but 
we  could  not  pass  altogether  in  silence  a  trait  so  noble  and  marked  in 


504  SKETCHES  OF  EMINENT  AMERICANS. 

his  character,  so  worthy  of  imitation,  and  which  has  afforded  him  cuch 
pure  sources  of  gratification. 

Colonel  Gordon  has  frequently  been  solicited  to  become  a  candidate 
for  high  judicial  stations,  but  declined  on  account  of  his  disinclination 
to  hold  public  office,  and  preference  for  domestic  retirement.  He  is  now 
one  of  the  oldest  practising  lawyers  in  the  state  of  Mississippi,  and  by 
sobriety,  industry  and  integrity,  has  obtained  a  position  as  a  man,  a 
lawyer  and  a  politician,  inferior  to  none  in  the  state. 


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